Propaganda Effects Of Propaganda

4. Effects of Propaganda All of the forms of propaganda were effective solely based on how rapidly these forms were spread. The most effective forms of anti-black propaganda were rumors, jokes, slogans and even some leaflets (Becker, 1949). Rumors and jokes had a very direct impact because it can spread faster than any other form. In the cases of slogans, there’s one that is very well known, The White Man’s Burden. Although this was originally a poem written by Rudyard Kipling in 1899, it quickly became a hit sensation among Americans as many believed and agreed with Kipling. The poem stated that the white man’s job was to teach and take our African and Mexican neighbors out of savagery by enslaving them and converting turning them towards

Since at the time almost more than 20% of the prison in Iowa consists of minority groups (PBS, 1985), the Iowa Department of Corrections decided to send a group of parole officers and prison guards to a day-long workshop. When people began to arrive they immediately began to be separated by eye color; brown-eyed people having superiority in this case.
Almost immediately, Elliot, who was conducting the seminar, began harassing the blue-eyed people who were seated in the back of the room. She began to persecute and treat them harsher than the brown-eyed sitting in the front. Unlike the response she got from her students, many of those who were being picked on retaliated. The officers and guards began to talk back to Elliot as she continued to discuss the main issues regarding racism. Elliot continued to ignore those in the back of the class and praised the officers in the front. The main argument made by these guards was that there was truly no difference between the different groups. After Elliot explained the scenario one participant described, “ a feeling like I was in a glass cage and I was powerless, there was a sense of hopelessness, I was angry, I wanted to speak up and yet I--at times I knew if I spoke up, I'd be back in a powerless situation, I'd be attacked, a sense of hopelessness.” Elliot then made the connection that this discrimination was faced by minorities, not just African Americans, and that unless the entirety of the nation would comprehend this, then the racism and discrimination would