"How do you think it would feel to be a Negro boy or girl?" She and Darald split their time between a converted schoolhouse in Osage, Iowa, a town 18 miles from Riceville, and a home near Riverside, California. As a school teacher in the small town of Riceville, Iowa, Elliott first conducted the anti-racism experiment on her all-white third-grade classroom, the day after the civil rights leader was killed. Then tell them that . The students were surprised, but they didnt argue. Would you like to find out? ", Vision and tenacity may get results, but they don't always endear a person to her neighbors. That's what it feels like when you're discriminated against.". Disclaimer: SpeedyPaper.com is a custom writing service that provides online on-demand writing work for assistance purposes. Alan Charles Kors, a professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania, says Elliott's diversity training is "Orwellian" and singled her out as "the Torquemada of thought reform." You should be happy! The fact that children are easy to manipulate into acting in a particular manner explains Jane's choice of sample. (2022, Apr 06). Considering all the stereotypes and prejudices that exist, what kind of damage is being done? "Do blue-eyed people remember what they've been taught?" The experiment, known as Blue Eyes Brown Eyes experiment, is regarded as an eye-opening way for children to learn about racism and discrimination. In a similar vein, Linda Seebach, a conservative columnist for the Rocky Mountain News, wrote in 2004 that Elliott was a "disgrace" and described her exercise as "sadistic," adding, "You would think that any normal person would realize that she had done an evil thing. Brown-eyed people. Answer (1 of 3): My guess is that is doesn't really represent racism but classism. It is a must . How can put those little children through that exercise for a day? And they seem unable to relate the sympathy that theyre feeling for these little white children for a day to what happens to children of color in this society for a lifetime or to the fact that they are doing this to children based on skin color every day. Elliott created the blue-eyes/brown-eyes classroom exercise in 1968 to teach students about racism. The Brown Eyed / Blue Eyed Experiment. Thats what it feels like when youre discriminated against., -A child participant in the Blue Eyes-Brown Eyes experiment-. One key assumption is that the sample population represents an actual society. On the second day, the roles were reversed, and those with brown eyes received special treatment, and the blue-eyed children were made to feel inferior (A Class, 2003). In 2001, Jane Elliott recordedThe Angry Eye,in which she revised and updated her experiment. The blue-eyed participants faced discrimination for two and a half hours. Grasping for a scientific explanation, she ended up claiming that melanin makes eyes darker, and makes . Elliott split her students into two groups, based on eye color. Mental Sandboxes and Their Usefulness in Today's World, The Law of Reversed Effort: When Taking Action Isn't the Best Option. She compromised the APA's Code of Conduct and Ethical Standard because she lied, after that she recanted the lies and kept as they were justified because of her greater purpose. The effectiveness of a well-known prejudice-reduction simulation activity, "Blue Eyes-Brown Eyes," was assessed as a tool for changing the attitudes of nonblack teacher education students toward blacks. All the work should be used in accordance with the appropriate policies and applicable laws. American Psychological Association, 4. SpeedyPaper.com 2023 All rights reserved. She has since refused to answer any of my inquiries. Having in mind that it would be difficult to explain to third graders about discrimination, she needed to be more practical so that her student could understand how discrimination and prejudice felt. people are better than blue-eyed people. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Website. The Blue Eyes & Brown Eyes Exercise. "I know who she is. . Let's just move on. This meeting, along with other clips of the exercises impact on education, is featured in a PBS documentary called A Class Divided. A columnist at a Denver newspaper called it "evil. The minimal group paradigm has shaped an entire methodology in social psychology. Not a day goes by without me thinking about it, Ms. Elliott. Malinda Whisenhunt? It's the Jane Elliott machine. The nearest traffic light is 20 miles away. On the "Tonight Show" Carson broke the ice by spoofing Elliott's rural roots. Most Riceville residents seem to have an opinion of Elliott, whether or not they've met her. "She taught in this school for 18 years." But in reality, I found in researching for my book Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes that the experiment was a sadistic exhibition of power and authority levers controlled by Elliott. This paradigm helps understand the current problems related to discrimination. she asked the children, who were white. Want a quality guarantee? Why are we still talking about this experiment over 50 years later? Almost immediately, it was apparent that she had created segregation and prejudice given that the blue-eyed students began exhibiting signs of dominion and superiority. "On an airplane, it is," Elliott said to appreciative laughter from the studio audience. Jane Elliott at Riceville, Iowa, Elementary School in 1968. Mental Floss, 4. Role Theory: Expectations, Identities, and Behaviors. In this article, we'll explain what happened during the experiment and discuss its consequences. . Exploring your mind Blog about psychology and philosophy. "If this ugly change, if this negative change can happen this quickly, why can't positive change happen that quickly? In this photograph from Sept. 13, 1965, Black children on their way to school in New York City pass by segregationists protesting integrated busing. There were more brown-eyed students in the room. Jane Elliott, an educator and anti-racism activist, first conducted her blue eyes/brown eyes exercise in her third-grade classroom in Iowa in 1968. "They can't forget me," she said, "and because of who they are, they can't forgive me. