Elliott: Example Of Prejudice And Discrimination In Schools

Prejudice and discrimination give people a way to judge others based on their race, gender, etc. before even meeting them. In the novel, Boo Radley is discriminated against because of what people say about him and what he supposedly did. Boo has not been seen for 15 years but people make things up about him making him sound like a horrible person. When Scout actually meets him she realizes, “Why he hadn’t done any of those things… Atticus…he was real nice” (Lee 376). Scout had never even met Boo but automatically assumed that he was evil because of all the things that she had heard. Without discrimination and prejudice, Boo would not be thought of as such a bad person because people would not be judging him based on what they think he did and Scout would’ve never had a bad opinion about him. Other cases of discrimination in the novel are due to race and beliefs. Dolphus Raymond is discriminated against because he is married to a black woman. White people treat him differently because he does not discriminate based on skin colour. Dolphus understands that people discriminate against him and says, “[he won’t] cry about the simple hell people give other people without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give coloured folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people too” (Lee 269). Due to things that are said about certain types of folks, people just assume that they must be true and go along with them and treat those who don’t with less respect even though they are people too which is what Dolphus brings about. Tom Robinson is

Discrimination is prevalent in the story “To Kill a Mockingbird”, the most obvious being the excessive amount of racism (Lee). Racism is the easiest to see but there are more forms of discrimination (Lee). Boo Radley is ostracized from the community when truly nobody really knows him (Lee). People discriminate Scout for being a tomboy not a lady (Lee). The last one that no one ever thinks about is how reverse racism is seen when people threaten Atticus for defending Tom Robinson in court (Lee). Discrimination in any form is a controversial topic but everyone knows that it is not right to discriminate against people.

Everyone is likely to experience some form of discrimination or prejudice; as is anyone capable of acting prejudiced towards others. On April 5th, 1968, a teacher in Riceville, Iowa named Jane Elliot conducted an experiment with her third grade class that dealt with the concept of discrimination; and was documented in Peters’ 1985 ‘A Class Divided’. The exercise originally took place the day after Martin Luther King was assassinated. The documentary is an eye opener to the world of racism and discrimination. Bucher (2010) describes racism as “discrimination based on the belief that one race is superior to another” (97). According to Bucher (2010) “discrimination is defined as the

The first day the oppressed brown-eyed kids, in this limited time performed at a reduced level reading level completing phonic card set in 5 minutes and 30 seconds. The next day, roles reversed and their reading time improved to 3 minutes and 30 seconds. This was due to the fact that they were told they were superior or inferior that day. Mrs. Elliott implemented this on other classes and performance of the students decreased or increased based on their social standing. Mrs. Tatum’s essay presents this idea in the form of internalized oppression. The idea that you as an individual internalize the stereotypical characteristics, whether good or bad. Amazingly, this occurred in a twenty-four hour period, with the student's performance increasing or decreasing based on their status.

is a African American man who was wrongly accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell- who happens to be defended by Scout’s father (Atticus Finch). Scout is exposed to the racial discrimination that is obviously deeply rooted in the town, when it is passed down to and displayed by Cecil who says, “My folks said your daddy was a disgrace”. The aim to make Scout feel bad all because her father is defending a man who belongs to a certain race shows how racial discrimination continues to be passed along to Maycomb residents. Not only are the children showing it, but adults as well. Mrs. Dubose goes as far as telling Scout that her “father’s no better than the…

A recent analysis was released based on 13 southern states where suspensions and expulsion rates are overwhelmingly higher for black students than they are of white students. The director of the Council of state Governments Justice Center, a nonprofit policy group, stated that “blacks are more likely to be expelled in situations where teachers or school leaders have discretion on deterring how to resound to behavior, such as when a student is deemed disrespectful or defiant or violates a dress code.” Educators are prepared for educating students but are not prepared to deal with personalities that they don’t understand. “People are doing their jobs or living their lives, and do not understand themselves as agents of oppression.”(Young pg.42) Studies have shown that students who are expelled or suspended are more likely to get into trouble and end up with criminal backgrounds, than students who are not removed from school. (New York Times)

