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The Eye of the Storm (1970 film)
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Wikipedia article
'The Eye of the Storm' is a 1970 American television documentary featuring schoolteacher Jane Elliott conducting her "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" exercise in discrimination, in her third-grade classroom at Riceville Elementary School in Riceville, Iowa. Riceville, a small town near the Minnesota border, is almost entirely white; in that context, young children had little understanding of the concept of discrimination. The documentary is narrated by Bill Beutel and directed by William Peters.
Premise
William Peters follows Jane Elliott's schoolroom exercise, conducted over two consecutive days, during which an otherwise homogenous group of elementary school kids was divided by their eye color. On the first day, members of one group were favored and thus received deferential, even preferential, treatment all day. Meanwhile, the members of the other group were disfavored; their treatment was a reflection of that. On the second day, the roles were reversed.
Follow-up
This documentary was followed up with "A Class Divided", a 1985 'Frontline' episode in which 'The Eye of the Storm' is shown to the original participating studentsnow adults 15 years laterand Elliott is given a chance to find out how much of the lesson her students retained.
References
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