"Harrison Bergeron" uses the word "equality" ironically. Many political groups over the years have attempted to use this story as a way to criticize the implementation of policies that attempted to make American society more "equal" (Civil Rights Acts, affirmative action). However, these policies only attempt to raise the rights of minority groups and to make public institutions more accessible.
In "Harrison Bergeron," equality means lowering all of society to a lowest-common denominator. Competition, which America generally sees as a good thing, is reduced to a negative. When Hazel suggests that George reduce his handicaps, George replies that if he did it "other people'd get away with it—and pretty soon we'd be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else."
Now, there are ways in which standards can be lowered in order to give everyone a fair shot, which is bad. However, much of the time, this type of "equality" is self-inflicted. Like George with Hazel, people generally don't like making others feel bad. George is more intelligent than Hazel, but is okay reducing himself for her. Certain people are more talented than others and when placed on an equal playing field, the more talented person will generally come out ahead.
Whether this is "fair" or not is a loaded question. What does "fair" mean? Does it mean that everyone has an equal opportunity? Or does it mean that everyone has to perform the same?
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