Transcript A Class Divided FRONTLINEName of Program A CLASS DIVIDEDOriginal Airdate March 2. Produced and directed by. William Peters. Correspondent. Charlie Cobb. Written by. William Peters. Charlie Cobb. NARRATOR Tonight, a third grade class gets a traumatic lesson in discrimination. JANE ELLIOTT Blue eyed people are smarter than brown eyed people. They are cleaner than brown eyed people. They are more civilized than brown eyed people. JOHN Russell called me names and I hit him. JANE ELLIOTT What did he call you JOHN Brown eyes. NARRATOR Tonight on FRONTLINE. A CLASS DIVIDED. JUDY WOODRUFF Good evening. It was the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. A class of third graders in a rural Iowa town came to school upset and confused. Dr. King had been their Hero of the Month the previous February. National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped Downloadable Books and Magazines BARD Braille and Audio Reading Download. Benjamin Earl King born Benjamin Earl Nelson, September 28, 1938 April 30, 2015, known as Ben E. King, was an American soul and RB singer and record producer. This instructable shows how to find the true meaning of Christmas. Its not about fancy aluminum Christmas trees, real estate, a blue ribbon for the best. Sports journalists and bloggers covering NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MMA, college football and basketball, NASCAR, fantasy sports and more. News, photos, mock drafts, game. The children couldnt understand why he had been murdered. So their teacher, Jane Elliott, tried a daring exercise to teach them a lesson about discrimination she hoped they would never forget. What those children learned and how it changed their lives is our story tonight. A Class Divided is produced and directed by William Peters who first covered this story for ABC News in 1. A few months ago, Peters returned to Riceville, Iowa, to a reunion of Jane Elliotts third graders, to answer the question of whether after fifteen years her students would still feel the sting of their first lesson in discrimination. Our reporter for FRONTLINE is Charlie Cobb. CHARLIE COBB August, 1. A high school reunion brings some 5. Riceville, Iowa. Eleven of them some with their spouses and children arrive early for a special reunion with their former third grade teacher, Jane Elliott. Fourteen years earlier, when they were students in her third grade classroom, ABC News filmed a two day exercise for a documentary, The Eye of the Storm. Now, at their request, they will see that film again and relive the experience of her unique lesson in discrimination. Scene from The Eye of the StormVoices Singing God Bless AmericaJane Elliott This is a special week. Does anybody know what it isChildren Brotherhood. Jane Elliott National Brotherhood Week. Whats brotherhood Girl Be kind to your brothers Jane Elliott Okay, be kind to your brothers. Boy. like you would like to be treated. Jane Elliott Treat everyone the way you would like to be treated. Treat everyone as though he was your. Children Brother. Jane Elliott Brother. And is there anyone in this United. States that we do not treat as our brothers Children Yeah. Jane Elliott WhoChildren Black people. Jane Elliott The black people. Who else Sandra Indians Jane Elliott Absolutely, the Indians. And when you see, when many people see a black person or a yellow person or a red person, what do they think Sandra Look at that. Jane Elliott Look at the dumb people. What else do they think sometimes What kind of things do they say about black people Greg They call them Negros, niggers. Jane Elliott In the city, many places in the United States, how are black people treatedHow are Indians treated How are people who are of a different color than we are treatedGreg Like theyre not part of this world. They dont get anything in this world. Jane Elliott Why is that Greg Because theyre a different color. Jane Elliott Do you think you know how it would feel to be judged by the color of your skin Children Yeah. Jane Elliott Do you think you doNo, I dont think youd know how that felt unless you had been through it, would you It might be interesting to judge people today by the color of their eyes. Children Yeah Jane Elliott Sounds like fun, doesnt itSince Im the teacher and I have blue eyes, I think maybe the blue eyed people should be on top the first day. Boy And up here Jane Elliott I mean the blue eyed people are the better people in this room. Boy Huh uh. Jane Elliott Oh yes they