Jane Elliott: The Struggle Between Racism And Education

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Divided
In today’s society there are a lot of people that are divided about the issue of racism. How we see each other and how we interact is becoming more and more important as our world becomes smaller. Some people believe racism doesn’t exist, others believe racism is everywhere. This paper will be about Jane Elliott who is an anti-racism activist and educator. Ms. Elliott conducted an experiment in 1970 among 3rd grade students that dealt specifically with racism which had some very startling results. Since then she has conducted this experiment several times with college students and other adults as well with some shocking results.
The experiment was simple, divide a classroom into brown-eyed and blue-eyed (light eyed) students. Treat one group of students better than the other and make them think because of their eye color they are smarter than the other group. Spend the day promoting those beliefs and watch how students react.
I think this experiment might have worked so well with children because they do not have as much knowledge or understanding on the subject of race as adults would. They know what their parents tell them, how things are …show more content…

Advantages to growing up in an urban environment include a greater chance of mixing cultures and developing relationships with people from different backgrounds. This is due to the sheer amount of different cultures available in an urban environment. The advantages of a rural environment may not include as diverse a background but quality relationships can still be found. The disadvantages to either environment can be found in human nature. For example, even in a diverse environment where people come from different backgrounds people will still segregate themselves into different groups, if not by color than by wealth, religious beliefs, sports affiliation, academic ability or

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