A Class Divided
I enjoyed the video simply because I responded to the idea of the third grade teacher challenging the young children, and trying to turn such a mature situation as the shooting of Dr. Martin Luther King into a topic that even third graders can understand. It was very moving as the now-adults were able to look back on what their reactions/sayings were as kids and how they could relate to what discrimination was as whites. I could not say that I didn't like a certain part of this video, because I seemed to enjoy every part of it. Not saying that it was entertaining, but it relayed a message... and gave others a chance to expose this issue to people who are not as educated on the subject. I was very surprised at how the children with blue eyes treated the children with brown eyes. It seemed as though they turned very quick on others that they once considered their friends. They didn't know why they didn't like children with brown eyes, but they just chose not to like them after their teacher told them that they were "better" than them. They seemed to enjoy the fact that they were considered better, which even relayed in their work. The students that were considered better than the others the first day seemed to have a better performance in class than the other eye color. I found it every interesting to see that. The scene that I am sure that I will remember a month from now was the scene where all of the children were referring to African Americans as "niggers". Yes, I am sure that at that time, calling a black person a nigger was socially acceptable, but that definitely doesn't make it right. I was just so shocked to see children at such a young age refer to them as that, whereas children in today's society would most likely be punished to referring to human beings as that.
