Hey guys,
i've finally decided to do my first blog on Prejudice and Discrimination. Today I went to the Australian Eye SBS website (http://www.sbs.com.au/australianeye/) and read up on Jane Elliots fascinating and eye opening experiments. For those who haven't read about her experiments, bascially what she has done is picked out a physical characteristic (in this case, people with blue eyes) that an individual cannot help having or cannot change, and then she discriminates against them because they have blue eyes. Her workshops go for one day and involve a blue eyed caucasion group, and a brown eyed (some Aboriginals, some caucasions & some people from other backgrounds) group. Basically Jane discriminates against and insults the blue-eyed group for about 40 minutes while praising and making the brown eyed group superior. When the 40 mins is up, Jane debriefs both groups and explains how this experiment relates to discrimination and prejudice against a race (e.g., Aboriginals).
When I first started watching the online videos, I thought this women was a bit crazy, but when I took the time to read the experiments, it became very clear to me what Jane was trying to achieve. I think she was trying to make white Australians appreciate how difficult it has been and still is for minority groups for many years in our country, and if you watch the online video clips, the message has seemed to have gotten through. I believe that making people understand is the first step to making not only Australia a better place but the rest of the world.
Obviously this is only the start of a long road, but I think that if you can make one or two people change their attitudes toward a minority group, these one or two people will possibly influence their social networks to think similiar and appreciate all that humanity has to offer
i've finally decided to do my first blog on Prejudice and Discrimination. Today I went to the Australian Eye SBS website (http://www.sbs.com.au/australianeye/) and read up on Jane Elliots fascinating and eye opening experiments. For those who haven't read about her experiments, bascially what she has done is picked out a physical characteristic (in this case, people with blue eyes) that an individual cannot help having or cannot change, and then she discriminates against them because they have blue eyes. Her workshops go for one day and involve a blue eyed caucasion group, and a brown eyed (some Aboriginals, some caucasions & some people from other backgrounds) group. Basically Jane discriminates against and insults the blue-eyed group for about 40 minutes while praising and making the brown eyed group superior. When the 40 mins is up, Jane debriefs both groups and explains how this experiment relates to discrimination and prejudice against a race (e.g., Aboriginals).
When I first started watching the online videos, I thought this women was a bit crazy, but when I took the time to read the experiments, it became very clear to me what Jane was trying to achieve. I think she was trying to make white Australians appreciate how difficult it has been and still is for minority groups for many years in our country, and if you watch the online video clips, the message has seemed to have gotten through. I believe that making people understand is the first step to making not only Australia a better place but the rest of the world.
Obviously this is only the start of a long road, but I think that if you can make one or two people change their attitudes toward a minority group, these one or two people will possibly influence their social networks to think similiar and appreciate all that humanity has to offer
