Sociological Cultural Opinions
Jane Elliot's Blue Eyed/Brown Eyed Study
From viewing A Class Divided, reasonable personal impressions of Jane Elliot and her approach are that she was a courageous, pioneering educator who devised a lesson with an approach that was: timely, because it started immediately after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination and in the late 60's, which were culturally tumultuous in America's history; profoundly effective, because you can see the stunning impact it had on the students and, frankly, because it made some people angry at Elliot, which is frequently a good sign of effectiveness; and forward-thinking, because understanding other races and cultures is a pillar of diversity, which is now acknowledged to be nationally and globally vital. Furthermore, eye color was and is an excellent metaphor for race because it cannot be helped (unless one wears those awful-looking contacts) and it has no bearing on human capabilities.
Both children and adults learned from the lesson. The children reportedly remarked to Elliot that they knew what is was like to hurt each other, what it was like to be hurt by each other, and eventually felt like a family who would not intentionally hurt each other again. The adults learned something if/when they moved past their anger. Immersed in the lesson, these people got caught up in being unfairly treated, which was the point of the lesson. The people who were discriminated against spoke of feeling powerless, hopeless and being in a glass cage. Meanwhile, the people who were not discriminated against "sat on their hands" in order to protect themselves and because they were relieved at being treated beneficially. Furthermore, Elliot was so smart and focused about the lesson...
Her method might be considered crude by some; however, it would be unfair to condemn her by current diversity-teaching methods that benefited from her lesson and are in place more than 40 years after her lesson.
2. Peace
a. Is it Possible?
A sober review of the world's situation makes it appear that Peace is not possible: Middle-East fighting has reportedly been going on since at least the time Jesus of Nazareth walked the earth; also, the United States -- still arguably the greatest military power on Earth -- has had many periods of war interspersed with brief periods of Peace. In fact, Zinn reports that prior to the attack of 09/11, the United States maintained more than 700 military bases outside U.S. borders and increased that number after 09/11. As Zinn states, governments cannot be depended upon to end war or to even take care of their people. Furthermore, prior to watching Zinn's videos, it appeared from one news report after another that War is inevitable-forever-and-ever-Amen.
Despite the persistence of war in History, Zinn's videos, Empire or Humanity and Just War, give eye-opening and positive views of a possible world without war. Realizing that governments and corporations cannot be relied on to avoid war, Zinn calls on a movement of human beings to refuse to support war, no matter what reason is given and no matter which liar is in the White House. Zinn's unconventional approach requires a mindset and culture that realizes a number of truths: that there is no "just" war; that governments and corporations compel us to war with seduction, propaganda and coercion, not for our good but for their own…
