Is Everyone Really Equal?

This is the long-awaited third edition of the bestselling, multi-award–winning introduction to foundational concepts in social justice education.

Accessible to students from high school through graduate school, this comprehensive resource addresses the most common stumbling blocks to understanding social justice. In response to the deep divides in public discourse, this edition provides a framework for reaching common ground on issues of justice within a pluralistic democracy.

The authors have updated statistics, research, and examples, and revised discussion questions and extension activities to guide classroom dialogue and engagement with today’s complex issues. New topics include the science of sex and gender, and the political backlash against equity and racial justice efforts. The authors trace the roots of white supremacy globally in the history of colonialism. Concepts such as oligarchy, kleptocracy, and capitalism’s relationship to democracy are introduced and discussed.

Is Everyone Really Equal? is an up-to-date and engaging textbook and professional development resource that includes many user-friendly features, examples, vignettes, and activities to not just define but illustrate key concepts.

Book Features:

• User-friendly features such as accessible language, “definition boxes” to reinforce concepts, “perspective checks” to acknowledge multiple viewpoints, and “stop boxes” that anticipate and address common points of resistance.
• A glossary that includes an explanation of social justice language and its complexities and changes over time.
• Discussion questions, extension activities, and exercises for book groups and classroom study.
• An accessible resource for instructors in disciplines including education, sociology, political science, criminal justice, nursing, social work, health sciences, gender and sexuality studies, and race and ethnic studies in the United States and Canada.

Robin DiAngelo is an affiliate associate professor of education at the University of Washington and author of Seeing Whiteness: The Essential Essays of Robin DiAngelo. Özlem Sensoy is professor of education and inaugural director of the Cassidy Centre for Educational Justice at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada.

“How can we find common ground about hot-button equity issues in an increasingly polarized society? In this masterful dive into contemporary debates, DiAngelo and Sensoy equip readers with a robust toolbox for examining their own beliefs, engaging in dialogue, hearing where others are coming from, and enacting a moral commitment to social justice.”
—Christine Sleeter, author of Critical Multicultural Education and professor emerita, California State University, Monterey Bay

“DiAngelo and Sensoy have created an essential guide that transforms complex social justice theory into an accessible and actionable understanding. This book doesn't just explain how systems of oppression work; it equips readers with the critical thinking tools and practical strategies needed to challenge them effectively. The authors juxtapose rigorous analysis and real-world application to make difficult concepts comprehensible without sacrificing depth or nuance. For anyone serious about understanding power, privilege, and inequality in our society, this is indispensable reading that moves beyond good intentions toward informed, meaningful action.”
—Roland Sintos Coloma, professor and associate dean, Wayne State University and vice president, Curriculum Studies Division, American Educational Research Association

"This new edition is critical for readers who want to grasp the manifestations of racist power, of privilege, of inequity—not just in theory, but as a foundation for taking purposeful, effective action."
—Ibram X. Kendi, #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist

“This book reminds us to pose more, not fewer, provocative questions as we search for truth during a declining democracy. Grounded in history and research, this book shepherds readers into uncovering new and expanded answers to stubborn challenges of injustice.”
—H. Richard Milner IV, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Education, Vanderbilt University; author, The Race Card: Leading the Fight for Truth in America’s Schools

Contents

Series Foreword James A. Banks  xiii

Acknowledgments  xix

Preface  xxi

What Is Critical Social Justice?  xxi

Chapter Summaries  xxiii

Prologue  xxvii

A Parable: Hodja and the Foreigner  xxvii

Layers of the Parable  xxviii

1.  How to Engage Constructively in Courses That Take a Critical Social Justice Approach  1

An Open Letter to Students  3

A Story: The Question of Planets  5

Guideline 1: Strive for Intellectual Humility  6

Guideline 2: Everyone Has an Opinion. Opinions Are Not the Same as Informed Knowledge  9

Guideline 3: Let Go of Anecdotal Evidence and Examine Patterns  11

Guideline 4: Use Your Reactions as Entry Points for Gaining Deeper Self-Knowledge  13

Guideline 5: Recognize How Your Social Position Informs Your Reactions to Your Instructor and the Course Content  15

