Racial Inequality In Jane Elliott's Analysis

After the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jane Elliott wanted to teach her young students about discrimination and its effects after watching days of news commentary in where white men described black Americans as “those people” and “those communities,” as if black Americans were not a part of America. most of Elliott's 8-year-old students were like her, born and raised in a small town in Iowa, and were not exposed to black people outside of television, she felt that simply talking about racism would not allow her all-white class to fully comprehend racism's meaning and effects. Jane Elliott decided to discuss racial inequality by asking her class about what their belief Brotherhood is. She asks her students what it means and if there …show more content…
She enlists the blue-eyed children to back her up and give examples of these supposed behavioral deficiencies. One of the shocking things is how quickly the blue-eyed children slip into the roles of bigots. One child suggests that Elliott should keep the yardstick close by so that she can deal with unruly brown-eyed kids. Some children call others “brown eyes” in a way that one child compares to the use of the word nigger against people of color. The following day the children with roles, the privileges that accrued to the blue-eyed kids the day prior are now the privilege of the brown-eyed ones. Despite having been discriminated against the day prior because of their eye color, or maybe because of it, the brown-eyed children take the roles as racists and oppressors with no hesitation. This is part of the reason I believe that racism is a learned behavior. There are many agents to blame for racism. To break it down, I believe the society as a whole from schools, parents to the government is to blame for the existence of racism. I also believe that it is a learned behavior it is not in ones DNA to be