kjpepper | Feb. 13th, 2007

I'll give you a topic: What would happen if this exercise were performed for a week instead of a day/an hour and a half?

Context - the five YouTube videos are segments of Frontline: A Class Divided, where teacher Jane Elliott reunites 15 years later with her 3rd grade class with which she performed her "eye-colorist" exercise. Later in the program she repeats it with correctional officers and staff as part of a sensitivity training program.

Part 1: http://youtube.com/watch?v=l0gUchvopOc

Part 2: http://youtube.com/watch?v=_OrDZmi-YkA

Part 3: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Awgsg_iQ-No

Part 4: http://youtube.com/watch?v=iu6jLOapt1o

Part 5: http://youtube.com/watch?v=uXcO0Ah64rM&NR

This is a fascinating watch if you have a half hour or so to kill. I was actually kinda surprised that the now grown-up students actually remembered this (though I'm sure being on TV for it helped) and though I feel like they were moved by it, I think they give themselves too much credit... I'm not racist, I took Jane Elliott's class! You can sort of see it in the woman who begins to talk about how she _does_ make racist judgements, but quickly assures her audience that she stops herself from thinking that way instantly. While I suppose that's better than not stopping at all, it still says that it's going to take more work than depriving kids of recess for a day to really change anything.

I was much more impressed with the segment with the corrections officers though. That bit where she says that she's blue eyed but married a brown-eyed person, had brown-eyed kids and learned to assimilate into a brown-eyed society made my jaw drop. And after that Ms. "Lady" with the glasses and the bad frizz still needed to be told off by the Latina looking chick in the front row in order to get what the point of the exercise was! That was pretty amazing.

Still... overall, not a good argument for human nature. Positions of superiority turn people into little shits, no matter what color eyes or skin you have.

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