At this time when we are dealing with a complex issue of race relations and how we can have a discussion so that we ALL can see how we are affected by this, I am reminded of a simple experiment conducted by an at the time young woman in small rural town in Iowa. Who knew that separating people by eye color could be a powerful teaching tool.
Jane Elliot was a teacher at rural elementary school in Iowa and in 1968 after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., she did what every good teacher would do, use it as a teachable moment. How do you teach students from a dominantly white town the dangers of racism? I have seen some clips of her teaching this same exercise to adults and moving some people to such anger that they storm out of the room never to return...truly powerful. I could try and describe it more for you but I don't know if any description of it can do it true justice. YOU HAVE TO SEE IT
If you are a teacher and want to find a way to have a discussion on the power of racism, you should start and finish with this. I apologize for the fact that I can't put a youtube link to it. I would recommend all to view it and use the tools to help start a much needed discussion.
https://www.youtube.com/...
This is to the documentary itself.
http://www.pbs.org/...
This is a link to a site for the documentary with more background and items to use in completing this exercise.
http://www.janeelliott.com/
Her personal webstite which shows the original experiment but also how she has spoken all over the world to show racism is everywhere and that we must all deal with it.