In the 1960’s they did a study on a 3rd grade class called brown eyes/ blue eyes. It was where Jane Elliot, the teacher, split up the classes based only on the color of their eyes. On one day the blue eyed kids were ridiculed for having blue eyes and had no privileges like playing with toys. The next day the brown eyed kids got the same treatment.
The purpose of the study was to show how young minds can be manipulated into thinking a certain way just by being told something. This study is like a form of racism. It is like growing up being told that another race is inferior to your own race, which leads to ridicule and mistreating of the other race. Young people learn behaviors from what older people tell them and by examples that they witness.
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What were your thoughts about this study? How did it reveal aspects of racism that you might not have realized without learning about that study? I would be interested in your reflections on the study.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting story indeed. We had actually talked about this in my Psychology class last year. It was crazy to see how kids were so easily manipulated into thinking that one color of eye was better than the other. When in reality there was no difference at all which is exactly what it is when it comes to black and white. There is no real difference other than the color of our skin. I learned from this study that a little bit of ridicule at a certain group can go a long way. It got to the point where some of the kids were not getting a long outside the classroom. Tensions began to build up between blue eyed people and brown eyed people kind of like tensions between black and white people. It just goes to show you how easily we can be manipulated to think something is better just because we were told that. I think more people should watch this video and they might have a different viewpoint about racism.
ReplyDeleteI thought I heard about this story before. I think it was in Psychology. It is a very interesting story indeed. It showed me numerous things. Children were taught or knew about racism and the cause of it. Also how easy it is to point someone in power and out of power with little words. I believe this study can be done to adults to a certain extent. the study was very impactful. This is to Hokey what different veiwpoint on racism are you imposing??
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