Jane Elliott's teaching is what we should be making mandatory in schools (always relevant)

[Nevilledog]

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Rex Chapman🏇🏼
@RexChapman
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Jane Elliott divided her class by eye color — those with brown eyes and those with blue. The brown-eyed students were told they were smarter, nicer, neater, and better than those with blue eyes. She wanted to show what discrimination feels like…


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4:03 PM · Jul 6, 2022

[Upthevibe]

1. Nevilledog....

Thanks for the post. I completely agree with you.

I was reminded about her (after the George Floyd murder). I re-watched it and sent it to friends.

[alwaysinasnit]

2. This is the most telling video clip I've ever seen from Jane Elliott.

[Ms. Toad]

3. No. This video does exactly what the right wing incorrectly insists CRT does -

Demands apologies for being white, for being privileged, etc.

The point she is making is valid, but the means by which she makes that point has no place in education.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. The apology demanded was for leaving an exercise when it got uncomfortable for the participant

when the whole point was discomfort. That's something marginalized people are never able to do.

[Ms. Toad]

5. I understand the point she was trying to make -

But demanding an apology for having (and exercising) privilege is precisely the accusation the right wing is making about CRT. It is absolutely false as applied to CRT.

Yes - walking out is something marginalized people cannot do. But the way to make that point is not to allow the class to abuse a child based on a physical characteristic, allow that child to walk out, and then when they come back in (without the benefit of the discussion the class was having in their absence) demand an apology. (Not to mention that the demand was unclear at first - a simple flat demand (no explanation as to why) for an apology to everyone fpr walking out. Then it changed to an apology - with at least a bit of explanation - to the black students, then to all minorities.

Not to mention that the child herself may be marginalized (LGBT, overweight, bullied). The marginalization of many students may not visible to the teacher. This treatment exascerbates that marginalization.

These are children - she started with third graders, and then moved to 7th to 8th graders.

Treating a group of children - without informed consent - as a psychological experiment is not OK, no matter how worthy the goal.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. These people are college students.

[Ms. Toad]

7. Her work for 17 years was with elementary and middle school students.

9 years with second & 3rd graders and an additional 8 with 7th and 8th graders.

There is no information in the OP that the particular video was college students - if they are, that is marginally better. But only marginally.

And since we don't normally mandate college attendance (or specific classes), the OP appears to be talking about - at the oldest - high school students.