Our Values Are

Historical Context

The principle that "All People Are Equal" represents one of humanity's most transformative and enduring ideals. While this concept may seem self-evident to many today, its historical development reveals a long, complex journey toward recognizing the inherent equality of all human beings.

The philosophical foundations of human equality can be traced back thousands of years. Ancient Stoic philosophers in Greece and Rome developed the concept of "cosmopolitanism"—the idea that all humans belong to a single community based on shared morality.1 Many religious traditions also articulated early versions of human equality. For example, the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) contain teachings that all humans are created in God's image or are equal before God, though these principles were often interpreted narrowly within historical contexts.2

However, the modern conception of equality as a political and legal principle emerged more forcefully during the Enlightenment period in the 17th and 18th centuries. John Locke's assertion that humans exist in "a state of equality, wherein all the power and jurisdiction is reciprocal" helped establish equality as a foundational political concept.3 This thinking influenced revolutionary documents like the American Declaration of Independence (1776), which proclaimed "all men are created equal," and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (1789), which stated "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights."4

Despite these lofty declarations, the application of equality remained severely limited. The American declaration's authors, many of whom owned slaves, clearly didn't include enslaved people in their concept of equality. Women, indigenous peoples, and those without property were similarly excluded from these early articulations of equality.

The codification of equality as a universal human right finally occurred with the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948. The first article of this landmark document states: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."5 Developed in the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust, the UDHR represented a global consensus that respecting human equality was essential for preventing future atrocities.

The drafting committee for the UDHR, chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, deliberately included representatives from diverse cultural and philosophical backgrounds, including Charles Malik (Lebanon), Peng Chun Chang (China), René Cassin (France), and others.6 Their discussions revealed that while different cultures might approach human rights through varied philosophical or religious frameworks, the principle of human equality could be affirmed across these differences.

Throughout the 20th century, the principle of equality served as a rallying cry for numerous social movements. The civil rights movement in the United States, anti-apartheid activism in South Africa, indigenous rights movements across the globe, and many other struggles drew strength from appeals to fundamental human equality. As Martin Luther King Jr. famously articulated in his "I Have a Dream" speech, the American promise that "all men are created equal" represented a "promissory note" that the nation needed to fully honor.7

Current Challenges

Despite widespread formal acceptance of human equality as a principle, our world continues to struggle with applying this value consistently. Several major challenges to equality persist in the 21st century:

Systemic Discrimination and Bias

Structural discrimination continues to create unequal outcomes along lines of race, ethnicity, gender, disability status, and other identity markers. For example, in the United States, the median white family has eight times the wealth of the median Black family and five times the wealth of the median Hispanic family.8 Such disparities reflect historical patterns of discrimination as well as ongoing systemic inequities.

Studies demonstrate that unconscious or implicit bias affects decision-making across numerous domains, from hiring practices to healthcare delivery. Research shows that resumes with traditionally white-sounding names receive 50% more callbacks than identical resumes with traditionally Black-sounding names.9 Similar biases have been documented in housing, lending, education, and criminal justice systems.

Economic Inequality

Global economic inequality has reached staggering levels. According to Oxfam, the world's richest 1% captured 74% of all new wealth created in 2021, while the bottom 90% saw virtually no benefit from global growth.10 Such concentration of wealth translates to concentration of power, undermining the principle that people should have equal voice and agency in society.

Within many countries, economic mobility—the ability to improve one's economic status—has stagnated or declined. In the United States, for example, children born to low-income families have approximately a 7.5% chance of reaching the top income quintile, while those born to high-income families have about a 40% chance of remaining there.11

Authoritarianism and Democratic Backsliding

Recent years have witnessed concerning trends toward authoritarianism and democratic backsliding in various regions. Freedom House reports that global freedom has declined for 16 consecutive years, with 60 countries experiencing deterioration in their democracy scores in 2021 alone.12

Authoritarian regimes and illiberal democracies often suppress equal rights to political participation, freedom of expression, and equal protection under the law. Even in established democracies, efforts to restrict voting access or undermine independent courts threaten equality before the law.

