Analysis Of PBS Film: A Class Divided

A Class Divided
The PBS film, “A Class Divided” is a chronicled reunion of the 1970 third grade class who were involved in an experiment conducted by their teacher named Jane Elliot. The exercise is known as “The Eye of the Storm” which dealt with prejudice and discrimination based on the children’s eye color. There were two distinct groups in her third grade classroom: the dominant group and the minority group. Elliot splits the class into blue eyed and brown eyed students and both groups would alternate from being in the dominant and minority group. She wanted the whole class to know how it felt to experience discrimination, prejudice, and show how it affects people.
The main focus of the film has to deal with the experiment of Jane Elliot base on the children’s eye color. The scene which also shows prejudice and discrimination that I will remember the most has to be at the beginning of “The Eye of the Storm”. The teacher tells the children: “today is special, it’s National Brotherhood Week” (PBS). Elliot explains to the children the meaning of Brotherhood, “Treat everyone the way you would like to be treated. Treat everyone as though he was your brother” (PBS). Then she asks them, “Is there anyone in this United States that we do not treat as our brothers?”(PBS) The way the

children answer Elliot’s question shocks me, and shows me how the third grade class view people differently do to the color of their skin.
For instance, Elliot asks, who is not treated as our brothers?

The children say black people and Indians. The children view people of different color skin as “dumb people” (PBS), and one boy even says, “Like they’re not part of this world. They don’t get anything in this world” (PBS). The teacher asks “why is that?” and the same boy says “because they’re a different color” (PBS). The type of prejudice and discrimination in this scene reminds me of how bad people, who are not part of the dominant group, had it back in those days. The unfair treatment of minority groups did not give them an equal opportunity to become successful in life because of the negative attitudes of the dominant

group.
In chapter ten, the book defines prejudice as a negative attitude about an entire category of people. The chapter also states that these attitudes may lead to discrimination. Discrimination is the unfair treatment of people based on a prejudice. The content in chapter ten describes both concepts as “Essentially, prejudice is an attitude, while discrimination is an action that stems from attitude” (Carl 181). The children of this scene display both these concepts of prejudice and discrimination covered in chapter ten do to their negative attitudes towards groups that do not have white skin. They also have the perception that all blacks and Indians are “dumb people,” based on a false assumption which is known as stereotypes in chapter ten.
I believe prejudice and discrimination still exists but it is based more on your social status and gender preference then by the color of your skin. I witness prejudice and discrimination when I lived in South Carolina and Oklahoma. Especially, when I speak Spanish in an area where the dominant group is white. For these reasons, I will remember the scene “The Eye of the Storm” not just for a month from now but for the rest of my life. I do not want people to ever experience prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination. I live my life by the biblical principle of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” commonly known as “the golden rule” (Luke 6: 31).