A Class Divided Reflection Essay

Every unitary is probably to experience around form of contrariety or prejudice as is anyone capable of acting prejudiced towards others. On April 5th, 1968, a teacher in Riceville, Iowa named Jane Elliot conducted an test with her third grade class that dealt with the concept of discrimination and was attested in Peters 1985 A syndicate dissever. The exercise originally took roll the day after Martin Luther King was assassinated. The documentary is an eye opener to the hu humanness of racism and discrimination. Bucher (2010) describes racism as discrimination based on the flavour that one race is superior to another (97). According to Bucher (2010) discrimination is delimitate as the unequal treatment of community on the basis of their free radical membership (100). Bucher goes on to say treatment varies because of race, age, gender, favorable class or any number of other dimensions of diversity (100). A Class Divided exposes that discrimination doesnt nevertheless go to the extent to the color of skin, market-gardening or ethnicity, but discrimination whoremaster fall into any visible characteristics, social status, having a developmental disability, simply being a woman, and in this case the color of your eyes.The concept Elliot is teaching, is that racism is a learned demeanor and not part of human genetics. This high eyeball versus dark- dark-brown eye sight experiment establishes that thinking and acting racist is learned. She as well proves it base be unlearned. She wants us to turn around with the myth of w fall upone superiority. How we ar told to believe that racism no longer exists and that its not as simple as the KKK. Today racism and discrimination go oft further and are more complex. Its being able to ballot its the stereotypes an unverified and oversimplified generalization about an entire sort of people (Bucher, 2010, 86), children learn growing up its portraying the colored people as the bad ones and the white p eople as victims its not having the equal refines and opportunities. Elliots exercise with her class shows the effects of when there is a distinguished group of superiors and deficients.A month from now I pass on recall several convulsions from the movie. Especially all the human faces and emotions the children went through when part of the deficient group. When Mrs. Elliot told her class that brown eyeball people are not to stir up second helpings at lunch time, one little brown eyeball girl looked utterly heartbroken. The expression that Ill probably remember more or less is when Ms. Elliot did the test on the adults. It was shocking and interesting to see how adults act in such a situation as being discriminated against. Another scene that stood out was when the superior group of children felt like they were in reason they completely turned on the other group with no remorse. outmatch friends became worst enemies, and they didnt even think twice about it.Elliot con ducted this experiment on her third grade class based on students having discolor eyes or brown eyes. The first day the blue eyed children would be superiors, because blue eyed people are better and smarter than brown eyed people, thus they were given extra privileges. For example, the superior blue eyed children were entitled to seconds for lunch, but the inferior brown eyed children were not, in fears they dexterity take too much food. The superior group received unearned privileges, defined by Bucher (2010) as those benefits in support that we micturate through no effort of our own (135), like five extra transactions at recess and being allowed to play on the playground equipment. beneficial as blacks were forced to use segregated restrooms and water fountains, the inferior brown eyed people could not drink directly from the fountain they were needful to use a cup. The brown eyed children were also made to simulate a collar around their necks, that style, they could be t old apart, just as African Americans can be discriminated against from a distance.Elliot gave recognition to the blue eyed kids on being hard working, fast learners, while the brown eyed children were make up at fault and told they were not as smart. On the day blue eyed people were superior she brings up the point that blue eyed fathers never kick their children, like one brown eyed male childs father had done the prior week. But when blue eyed Russell forgot his glasses the following day, it had to be because he has blue eyes, since Susan, whom has brown eyes, remembered her glasses. Elliot also led the children to decide that since blue eyed Greg said he likes to hit his littersister, this conveys blue eyed people are naughty.From here, we witness some of superior blue eyed kids began to act arrogant and bossy to the inferior brown eyed kids. Blue eyed Russell was taunting John at recess, calling him brown eyes and John retaliated by hitting him. afterward the two boys fought at recess the teacher asked if responding with violence made him olfaction better, he replied no. His answer goes to show that responding with violence is ineffective and a waste of time and energy. They compared it to someone calling a black man the N-word.Even academic achievement goes up when the children were in the superior group. When doing the carte packs the first day the brown eyed children spent five and fractional proceeding to go through the deck, while the superior blue eyed children spent only three minutes, the following day the superior group of brown eyed students took only two and a half minutes compared to the four minutes and eighteen seconds of the inferior blue eyed group.In the documentary the kids didnt refuse to obey their teacher, even during the exercise, but astonishingly when doing the exercise with the adults, they also followed along with her every order. Not even one of the adults stood their ground, as Ms. Elliot kept throwing out negative commen ts, the adults never really argued with her. This is because if they would have argued it would have made them seem argumentative and disobedient which would have just made the situation worse. When being discriminated against, one feels hopeless. Maybe they felt as if their words wouldnt mean anything, even if spoken. While in the prison seminar, one of the white woman said that all people face some kind of discrimination, another woman disagrees by saying that whites cant really know what its like to face discrimination every day. There is no way that a white person will ever feel or know what its like to face the discrimination that African Americans have experienced.Watching A Class Divided really brought along a lot of different feelings. freshman and foremost I learned from watching the kids scene that you work better when you feel better and when you feel confident. Ms. Elliots way of showing these kids about discrimination and racism was very effective andtaught the kids that no one person is different from the next, we all were created equal and it isnt right to judge. It is important for every child to learn in the early stages of life that everybody under the sun is created equally. We may not look the same, or congeal the same, some of us may have a higher social status than others, but at the end of the day we still walk the same Earth, nobody is better than the next. The biggest impact from seeing the video is that it shows how tardily discrimination can be taught to a young impressionable child. As Elliot explains that we adults train our children to think this way when we past judgment and then they see it and grow up to be familiar with it and think of it as ordinary.whole kit and boodle CitedBucher, R. D. (2010). Diversity Consciousness Third Edition opening our minds to people, cultures, and opportunities. Upper turn on River, N.J. Prentice Hall.Peters, W. (Director). (1985). A class divided. Washington, DC PBS Video Frontline.