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When I was in middle school in the late 80s, our social studies teachers coordinated a mock segregation experiment. 1 out of every 8 students was identified as
by da_chicken 8y ago
When I was in middle school in the late 80s, our social studies teachers coordinated a mock segregation experiment. 1 out of every 8 students was identified as an "Other". We were told that the "Others" were less deserving of respect and that it would be okay to make fun of them. The "Others" would always be last in line, would be required to use "Others"-only restrooms, etc. Teachers were told to favor the regular students and not the "Others." There were no prisoners and guards. The distinction was those with privilege and those without.
The experiment was planned to last three days. It was stopped after less than a day and a half. I remember the principal coming on over the PA and announcing that the experiment was ending immediately and that treating any "Others" any differently from then on would result in a suspension. There were students showing up in the office crying about it. Not just complaining. Literally in tears.
The problem, primarily, was that it was a middle school. There's already a group of students that all the other students mistreat or pick on or don't respect as well. There's already a social pecking order. When some of those low social rank students were assigned to the "Others" group, they really got bullied by people. What I remember being the most shocking was how several teachers were bullying and treating students badly. Yelling at them or punishing them for no reason at all. Just because they had a paper sign that said "Other" on their shirt.
The thing that this drilled into me is how vile people can be to each other when they think they deserve it or otherwise aren't deserving of basic respect or equality. The older I get the more I look back on this little experiment and am shocked by what happened. Xenophobia and sectarian divisiveness is a remarkably easy way to dehumanize and strip other people of basic human rights. It's really quite terrifying how easy it was and how quickly it happened. How all the students and staff just readily accepted the new social order because that's what the authority said was true. How people abused that social order for no good reason. How people who were ostensibly pretending were actually acting in horrific ways. It's difficult to know in the moment what's acting and what isn't when it's a stranger doing it.
- JoeAltmaier 8y agoWow. Middle school is already a zoo; to deliberately open the cage doors and let the animals out was a crazy idea.
- colonelxc 8y agoSee also, The Wave: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083316/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083316/
- teddyh 8y agoIt’s a consistent phenomenon with people. As soon as someone finds out that it’s socially acceptable to behave badly towards some group, many otherwise nice people have no problem being absolutely terrible towards complete strangers. A relatively recent example is the “it’s OK to punch nazis” meme, but there are many others. (If you haven’t heard about this, it’s the idea that it’s perfectly good and admirable to walk up to people and physically assault them merely because of their stated horrific political opinions.) It’s difficult to even talk about this, because the backlash is so strong. If someone is against punching nazis (for instance), are they defending nazis? Are they also then, by extension, a nazi, and deserving to be punched? As soon as there is an actual “Other” group which is unprotected by social norms, any discussion is almost pointless.
- pofilat 8y ago"It's perfectly acceptable to beat up gays" is probably a better example of this troubling phenomenon than "It's perfectly acceptable to beat up people who have publicly declared their membership in a murderous conspiracy"
- JdeBP 8y ago> when they think they deserve it or otherwise aren't deserving of basic respect or equality ... or when they are told to do so, told what bad things to do (which you even relate yourself) and given a schedule of bad actions to take, and moreover told that what they are doing was a positive good, in this case the advancement of education of all students, and just a scientific experiment. Missing these parts out is what is being discussed both in the headlined article and in other parts of this very discussion. The acceptance here is in fact the uncritical acceptance that such experiments are valid, constructive, and not biased by forcing a particular desired outcome in order to support some agenda, or by ignoring an uncontrolled external factor that skews the results. Whereas one should have questioned what your social studies teacher was trying to demonstrate, and whether the experiment was correctly fashioned for demonstrating it in the first place. It is time to re-visit what was drilled into you in middle school, more critically.
- da_chicken 8y agoYou're dancing around your point. Just state it.