Grading  17

Conclusion  20

Discussion Questions  21

Extension Activity  21

2.  About Knowledge  22

Knowledge as Socially Constructed  22

Research on Knowledge as Socially Constructed  26

Applying Critical Theory  29

Finding Common Ground  33

Discussion Questions  36

Extension Activities  36

Patterns to Practice Seeing  37

3.  Culture and Socialization  38

What Is Culture?  39

What Is Socialization?  39

Cultural Norms and Conformity  43

Implicit Bias  44

You in Relation to the Groups to Which You Belong  48

Discussion Questions  53

Extension Activities  53

Patterns to Practice Seeing  55

4.  Prejudice and Discrimination  56

What Is Prejudice?  57

What Is Discrimination?  61

All Humans Have Prejudice and Discriminate  62

Discussion Questions  64

Extension Activities  64

Patterns to Practice Seeing  65

5.  Oppression and Power  66

Social Stratification  67

Understanding Power  69

What Is Oppression?  71

Understanding the “Isms”  75

Internalized Dominance  81

Internalized Oppression  82

Discussion Questions  88

Extension Activities  88

Patterns to Practice Seeing  89

6.  Understanding Privilege Through Ableism  90

What Is Privilege?  91

External and Structural Dimensions of Privilege  92

Internal and Attitudinal Dimensions of Privilege  98

Common Dominant Group Misconceptions About Privilege  106

Discussion Questions  109

Extension Activities  110

Patterns to Practice Seeing  110

7.  Understanding the Invisibility of Oppression Through Sexism  111

What Is an Institution?  112

Sex/Gender and Science  113

An Example: Sexism Today  118

What Makes Sexism Difficult to See?  121

Dominant Discourses of Sexism as Empowerment  126

Discussion Questions  137

Extension Activities  137

Patterns to Practice Seeing  138

8.  Understanding the Structural Nature of Oppression Through Racism  139

What Is Race?  141

A Brief History of the Social Construction of Race in the United States  141

A Brief History of the Social Construction of Race in Canada  142

What Is Racism?  144

Two Key Challenges to Understanding Racism  145

Racism Today  148

Dynamics of White Racial Superiority  151

Dynamics of Internalized Racial Oppression  155

Racism and Intersectionality  157

Common White Misconceptions About Racism  161

Discussion Questions  168

Extension Activities  169

Patterns to Practice Seeing  169

9.  Understanding the Global Organization of Racism Through White Supremacy  170

Whiteness and White Supremacy  171

White Supremacy in the Global Context  174

Discussion Questions  189

Extension Activities  189

Patterns to Practice Seeing  190

10.  Understanding Intersectionality Through Classism  191

Mr. Rich White and Mr. Poor White Strike a Bargain  191

What Is Class?  193

Common Class Terms  203

Class Socialization  210

Common Misconceptions About Class  212

Understanding Intersectionality  219

Examples of Everyday Class Privilege  221

Common Classist Beliefs  222

Discussion Questions  226

Extension Activities  226

Patterns to Practice Seeing  227

11.  “Yeah, But . . .”: Common Rebuttals  228

Claiming That Schools Are Politically Neutral  229

Dismissing Social Justice Scholarship as the Personal Opinions of Woke Radicals  230

Citing Exceptions to the Rule  230

Arguing That Oppression Is Just Human Nature  231

Appealing to a Universalized Humanity  232

Insisting on Immunity From Socialization  232

Ignoring Intersectionality  233

Refusing to Recognize Structural and Institutional Power  234

Denying the Politics of Language  235

Invalidating Claims of Oppression as Oversensitivity  236

Positioning Social Justice Education as Something “Extra”  237

Being Paralyzed by Guilt  238

Discussion Questions  240

Extension Activity  240

Patterns to Practice Seeing  241

12.  Putting It All Together  242

Recognize How Relations of Unequal Social Power Are Constantly Being Enacted  243

Understand Our Own Positions Within Relations of Unequal Power (Intersectionality)  246

Think Critically About Knowledge  250

Act in Service of a More Just Society  254

Discussion Questions  258

Extension Activities  259

Patterns to Practice Seeing  261

References  263

Glossary  291

Index  301

About the Authors  321