I was extremely entertained by the video we watched in class. In a very inventive way, Jane Elliot exposes children to the terrible realities of discrimination. It is incredible to see these the change in the children when they are being discriminated against, and the discriminators for that matter.
The stat that stated the children scored higher when superior and scored much worse when the inferior was just mind blowing for me, and the fact when they were reunited they all scored much higher is a testament to how good of a tool this was, and still is.
Later on, when this tactic was used on adults, watching it became extremely frustrating for me. I just wish the guy who didn't have a pencil could have told her to shut up, but the power of the exercise truly made him feel inferior and he couldn't react in the way you could tell he really wanted to. The one woman couldn't handle it any more and got into a verbal confrontation with her, but ultimately it got her nowhere.
I would have to say, coming from a white male, I think this is the most accurate way to simulate discrimination. Very glad I got a chance to see this, and would recommend it to anyone.
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