Jane Elliott
Anti-Racism Educator, Feminist, and LGBT Activist
Jane Elliott, internationally known teacher, lecturer, diversity trainer, and recipient of the National Mental Health Association Award for Excellence in Education, exposes prejudice and bigotry for what it is, an irrational class system based upon purely arbitrary factors. And if you think this does not apply to you. . . you are in for a rude awakening.
In response to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, Jane Elliott devised the controversial and startling, "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise." This, now famous, exercise labels participants as inferior or superior based solely upon the color of their eyes and exposes them to the experience of being a minority. Everyone who is exposed to Jane Elliott's work, be it through a lecture, workshop, or video, is dramatically affected by it.
In response to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, Jane Elliott devised the controversial and startling, "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise." This, now famous, exercise labels participants as inferior or superior based solely upon the color of their eyes and exposes them to the experience of being a minority. Everyone who is exposed to Jane Elliott's work, be it through a lecture, workshop, or video, is dramatically affected by it.
Chosen as one of Peter Jennings' ABC-TV's "Person of the Week," Jane is the adaptor of the "Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes" discrimination experiment. The sensitizing exercise, in which participants are labeled inferior or superior based on the color of their eyes, began in a third-grade classroom in all-white, all-Christian Riceville, Iowa, immediately after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It has been repeated with dramatic results with children and adults throughout the country. Those who have been through this exercise have said it is an emotionally significant and life-changing experience. This ground breaking exercise is the pinnacle of all other diversity programming in the country today.
Several television documentaries have covered her work, among them ABC's "The Eye of the Storm," which won the Peabody Award; "A Class Divided," which dealt with the long-term impact of the exercise and Ms. Elliott's work with adults and was broadcast nationally on PBS's Frontline series, "The Eye of the Beholder," which also dealt with adults and their reactions to discrimination and was produced by Florida Public Television. Both the latter films received an Emmy Award and most recently released award winning film "The Angry Eye" is also available for purchase; download the order form.
"The Angry Eye" is a dynamic and provocative documentary, showcasing Jane Elliott's world famous Blue-Eyed/Brown-Eyed exercise in discrimination. The tables are turned on white American College students as they are forced to experience the same kind of racist treatment African Americans and other minorities have been receiving for years. In the documentary, students' reactions are intercut with Elliott's observations. The film is disturbing; both for the participants and for the viewers, who are made to confront their own prejudices.
Jane Elliott is a recipient of the National Mental Health Association Award for Excellence in Education. She has been a guest lecturer at numerous colleges and universities and has been a guest on a wide variety of television shows including The Today Show, Tonight with Johnny Carson, Donahue, and the Oprah Winfrey show. She is hailed as the leader in diversity training - a veteran presenter who has addressed groups ranging from colleges and universities, to civil service organizations, elementary schools, corporations and businesses.
Several television documentaries have covered her work, among them ABC's "The Eye of the Storm," which won the Peabody Award; "A Class Divided," which dealt with the long-term impact of the exercise and Ms. Elliott's work with adults and was broadcast nationally on PBS's Frontline series, "The Eye of the Beholder," which also dealt with adults and their reactions to discrimination and was produced by Florida Public Television. Both the latter films received an Emmy Award and most recently released award winning film "The Angry Eye" is also available for purchase; download the order form.
"The Angry Eye" is a dynamic and provocative documentary, showcasing Jane Elliott's world famous Blue-Eyed/Brown-Eyed exercise in discrimination. The tables are turned on white American College students as they are forced to experience the same kind of racist treatment African Americans and other minorities have been receiving for years. In the documentary, students' reactions are intercut with Elliott's observations. The film is disturbing; both for the participants and for the viewers, who are made to confront their own prejudices.
Jane Elliott is a recipient of the National Mental Health Association Award for Excellence in Education. She has been a guest lecturer at numerous colleges and universities and has been a guest on a wide variety of television shows including The Today Show, Tonight with Johnny Carson, Donahue, and the Oprah Winfrey show. She is hailed as the leader in diversity training - a veteran presenter who has addressed groups ranging from colleges and universities, to civil service organizations, elementary schools, corporations and businesses.
Topics:
- Power, Perception, and Prejudice
A one-hour presentation during which Ms. Elliott uses audience members and visual aids to help us to recognize, identify, and appreciate the differences on which power is assigned, and some of the ways in which we are conditioned to develop some of our perceptions. Ms. Elliott has successfully delivered these presentations to a wide variety of audiences throughout the world and is available to present these moving lectures before your group or organization. - The Anatomy of Prejudice
A three-hour presentation during which Ms. Jane Elliott, the adaptor of the Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise in teaching about the anatomy of prejudice and the subject of the Peabody Award-winning film, "The Eye of the Storm," introduces and discusses that film and explores with the audience the problems of racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia, and ethnocentrism and the responsibility shared by all of us for illuminating them in and eliminating them from ourselves and our environment.
Those attending the presentation will be encouraged to discuss the issues raised as they relate to their own workplace. They will also be encouraged to discuss the materials presented on the handouts which are designed to help them to identify their own racist statements, behaviors, and attitudes. Participants will receive a list of suggested activities which, if implemented, can help them to decrease the amount of racism in their environment and a list of books which, if read, can provide added insights to the problems of the -isms with which we are all confronted.
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