are blue eyed people are smarter than brown eyed people. Children Huh uh. Brian My dad isnt that. Jane Elliott Is your dad brown eyed Brian Yeah. Jane Elliott One day you came to school and you told us that he kicked you. Brian He did. Jane Elliott Do you think a blue eyed father would kick his son My dads blue eyed, hes never kicked me. Rays dad is blue eyed, hes never kicked him. Rexs dad is blue eyed, hes never kicked him. This is a fact. Blue eyed people are better than brown eyed people. Are you brown eyed or blue eyed Brian Blue. Jane Elliott Why are you shaking your head Brian I dont know. Jane Elliott Are you sure that youre right Why What makes you sure that youre right Brian I dont know. Jane Elliott The blue eyed people get five extra minutes of recess, while the brown eyed people have to stay in. Brian Ooooh. Jane Elliott The brown eyed people do not get to use the drinking fountain. Youll have to use the paper cups. You brown eyed people are not to play with the blue eyed people on the playground, because you are not as good as blue eyed people. The brown eyed people in this room today are going to wear collars. So that we can tell from a distance what color your eyes are. On page 1. 27 one hundred twenty seven. Is everyone ready Everyone but Laurie. Ready, Laurie Child Shes a brown eye. Jane Elliott Shes a brown eye. Youll begin to notice today that we spend a great deal of time waiting for brown eyed people. The yardsticks gone, well okay. I dont see the yardstick, do you Rex Its probably over there. Raymond Hey, Mrs. Elliott, you better keep that on your desk so if the brown people, the brown eyed people get out of hand. Jane Elliott Oh, you think if the brown eyed people get out of hand, that would be the thing to use. Who goes first to lunchChildren The blue eyes. Jane Elliott The blue eyed people. No brown eyed people go back for seconds. Blue eyed people may go back for seconds. Brown eyed people do not. Brian Why not the brown eyes Jane Elliott Dont you know Child Theyre not smart. Jane Elliott Is that the only reasonChild. afraid theyll take too much. Jane Elliott They might take too much. Okay, quietly now. Child 1 It seemed like when we were down on the bottom, everything bad was happening to us. Child 2 The way they treated you, you felt like you didnt even want to try to do anything. Child 3 It seemed like Mrs. Elliott was taking our best friends away from us. Jane Elliott What happened at recess Were two of you boys fighting Children Russell and John were. Jane Elliott What happened, John John Russell called me names and I hit him. Hit him in the gut. Jane Elliott What did he call you John Brown eyes. Jane Elliott Did you call him brown eyes Child 1 They always call us that. Child 2 Come here, brown eyes. Child 3 They were calling us blue eyes. Child 4 I wasnt. Child 5 Sandy and Donna were. Child 6 Yeah. Jane Elliott Whats wrong with being called brown eyesRoy It means that were stupider and well, not that. Raymond Oh, thats just the same way as other people call black people niggers. Jane Elliott Is that the reason you hit him, JohnDid it help Did it stop him Did it make you feel better inside Make you feel better inside Did it make you feel better to call him brown eyes Why do you suppose you called him brown eyesBrian Because he has brown eyes Jane Elliott Is that the only reasonHe didnt call him brown eyes yesterday and he had brown eyes yesterday. Didnt he Child We just started this. Brian. yeah, ever since you put those blue things on. Child They tease him. Jane Elliott Oh, is this teasing Brian No. when he did it, it was. Jane Elliott Were you doing it for fun to be funny, or were you doing it to be meanRussell Mean Jane Elliott I dont know, dont ask me. JANE ELLIOTT I watched what had been marvelous, cooperative, wonderful, thoughtful children turn into nasty, vicious, discriminating, little third graders in a space of fifteen minutes. Jane Elliott Yesterday, I told you that brown eyed people arent as good as blue eyed people. That wasnt true. I lied to you yesterday. Brian Ooh boy, here we go again. Jane Elliott The truth is that brown eyed people are better than blue eyed people. Children LaughterJane Elliott Russell, where are your glasses Russell I forgot them. Jane Elliott You forgot them. And what color are your eyesRussell Blue. Children LaughterJane Elliott Susan Ginder has brown eyes. She didnt forget her glasses.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
November 2017
Categories |