Describe your initial reaction to this video. What did you learn?

+ I honestly thought that the exercise would be disastrous, or at least a flop, but
the third graders were so accepting of the rules and cooperative during the whole
situation that I was surprised that they all didn't end up getting their feelings hurt
in the long run! I was impressed that the kids came together in the end and
confessed that using the color of their eyes gave them an excuse to do/feel
certain ways during the week of brotherhood.
What scene or scenes do you think you'll still remember a month from now and
why those scenes?
+ I think I'll remember the scene where the teacher was pretending to
discriminate against the blue-eyed adults and they started fighting back, at first
respectfully, then as the teacher's ridicule increased, the blue-eyed adults began
to ridicule her, too. This made me think that if we push buttons more than once,
people will react negatively and nothing productive will happen in the classroom.
Did any part of the film surprise you? Do you think someone of a different race,
ethnicity, or religion would also find it surprising?
+ I was surprised that all the kids in that third grade classroom were white. They
might have known a few black people, but I am sure that they did not know any
black people personally, like have them as friends. This might not be surprising
since the experiment was set in Indiana, but then again, I feel like this exercise
needs to be implemented in a more diverse population as well, so I was happy
when they did this experiment with the adults.
What was the exercise that Elliott designed a response to the children's question,
"Why would anyone want to murder Martin Luther King?" Did the film provide an
answer to the question? Can you answer the question?
+ The day after MLK died, Miss Elliott realized she'd have to help her kids respond
in a responsible way, unlike the way the reporters did on television. She created
the "Brown-eyed, Blue-eyed" experiment so that kids know what it is like to be
discriminated against and why King wanted to reveal and end those prejudices
and discrimination in the US. The moment that child asked that question, Miss
Elliott knew it was the right time to teach the kids a hard, but useful lesson.
What did the children's body language indicate about the impact of discrimination,
and how did the negative and positive labels placed on a group become self-
fulfilling prophecies?
+ Whenever a child was told he wasn't smart or fun because of his/her eye color,
some of them laughed nervously, others put their head down on their desks, and
a few looked like they were about to cry. Some reacted in physical anger because
they knew what was being said about them wasn't true, but no one else thought
that way. When children are told they are incapable of something, they tend to
believe that and they might end up doing what was predicted by their oppressors.
In short, the child becomes what everyone says he or she will be.
In the prison seminar, one of the white women asserts that all people face some
kind of discrimination. Another woman challenges her, claiming that whites can't
really know what it's like to face discrimination every minute of every day. What
do you think?
+ I think what the white woman was trying to say is that everyone gets bullied at
some point in their lives. However, discrimination is when you constantly get
picked on because of a particular outside feature about you. Not everyone will
know what it's like to be constantly mistreated because not everyone is on the
bottom so to say.
Both Elliott and her former students talk about whether or not this exercise
should be done with all children. What do you think? If the exercise could be
harmful to children, as Elliott suggests, what do you think actual discrimination
might do?
+This exercise should be implemented into all schools, but I think the parents
should be present to help monitor it, just in case anything gets out of hand or
children get any ideas to hurt someone later after the exercise is over. Actual
discrimination is learned, and I think if we get the parents involved they will
discover what they are doing wrong and help their child learn how to be kind to
everyone, despite their eye color!
What features did Elliott ascribe to the superior and inferior groups and how did
those characteristics reflect stereotypes about blacks and whites?
+She described one group as smart, fast, clean, and respectful, while the other
group was the complete opposite. I think that the group who had the upper hand
felt that they needed to push the other group down so they could be up top.
How did Elliott's discrimination create no-win situations for those placed in the
inferior group? How did she selectively interpret behavior to confirm the
stereotypes she had assigned?
+She made sure she was consistent with her stereotypes so that the group she
was a part of could follow her lead. She constantly referred to their flaws as the
reason why they were noisy or disrespectful toward their classmates or
herself.
It's easy to understand why third-graders might not refuse to obey their teacher,
but when the exercise is done with the prison guards, why don't any of the adults
object?
+One of the third-graders expressed that he had things against his classmates
already and was just waiting for an excuse to enact his anger upon them. He
knew they were ridiculous grudges, so he needed a ridiculous reason to act
stupidly toward them. I think it is the same way with adults; most of them know
what they want to do is wrong, but they have been given stupid excuses to use
their discrimination against someone else.
At recess, two of the boys from different groups get in a fight. Elliott asks the one
who was teased if responding with violence made him feel better or made the
teasing stop. What does the answer suggest about the use of violence as a
political strategy? At the time, who was using violence for political purposes and
why?
+The little boy who broke out in violence claimed he didn't feel better when he
punched the other boy making fun of him, which makes me think that since we
are taught to defend ourselves if someone is mean to us, it might be harder for
an oppressed group to do that because it would make them look actually lower
than the rest, if that makes sense. Malcolm X was an infamous leader who used
violence to make a statement, but you don't see people quoting him or modeling
their speeches after his.
How is the blue eyes/brown eyes exercise related to the Sioux prayer, "Help me
not judge a person until I have walked in his shoes?
+This is really overstated, but you can never know how someone feels unless you
become them. That's why when you're helping someone through a rough time in
their life, you avoid saying I know how you feel because you probably don't;
saying things like that can hurt someone's feelings and then they can lash out in
anger from a completely preventable situation.
SUMMARY
All forms of discrimination are learned. Of course, children might say why do
they look like that? to random people, but have you ever heard a child ask that
in a condescending way? I believe that this program should be instilled in
classrooms nationwide, and I firmly believe that parents should be involved with
this lesson as well, by being in the classroom and discussing with others of
different colors and religions. We cannot pretend that these things do not matter
in the world because they are what people make of us and everyone must be
informed that people are unique, yet so much alike in so many different ways that
they are worth investigating and cherishing.