therefore "unlearn" them. But first we must recognize and acknowledge them. "Psychologists once believed that only bigoted people used stereotypes. Now the study of unconscious bias is revealing the unsettling truth: We all use stereotypes, all the time, without knowing it. We have met the enemy of equality, and the enemy is us..." [emphasis added] (Paul, 1998, p.52). Shaped by the culture around us, we develop biases and stereotypes without even noticing. Through close examination, the 'isms' project highlights the biases that influence both classroom and overall school environments. It then suggests ways to alter these environments, making children's school experience inclusive and respectful of the diversity they represent. We not only mirror the ambivalence we see in society, but also mirror it in precisely the same way. Our society talks out loud about justice, equality, and egalitarianism, and most...accept these values as their own. At the same time, such equality exists only as an ideal, and that fact is not lost on our unconscious...We learn the subtext of our culture's messages early. By five years of age, many children have definite and entrenched stereotypes about blacks, women, and other social groups....Children don't have a choice about accepting or rejecting these conceptions, since they're acquired well before they have the cognitive abilities or experiences to form their own beliefs...no matter how progressive the parents, they must compete with all the forces that would promote and perpetuate these stereotypes: peer pressure, mass media, the actual balance of power in society...We create