This was one of the most inspirational and educational documentaries that I have ever personally watched. A third grade teacher, Jane Elliott divides her class by blue and brown eyes to teach about discrimination and how it affects people in our society. People in society are taught many things in their lifetime, but when it is experienced first handedly they have a different perspective about it.
When speaking with the class about Brotherhood week and what it meant I was shocked when Jane Elliott asked the class “If there was anyone that we did not treat like a brother” the classes first instant response was black people. There was no hesitation in answering this question. They even used the word “Nigger”. This is a prime example of how prominent discrimination was at that time, and it is just as prominent in our society today.
African Americans currently score lower than European Americans on vocabulary, reading, and mathematics tests, as well as on tests that claim to measure scholastic aptitude and intelligence. This gap appears before children enter kindergarten, and it persists into adulthood. It has narrowed since 1970, but the typical American black still scores below 75 percent of American whites on most standardized tests. On some tests the typical American black scores below more than 85 percent of whites (Jencks, 1998). African Americans scoring lower on test could possibly be the results of discrimination. Jane Elliott proved this point in her documentary. On both days, children who were designated as inferior took on the look and behavior of genuinely inferior students, performing poorly on tests and other work.
I feel that this experiment would be beneficial and should be performed in our school systems to help children experience discrimination, and the feelings of demoralization on a first...