Yesterday we shared a video we found that blew our minds. Aired in the ’70s, the 14 minute-long video shows elementary teacher Jane Elliott teaching her third grade students about prejudice in a really unconventional way.
The video is from a documentary back then called The Eye of the Storm. Perhaps many people have already seen it; many might have not. It’s definitely something to watch. Mrs. Elliott basically separates her classroom into blue- and brown-eyed groups and tells her students one group is better than the other. The next day, she pulls the switch and makes the other group better. The results are really astounding.
Today, we found a new video that shows what happened to these students 17 years later and how Mrs. Elliott’s little experiment has been used across the nation to teach kids AND adults what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes for a change. Or, like a black man who watched the experiment says half-way through: “It really shows you how prejudice is really just something that’s in people’s minds and not real”. See for yourself – or bookmark it for later. The video is 55 minutes long (you can skip to the 17:56 mark if you watched the other video).
Prejudice is still very much alive in the US and in the world and goes deeper than skin color. People today discriminate based on looks, on sexual orientation, even on gender. We have made much progress as a society –as this week’s milestone proves it– and at least these issues are widely talked about and acknowledged today. Still, and despite the controversy surrounding Mrs. Elliott’s method, there is a long way to go and this video is always a good watch. Take it as our little contribution for Pride Month this year 