Equality or Hierarchy

Integrating Anti-Bias Education and Addressing Prejudice and Discrimination in the Classroom

Although founded on a concept of equality, there aren’t very many areas where, as Americans, we don’t feel and claim that we are exceptional. Acknowledging that another country might be as good as or better than us in some way can be political suicide for our elected officials, who are labeled as “unpatriotic”. Everything in our culture supports this need to be the best, to be first.

I remember landing in Alaska for a conference on Conflict Resolution and Intergroup Relations and hearing the attendant announce, “Alaska Airlines wants to be the first to welcome you to Anchorage.” I realized I had heard that kind of message of inequality countless times. Why couldn’t they have said, “We hope you’ve been welcomed by others, but Alaska Airlines wants to add our welcome.” We constantly get messages from everywhere that you must be first, you have to be the best.

In a typical third-grade classroom, students can spend almost their entire time for recess arguing about who is going to be first in line to go out. We constantly reinforce this need to “be first” or “be better” than someone else. We think we need losers if we are going to be winners. The problem is that most of the important things in life are not contests. Even when they are contests, if we believe we’re all equal, why is it so hard to accept that our team lost?

Education certainly should not be a contest, but think about all of the structural dynamics we take for granted that create hierarchies rather than helping all students in any class feel equal. Striving for excellence and helping all students achieve at their highest levels can be accomplished without feeding into the dynamics of superiority and inferiority. Suggestions for doing this will be covered later in the chapter.