Teachers play a key role in alleviating or exacerbating educational inequality across the nation. Oftentimes this educational inequality is based on ethnicity, class, and gender as well as additional cultural factors. It is essential that teacher education programs include courses that address multicultural issues with the goal of developing true respect for those who are different than one's self. In order to gain respect for "all" others, pre-service teachers need to first understand what culture is; research their own cultural backgrounds and how individual cultural backgrounds influence the way one judges others; realize why multicultural education is needed in schools through an examination of the educational, economic, political, and social inequities in society; and be exposed to the true history of the United States. The author describes her course on social foundations and multicultural education for aspiring teachers and special education teachers at the Western Illinois University-Quad Cities campus.