For instance, Crooks was mainly discriminated because of his race. His color caused many other aftereffects that worsened his level of alienation by a big factor. Crooks was treated very offensively like he was an alien and everyone kept away from him as much as they could. In fact, he did not sleep in the same bunkhouse but instead slept in a different room. He was not allowed to play horseshoe with them either. This showed how blacks were still thought of and treated unequally even after the Civil War. Nobody other than Slim and the boss, had entered Crooks 's room because Crooks was ‘negro’. “You have no right to come in my room. Nobody has the right to come here but me” (Page 68 )said Crooks to Lennie when he came into his cabin. Even Crooks, himself had gotten

This documentary was about how it feels to be discriminated upon and how it can be influenced in small children easily. Discrimination creates a barrier in the mind. For this reason, the barriers created by the prejudice are hard to overcome. In light to this, Elliott segregates her class according to eye color whereby brown eyes are perceived to be superior to the blue-eyed people. On the first day, the brown eyed pupils were provided with privileges (A Class Divided). They were allowed to have help at lunch, extra time at recess and a sense of self-worth above the blue eyed students. However, on the On the following day (not next) the situation is reversed and the blue eyed pupils are indulged with privilege which results to making brown eyed pupils feel less special compared with their peers. Elliott takes the opportunity to observe her class turning into a microcosm of society. Surprisingly, every time the experiment was carried out, the preferred group quickly turned the tables and embraced elite status. This implies that the two groups readily adopted the propaganda that Elliott sprouted on them (A Class Divided). The two created groups readily adopted their roles to perfection.

Jane Elliots famous experiment a Class Divided,  was inspired by the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The teacher, Mrs Elliot  thought this exercise to help her students comprehend the effects of racism and prejudice. Back in 1962, immediately after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. ,Jane Elliott experimented on teaching her third grade students about discrimination . For two days, she  made each of them experience real discrimination through provoking stereotyping and prejudice with usage of social psychological phenomena like cognitive errors, self-perceptions. Elliott first created stereotyping situation among the children by separating them into two groups by easily recognized physical traits as blue eyes and brown

After the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr a school teacher in Iowa devised an experiment that would give participants first-hand experience of discrimination. Jane Elliott’s experiment will be evaluated in this essay as well as analysing the impacts of her experiment. Additionally, this essay will identify the ethical challenges of such an experiment and how Elliott alleviated those ethical concerns where possible. Elliott’s two day social experiment challenged the participants, 8 and 9 year old children, to understand how it feels to be discriminated against.

As someone who has attended public schools in low-income communities, it is now clear that there is an existence of militaristic approaches to the treatment of students. We are taught that we should be quiet at all times, to stand in line with our hands in our backs, speak when spoken to, and many more practices. By the time we would get to middle school, we knew how to behave and treat our teachers as the rulers of the classrooms and they would have no trouble with us because we had been conditioned to act a certain way. Having this approach prevents students from exploring their creativity or their own freedom. We, low-income individuals, do not think that we are being oppressed by individuals who look like us, but we are. The sense of oppression

To Kill a Mockingbird took place in the 30’s (Also knows as the dirty 30’s) and because of that there definitely was inequality, meaning there was a lot of discriminating during at that time, specifically towards the black community. In this essay, it will be giving example of racism and tell how it affected their lives in Maycomb.

There are various forms of discrimination talked about in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Racism is the primary source of discrimination in the book. The story centers around the trial of Tom Robinson, who is a black man accused of rape. Another example of discrimination is sexism. Jem constantly tells Scout that she’s acting like a girl when she gets scared or emotional. Harper Lee also uses social class discrimination in To Kill a Mockingbird. In Aunt Alexandra’s eyes the Cunninghams are trash because they are poor.

“If you believe that discrimination exists, it will.” -Anthony J. D’Angelo. Discrimination has been around since the beginning of time. In Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the narrator, a young girl by the name of Scout, comes to realize all of the different types of discrimination. Her father Atticus is a lawyer and fights for the rights of others; Scout is taught by her father at a young age, that discrimination is erroneous. With the guidance of her father, she sees what can happen when prejudice attitudes are taken too far, and how it can affect the lives of people. Some of the types of discrimination that Scout encounters throughout the novel are race, age, and social status.

Antiquated, discriminatory, and unethical ideals carried over from the old into new generations continues the perception that women are lesser beings. As a result, they face multiple injustices in pay, education, and athletics. America, a supposed to advance rapidly and reforming society should have a vast gap between its society, especially when that society is constantly in the spotlight. Oppression in society is immediately sealed when women are conceived; rules and expectations are enforced, and to stray from the norm is greatly discouraged.