"The Clear man was gathering nuts and berries for his family, when he stumbled upon a great boulder. The Earth shook, the boulder trembled and walked away. In its place stood a shining cave. The man walked into the light that was Blue as the trees--into a mystical world! He was greeted by the Great Ones, who showed him all the knowledge that Was. They taught him hunting, reading and making, and he rejoiced. He shown with the good knowledge and yes, his skin shone with the great light, and he became Blue as the Great Ones, who bid him go and spread the the knowledge that Was. He returned to his village in glory, brought all the people to the Great Ones, and they too were filled with the Blue light..."--Isaac Wulff
In the Blue People Excersize, we were split up into about 8 groups, seven or eight students each. We were now "the blue people" and it was our tasks to create reasons why we were better than all the other colored people, such as purple, green, polka dotted, ect. But each group had to stick within a certain topic. Isaac Wulff's group had to create a religion that supported the belief that Blue people were superior. My group had to list scientific reasons that showed we were better.
It got more interesting. Another group had to show ways in which our society would keep other colors from mixing with the Blue people.
We all jumped into this excersize with gusto, all happy to show why we were an excellent people. My group made up a chart of our physicality compared to other colors, showing that we were bigger, stronger, smarter, and even more virile than all the other colors. My particular contribution was that our brains were heavier and wrinkled. I later learned that white people had used the exact same logic when slavery was an accepted practice.
The group in charge of preventing interracial relationships decreed that all the other colors would be strictly segregated, and their communities would be surrounded by tall, electrical fences topped with barbed wire. Those who crossed the boundaries would be jailed or strictly punished. On an interesting note, they added that since Blue men are exceptionally virile but Blue women sometimes tiring easily, Blue men were permitted to take women of other colors when they felt the urge. Provided those women were sterilized first, of course.
We had all grown pretty close, perhaps that's why we were all pretty amused with ourselves by the time we finished going around all of the groups. After all, weren't we a great group of teens? After a small break, we were shown a video of Adolf Hitler, and read some texts from the period out loud. By the time this part was finished, all 106 of us students were sobbing in shame and horror. I learned that there is a reason why we must never forget the past, lest we repeat it in our future.