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . The basic idea was to separate the class into two halves - those with blue eyes and those with brown. And what she did caused an uproar. ", Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, now-famous "blue eyes/brown eyes exercise, 'I See These Conversations As Protective': Talking With Kids About Race. The next day, Jane made it known to the students that she had made a mistake and that the brown-eyed pupils were better and smarter than their counterparts. As a journalism professor and author of a book on race that spans more than 50 years, Ive watched these developments with great concern. All rights reserved. Elliott started to see her own white privilege, even her own ignorance. That got the other teachers angry. Blue Eyed versus Brown Eyed Students Jane Elliott was not a psychologist, but she developed one of the most famously controversial exercises in 1968 by dividing students into a blue-eyed group and . When the blue-eyed group saw that the brown-eyed group was going to be seated first, some became upset. Elliott instructed the blue-eyed kids not to play on the jungle gym or swings. However, both Mary and Zeke have brown eyes. Classroom experiment. I'm tired of hearing about her and her experiment and how everyone here is a racist. Elliott, who is white, separated the students into two groupsthose with blue eyes and those with brown eyes. She began this work in Elliott asked her students to write about their experiences for the local newspaper. "It changed my life. Melanin, she said, is what causes intelligence. It also shows how arbitrary and subjective things can turn friends, family members, and citizens against each other. One even wrote a lipstick message with racial slurs. It has since evolved into an online blog and YouTube channel providing mental health advice, tools, and academic support to individuals from all backgrounds. She appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show five times. Jane Elliott, an educator and anti-racism activist, first conducted her blue eyes/brown eyes exercise in her third-grade classroom in Iowa in 1968. We use them to divide and destroy people., On Understanding The Different Ways We Treat Other Races, Philip Zimbardo (Biography + Experiments). The next day, Jane made it known to the students that she had made a mistake and that the brown-eyed pupils were better and smarter than their counterparts. Questioning authority The mainstream media were complicit in advancing such a simplistic narrative. Unfortunately, you cant copy samples. Their 12-year-old daughter, Mary, came home from school one day in tears, sobbing that her sixth-grade classmates had surrounded her in the school hallway and taunted her by saying her mother would soon be sleeping with black men. SYNOPSIS OF BLUE EYED. Directed by William Peters, the episode profiles the Iowa schoolteacher Jane Elliott and her class of third graders, who took part in a class exercise about discrimination and prejudice in 1970 and reunited in the present day to recall the experience. Jane Elliott's brown eye/blue eye experiment starts at 03:10 of A Class Divided. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 prompted educator Jane Elliott to create the now-famous "blue eyes/brown eyes exercise.". They gossiped about her in the hallway. The first day of the experiment she convinced the children that blue-eyed people were smarter, better and would have more priorities. Jane Elliott and Dr. On April 5 1968 the day after the death of Martin Luther King Jr Elliott decided to show her students how easy it was to be influenced by racism. Today, increased migration means more opportunities for people from different backgrounds to interact with each other, which is often a source of conflict. He printed them under the headline "How Discrimination Feels." On Monday, Elliott reversed the exercise, and the brown-eyed kids were told how shifty, dumb and lazy theywere. Scores of others did participate. Elliot's approach to the experiment involved creativity in which the pupils' age and ability to comprehend discrimination was taken into account. She told the kids that blue-eyed children weren't as good as brown-eyed or green-eyed ones. (Byrnes & Kiger, 1992). After the exercise white college students in . The episode features with new footage of the students, who are now adults. PracticalPie.com is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program. Mary and Zeke have three children, all of whom have blue eyes. "The browneyed people are the better people in this room," Elliott began. And our number two freedom is the freedom to deny that were ignorant., I want every white person in this room who would be happy to be treated as this society in general treats our citizens, our black citizens, if you, as a white person, would be happy to receive the same treatment that our black citizens do in this society, please stand.
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