The Importance Of Jane Elliot | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Politics and Activism

The Importance Of Jane Elliot

And her blue/brown eye experiment.

1162
The Importance Of Jane Elliot
RoslynVTGTradingCo

Jane Elliot is a anti-racism, feminist, and LGBT activist. Elliot was born in Riceville, Iowa on the 27th of May in 1933. When Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated on April 4th, 1968, as many people she was devastated by the news. What made her more upset was whens she turned on the TV and a reporter asked a local black leader "When our leader [John F. Kennedy] was assassinated, his widow held us together. Who's going to control your people?" She couldn't believe that the reporter automatically assumed that John F. Kennedy was the "white people leader." From that moment, she made one of the biggest decisions of her life that would foresee her career for many years to come.

"Oh great spirit, keep me from ever judging a man until I have walked a mile in his moccasins."

A Sioux Prayer

She entered her classroom to her young students walking in and one of her students asked, "They shot that King yesterday, why did they shoot the king?" (Bloom). She asked the students a very important question, "How do you think it would feel to be a negro boy or girl?" (Bloom). Astonishing enough, her students were enthusiastic about the idea. So then began her famous "Blue Eye/Brown Eye" exercise.

She started off the exercise by saying that people have melanin in their hair, skin, and eye color. The darker the persons eyes, the smarter they were. This essentially separated the children by the lightness or darkness of their eyes. As her lesson went on, she talked about how "brown-eyed people have more chemical in their eyes, so brown-eyed people are better than blue-eyed people" (Bloom).

Instantly, she could feel the tension growing between her students over eye color.

The blue-eyed children put up some resistance to the accusations made against them. One little brown-eyed boy suggested that they use separate water fountains because they didn't want to catch anything that the blue-eyed children had. The phrase, "he's a bluey" even started among her students. One student pointed out something that was inevitable, "Mrs. Elliot, how come you're the teacher if you have blue eyes?" Before she could process an answer, a little boy piped up, "if she didn't have blue eyes, she'd be the principal or superintendent."

In that moment, Elliot found out how simple it was for racism to transfer amongst a group of people. She found out how it felt to be singled out and to be made a part of the "lower class" of individuals based off her eye color. Just in a matter of minutes, she was being singled out as the teacher for only being a teacher, and not anything else in the higher order of leadership in a school, because of her eye color.

At lunchtime, she went into the teacher's lounge and told her fellow co-workers what she has been doing all morning. She described how "several of her slower kids with brown eyes has transformed themselves into being confident leaders of the class. Withdrawn brown-eyed kids were suddenly outgoing, some beaming with the widest smiles she had ever seen on them" (Bloom).

On Monday, she reversed the exercise. These brown-eyed children who found confidence were all the sudden becoming withdrawn. When the exercise ended, she asked the children to write down what they felt. A compelling response was written by Debbie Hughes:

"The people in Mrs. Elliott's room who had brown eyes got to discriminate against the people who had blue eyes. I have brown eyes. I felt like hitting them if I wanted to. I got to have five minutes extra of recess." The next day when the tables were turned, "I felt like quitting school. . . . I felt mad. That's what it feels like when you're discriminated against" (Bloom).

Elliot shared the essays with her mother, who sent them off to the local editor of the Riceville Recorder. He printed them under the headline, "How Discrimination feels." Many people were dumbfounded by the effectiveness of this exercise.

Elliot performed something on students that would never be allowed to do in school today. Elliot performed a simple exercise that explained a huge problem in today's world. In just a matter of a few days, she was able to turn kids against one another just based off their eye color. The importance of this exercise should never be doubted. Racism is still a major problem in today's world, just as it was when Jane Elliot performed this experiment. She taught the lesson of walking in someone else's moccasins for a short period of time, when others have to deal with that discrimination every single day of their lives. Many people ridiculed her for doing "cruel" on white children, and how it will cause "great psychological change." However, I would have to disagree. If every child went through that experiment growing up, I personally believe that we wouldn't have racial tension in this world. I personally believe that this experiment would've caused a great physiological change and that change would be to not be discriminating or hateful towards someone that is considered "different." At the end of the day, we all bleed the same blood. This experiment could be used for many different types of religions, sexuality, race, and even disabilities to show "normal" people how it feels to be personally singled out. When I ask people if they have ever heard of the Jane Elliot Exercise, many reply with no. Everyone needs to know this experiment. Ideology that brews hateful actions in this world will be the thing that ends the world.


For more information, visit: Smithsonian and http://www.janeelliott.com/

Source: Bloom, Stephen G. "Lesson of a Lifetime." Smithsonian. N.p., Sept. 2005. Web.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Featured

15 Mind-Bending Riddles

Hopefully they will make you laugh.

198687
 Ilistrated image of the planet and images of questions
StableDiffusion

I've been super busy lately with school work, studying, etc. Besides the fact that I do nothing but AP chemistry and AP economics, I constantly think of stupid questions that are almost impossible to answer. So, maybe you could answer them for me, and if not then we can both wonder what the answers to these 15 questions could be.

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

Most Epic Aurora Borealis Photos: October 2024

As if May wasn't enough, a truly spectacular Northern Lights show lit up the sky on Oct. 10, 2024

19960
stunning aurora borealis display over a forest of trees and lake
StableDiffusion

From sea to shining sea, the United States was uniquely positioned for an incredible Aurora Borealis display on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, going into Friday, Oct. 11.

It was the second time this year after an historic geomagnetic storm in May 2024. Those Northern Lights were visible in Europe and North America, just like this latest rendition.

Keep Reading...Show less
 silhouette of a woman on the beach at sunrise
StableDiffusion

Content warning: This article contains descriptions of suicide/suicidal thoughts.

When you are feeling down, please know that there are many reasons to keep living.

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

Power of Love Letters

I don't think I say it enough...

461698
Illistrated image of a letter with 2 red hearts
StableDiffusion

To My Loving Boyfriend,

  • Thank you for all that you do for me
  • Thank you for working through disagreements with me
  • Thank you for always supporting me
  • I appreciate you more than words can express
  • You have helped me grow and become a better person
  • I can't wait to see where life takes us next
  • I promise to cherish every moment with you
  • Thank you for being my best friend and confidante
  • I love you and everything you do

To start off, here's something I don't say nearly enough: thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You do so much for me that I can't even put into words how much I appreciate everything you do - and have done - for me over the course of our relationship so far. While every couple has their fair share of tiffs and disagreements, thank you for getting through all of them with me and making us a better couple at the other end. With any argument, we don't just throw in the towel and say we're done, but we work towards a solution that puts us in a greater place each day. Thank you for always working with me and never giving up on us.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

11 Signs You Grew Up In Hauppauge, NY

Because no one ever really leaves.

28790
Map of Hauppauge, New York
Google

Ah, yes, good old Hauppauge. We are that town in the dead center of Long Island that barely anyone knows how to pronounce unless they're from the town itself or live in a nearby area. Hauppauge is home to people of all kinds. We always have new families joining the community but honestly, the majority of the town is filled with people who never leave (high school alumni) and elders who have raised their kids here. Around the town, there are some just some landmarks and places that only the people of Hauppauge will ever understand the importance or even the annoyance of.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments