I think that you all should watch the whole thin but I think that the Daring Lesson and Day 2 are the best. By having one experience that makes you the "other" can that change your mindset for a lifetime? What are the real long term effects of an experiment like this?
click on the site...
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/etc/view.html
I emailed this to my high school and middle school teachers.
ReplyDeleteI like the clips with the adults even better, particularly when the last white woman to speak talks about transparency and the white privilege of not having to consciously acknowledge whiteness.
I think that a one day experience like that can definitely change someone’s point of view for a lifetime. Someone can think they know and empathize with what it means to be discriminated against, but you never really know until you experience it. In one day nice third grades who were friends with each other turned on one another. They accused parents with brown eyes of hitting their children, and that parents with blue eyes would never do that.
ReplyDeleteThese children were only in third grade for this experiment, but how could something like that not change your outlook on life? How can you go from being treated as normal one second to being treated like dirt simply because an authority figure claimed your eyes were not of a superior color? How could an individual who knows how it feels to be discriminated against then turn around and continue to discriminate against others?
I thought this was a very good exercise and this is a point that I have often thought about. Just how deep do the psychological damages of being labeled as the 'other' have? I have often made the argument that the psychological damages of being black in America is much greater than many wish to acknowledge but have often been shrugged off and told that it is not that big of a deal and the problems that exist within the black community solely lie with their own actions.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as stated in this video, this is a form of white privilege as it is an act of white transparency to turn a blind eye to the mental damages that discrimination on a state level has.
In one of my other classes, we have dealt a lot with what is considered ethical. It is a research class, and a lot of emphasis has gone into the aspects of keeping the subjects safe from physical/mental/emotional damage. While I think this exercise was effective, (like Tim Wise mentioned, the best way to teach someone about your view is to engage them in situations they can relate to) is this going to ultimately help the white people understand?
ReplyDeleteI remember when this movie was shown on K's Campus. I don't remember if it was my Freshman or Sophomore year but I thought it was interesting then and still do. I think it's an important lesson to teach/learn and that an exercise like this can have lasting effects on people. It's also especially influential for children who have not yet built up years of "social understanding" (discrimination) learned from their social groups. I also loved the little boy who was determined to rip that blue collar into as many pieces as he possibly could...
ReplyDeleteThat's the thing about children. A single event can totally stay with you for life, maybe in ways you can't ever fully understand. It's important for children to get positive, significant, anti-racist teachings as early as possible. And beyond the spoonfed "everyone is equal," catch phrases. I think future generations are the best hope there is for mending race relations, but without care can just reproduce the same crap.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how well they remember the lesson 14 years later. Even more important, perhaps, is that they are teaching their own children about discrimination and race. It shows that the effect of the exercise is going beyond simply tailoring their own thought, but also trying to change others.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree with Meredith. I think it's amazing that they still remember the exercise so well, and it truly stuck with them. I mean, sometimes people do things like this exercise and there just isn't a lasting affect. Maybe it affects them for a while, but then it just fades away. However, after 14 years, the students still keep this with them, which makes it somewhat successful.
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