Digital Divides and Algorithmic Discrimination

As technology becomes increasingly central to economic, social, and political life, disparities in digital access and literacy threaten to create new forms of inequality. Globally, approximately 2.7 billion people remain offline, with access gaps particularly pronounced in rural areas and developing regions.13

Additionally, algorithmic systems embedded in everything from hiring processes to criminal risk assessments to social media have been shown to reproduce and sometimes amplify existing biases. Facial recognition technologies, for instance, have demonstrated much higher error rates for women and people with darker skin tones.14

Climate Injustice

Climate change impacts do not affect all people equally. Those who have contributed least to greenhouse gas emissions—typically the world's poorest communities—often face the most severe consequences. Small island nations, for example, confront existential threats from rising sea levels despite having minimal carbon footprints.

Within countries, marginalized communities frequently bear disproportionate environmental burdens. In the United States, race remains the strongest predictor of whether a person lives near contaminated air, water, or soil.15

Global Health Inequities

The COVID-19 pandemic starkly highlighted global health inequities. While high-income countries secured early access to vaccines and treatments, many low-income countries waited months or years for adequate supplies. At the height of vaccine inequality in 2021, just 1% of people in low-income countries had been vaccinated, compared to over 60% in high-income nations.16

Beyond the pandemic, significant disparities persist in access to essential healthcare, maternal and child mortality rates, and life expectancy across and within countries.

What We Can Do

Advancing the principle that all people are equal requires action at multiple levels:

Individual Actions

• Examine your own biases through implicit bias tests and self-reflection. Recognize that everyone has unconscious biases that can affect their interactions and decisions.

• Amplify marginalized voices by making space for diverse perspectives in conversations, meetings, and public forums.

• Practice inclusive language that respects all identities and avoids perpetuating stereotypes.

• Educate yourself about the experiences of people from different backgrounds through books, documentaries, and direct engagement when appropriate.

• Challenge discriminatory statements or jokes when you encounter them in personal conversations or social settings.

Community and Organizational Actions

• Implement equity audits in organizations to identify and address disparities in hiring, promotion, pay, and other outcomes.

• Create inclusive spaces that accommodate different abilities, cultural practices, and personal needs.

• Support community-led initiatives addressing local inequities rather than imposing solutions from outside.

• Develop mentorship and leadership pipelines for underrepresented groups.

• Establish equitable procurement practices that provide opportunities for minority-owned and women-owned businesses.

Policy and Systemic Actions

• Advocate for voting rights protections that ensure all citizens have equal access to the ballot box.

• Support progressive taxation and social safety net programs that reduce economic inequality.

• Push for criminal justice reforms that address racial disparities in policing, prosecution, and sentencing.

• Promote affordable housing policies that combat residential segregation and expand housing access.

• Call for climate policies that distribute both burdens and benefits equitably across society.

Educational Actions

• Incorporate diverse perspectives and histories in educational curricula at all levels.

• Support equitable education funding that ensures quality education regardless of community wealth.

• Promote digital literacy programs that bridge technological divides.

• Develop anti-bias training for students, educators, and administrators.

• Encourage critical thinking skills that help students recognize and challenge stereotypes and discriminatory narratives.

Global Actions

• Support international human rights mechanisms like UN treaty bodies and special procedures.

• Promote equitable trade policies that allow developing countries fair opportunities in the global economy.

• Advocate for climate justice that recognizes historical responsibilities and ensures equitable transitions.

• Push for vaccine equity and fair access to essential medicines worldwide.

• Challenge xenophobia and nationalism by emphasizing our shared humanity across borders.

