mrsjones - I remember reading about that classroom before. It's interesting to know how the experiment affected the lives of those children, as they grew to adulthood.
I would love to see this principle applied to rich and poor! Maybe if some of the people who have been more fortunate in life financially, whether they were born into weath, or had the good fortune (which is usually a combination of intelligence, hard work, good health and LUCK) to rise above the poverty into which they were born, were treated like garbage and called 'lazy', had to dress in rags and be hungry for a week or so, they would stop putting down the poor, and realize how privileged they really are.
To address another point in this discussion, I have a life-long friend (who prefers to be called 'black' as opposed to African-Canadian) who is lighter-skinned than most of his family, and he has always been looked down upon by other family members because he is 'not black enough'. It works both ways.
We also had a shocking episode of cross-burning and racial persecution happen right here in Nova Scotia last year. These heinous acts were committed against a bi-racial couple, who lived in the country, and were perpetrated by a group of red-neck youths. It was a humbling lesson that racism and white supremacy have a hold here as well.
And just to show both sides of the coin, my personal experience has been of being physically assaulted by youths of colour while walking through 'the hood', and having the neighbourhood cheer them on, in broad daylight. Why? Well, I remember hearing these words "Get the white bitch!"
tal