Equal

They taught us every child was equal Then numbered every name One was called a future genius One was taught to know his place Gold stars hanging in the classroom Little trophies little scars Before we understood the race They showed us Who the winners are

They said there's room for everyone Just give it all you've got But some were born beside the door And some outside the lock

We're equal on paper Paper never questions why It accepts in black and white What the real world Proves a lie But when the starting gun goes off Some run and some take flight Someone has to finish first Someone has to come in last And most of us keep running While the chosen few run past

They promise equal education Equal chances equal ground But one walks out of Oxford With the right names gathered round Another learns to lay the bricks That hold their towers In the sky One is shown the private entrance One applies and waits outside

They say the road is open Every future ours to choose But some inherit winning hands And some are born to lose

We're equal on paper Paper never questions why It accepts in black and white What the real world Proves a lie But when the starting gun goes off Some run and some take flight Someone has to finish first Someone has to come in last And most of us keep running While the chosen few run past

The law in all its majesty Forbids us all the same The rich and poor Must never beg Or sleep out in the rain But one will never need the bridge While one has nowhere else to go The sentence reads The same for both The consequence does not

We're not born with equal talents Equal fortunes equal names That is not the thing That shames us It's pretending it's a fair race

Equal worth is not equal power Equal rules don't mean equal lives You can paint one line Beneath our feet It won't erase Where each one starts

Don't tell me every door is open When the keys are handed down Don't call the ladder fair and equal When some begin above the ground

We're equal on paper Paper never questions why It accepts in black and white What the real world Proves a lie They can underline each promise They can sign it Stamp it twice But ink can't make the race fair And words can't make things right

Someone always takes the podium Someone disappears behind And most of us live somewhere Between the first and final line We're equal on paper Because paper is blind

They told us we were equal Then taught us to compete

They called it a fair race And never asked Where we began