Frontline ran a special on racial divisions that I think should be mandatory training for all children in public schools. And more importantly, maybe the Board of Supervisors could learn a little here too. The three clips are just under 10 minutes each but well worth watching.
FRONTLINE: A Class Divided
Chapter One:
The Daring Lesson
Jane Elliott divides her 3rd graders into blue and brown-eyed groups. She tells the blue-eyes they are “the better people in this room,” gives them privileges and comments on their superiority all day. The brown eyes must wear collars.
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FRONTLINE: A Class Divided
Chapter Two: Day Two
Today, roles are reversed. Elliott says she lied and that “the truth is that brown-eyed people are better than blue-eyed people.” On this day the brown eyes score higher on a test compared to the previous day when they were “inferior.”
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FRONTLINE: A Class Divided
Chapter Three: 14 Years Later…
At a special reunion in 1984, Elliott’s former students watch the original 1970 film of themselves as 3rd graders and talk about the effect her lesson has had on their lives.[ev type=”youtube” data=”Awgsg_iQ-No”][/ev]
Great watch! Thanks for sharing these, Chris.