"A Classroom Divided".
Jane Elliot, a third grade teacher, conducted an experiment using her third grade classes. She wanted to teach them about discrimination and make sure that they never participated in actions that would show their discrimination towards other people. Elliot had thought long about the experiment but never felt the need to follow through with it until one of her students came to her the day after Martin Luther King was shot. She couldn't easily explain why it had happened, and therefore knew the lesson needed to be taught. She knew she needed a concrete way to show the children discrimination across society.
Elliot started the lesson on a Tuesday in 1970. She stood at the front of the classroom asking her class what kind of people we treat differently. The third graders quickly responded black people and Indians. They knew for themselves that they treated others differently and thought it was acceptable. Elliot then began her lesson. She told the class that since she has blue eyes, that blue eyed people are smarter, they get 5 minutes extra recess, and they get to eat lunch first. The brown eyed children were told that they can't use the water fountain, they must eat lunch last, and were given a collar to wear so that people will be able to tell they are brown eyed from far away. The next day, Elliot switched the roles. Now, the brown eyes were smarter and got the advantages, while the blue eyes got less. They hated the fact that they were being treated differently. Every child felt what it was like to be discriminated against, and learned a valuable lesson. .
At the time of the experiment, the favored eyed kids really loved the advantages they were given, but the discriminated against children hated it. You could see it in each one of their eyes. They felt ashamed for having brown eyes. They hated the collars they were given to wear. In fact, as soon as they were told they could take them off, many of the children made sure their collars were destroyed so that they never had to wear them again.
