Question

What elements of Jane Elliott’s exercise paralleled the experiences of African Americans during the civil rights movement?

Answer 1

During the sixties of the 20th century, there was a movement for civil rights by African Americans who caused the struggle of racists against them.

Thus, in 1968, the assassination of Martin Luther King was carried out and on that occasion, Jane Elliott conducted a stunning exercise.

Jane Elliot, a world known teacher of diversity, exposes prejudices to an irrational class system based on some arbitrary factors.

This famous exercise called blue eyes / brown eyes consists in not providing equal conditions for children with blue and children with black eyes. Children who have less rights from the beginning have a sense of inferiority. Children with brown eyes were sitting in the back, were noted much more for the same or lesser offenses than those made by children with blue eyes. By the end of the working day, children with brown eyes put their eyes down, and the tasks they were doing were worse than usual. In addition, otherwise withdrawn and silent students with blue eyes worked much better and were louder than usual.

This only shows that if from the very beginning everyone does not have the same conditions, those who are in a subordinate position on the basis of someone's decision will work poorer and will feel inferior.

It is the same in relation to real life. Afro Americans had a feeling of inferiority, while racists were more loud and violent by conditions that were not equal for everyone.

Answer 2

The correct answer is the following.

The elements of Jane Elliot's exercise that paralleled the experiences of African Americans during the civil right movement were that the students were divided into two groups regarding the color of their eyes. The element of "separationism" created the separation feeling that minorities such as black people and immigrants felt during the civil rights movement.

Jane Elliot's experiment was called "Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes." She was a teacher at an Iowa school for white children. Brown-eyed kids were separated from the blue-eyed kids. The Brown-eyed group was treated right but the blue-eyed did not; they were put in constant pressure and surveillance. The teacher wanted the kids to learn what those African Americans felt during the civil right movement and that being discriminated by the color of the skin was not good. This experiment was recorded and is part of a documentary.