Organizations Working for Equality

If you're looking to support or learn more about equality initiatives, these organizations are doing important work:

International Human Rights Organizations

• Human Rights Watch - Investigates and reports on human rights abuses worldwide

• Amnesty International - Campaigns for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all

• International Service for Human Rights - Supports human rights defenders and strengthens human rights systems

• United for Human Rights - Implements the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at grassroots levels

• Minority Rights Group International - Works to secure rights for ethnic, religious, and linguistic minorities

Economic Equality Organizations

• Oxfam - Fights inequality to end poverty and injustice

• The Equality Trust - Works to improve the quality of life by reducing economic inequality

• Institute for Policy Studies - Inequality Program - Researches and advocates for policies to reduce economic inequality

• Center for Economic and Social Rights - Promotes social justice through human rights

• ActionAid - Works with communities, particularly women and girls, to fight poverty and injustice

Civil Rights and Anti-Discrimination Organizations

• American Civil Liberties Union (US) - Defends civil liberties and constitutional rights

• Equal Justice Initiative (US) - Works to end mass incarceration and excessive punishment

• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (US) - Ensures political, educational, social, and economic equality

• European Network Against Racism (Europe) - Combats racism and discrimination in Europe

• Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture - Promotes interdisciplinary scholarship on race and ethnicity

Conclusion

The declaration that "All People Are Equal" represents both an aspirational ideal and a practical standard against which to measure our societies. While this principle has gained widespread formal acceptance, translating it into lived reality remains one of humanity's greatest challenges.

As we display the Our Values Are image with its bold proclamation that "ALL PEOPLE ARE EQUAL," we affirm our commitment to this fundamental value. We acknowledge that equality requires more than abstract recognition—it demands concrete action to dismantle systems of privilege and oppression, redistribute resources more equitably, and ensure that every person has the opportunity to live with dignity.

The journey toward true equality is far from complete. Progress often comes unevenly, with advances in some areas accompanied by setbacks in others. Yet by understanding equality's historical development, recognizing current challenges, and taking action at multiple levels, each of us can contribute to building a world that more fully honors the equal worth of every human being.

In a time of rising polarization and division, reaffirming our commitment to human equality becomes not just morally important but practically essential for addressing our most pressing social challenges. Only by working together across our differences, while respecting our equal worth and dignity, can we create the just and sustainable world we all deserve.

References

1. Nussbaum, M. C. (1997). Kant and Stoic Cosmopolitanism. Journal of Political Philosophy, 5(1), 1-25.

2. Witte, J., & Green, M. C. (Eds.). (2011). Religion and Human Rights: An Introduction. Oxford University Press.

3. Locke, J. (1689). Second Treatise of Government, Chapter II, Section 4.

4. Hunt, L. (2007). Inventing Human Rights: A History. W.W. Norton & Company.

5. United Nations. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

6. Glendon, M. A. (2001). A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Random House.

7. King, M. L., Jr. (1963, August 28). I Have a Dream [Speech]. Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.

8. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. (2023). Survey of Consumer Finances. Retrieved from https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scfindex.htm

9. Bertrand, M., & Mullainathan, S. (2004). Are Emily and Greg More Employable Than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination. American Economic Review, 94(4), 991-1013.

10. Oxfam International. (2023). Survival of the Richest: How we must tax the super-rich now to fight inequality. Retrieved from https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/survival-richest

11. Chetty, R., Hendren, N., Kline, P., & Saez, E. (2014). Where is the Land of Opportunity? The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in the United States. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 129(4), 1553-1623.

12. Freedom House. (2022). Freedom in the World 2022: The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule. Retrieved from https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2022/global-expansion-authoritarian-rule

13. International Telecommunication Union. (2023). Measuring Digital Development: Facts and Figures 2023. Geneva: ITU.

14. Buolamwini, J., & Gebru, T. (2018). Gender Shades: Intersectional Accuracy Disparities in Commercial Gender Classification. Proceedings of Machine Learning Research, 81, 1-15.

15. Bullard, R. D., & Wright, B. (2012). The Wrong Complexion for Protection: How the Government Response to Disaster Endangers African American Communities. NYU Press.

16. World Health Organization. (2021). Strategy to Achieve Global COVID-19 Vaccination by mid-2022. Geneva: WHO.