0:06 27 years ago when civil rights leader
0:08 Martin Luther King jr. was assassinated
0:11 grief and frustration erupted in
0:18 America's cities and far away in Iowa
0:21 one third-grade teacher knew she had to
0:23 do something the shooting of Martin
0:25 Luther King could not just be talked
0:26 about and explained a way there was no
0:28 way to explain this too low third
0:30 graders in Riceville Iowa I knew that it
0:32 was time to deal with this in a concrete
0:33 way not just talk about it because we
0:37 had talked about racism since the first
0:46 day of school it was a daring experiment
0:47 in the prejudice
0:50 I watched wonderful thoughtful children
1:00 turn into can one teacher in one day
1:03 change the lives of her students forever tonight
1:04 tonight
1:15 a class divided autist 1984 a high
1:17 school reunion brings some 50 former
1:20 students to Riceville Iowa 11 of them
1:22 some with their spouses and children
1:25 arrived early for a special reunion with
1:28 their former third-grade teacher Jane Elliott
1:28 Elliott [Music]
1:30 [Music] [Laughter]
2:11 14 years earlier when they were students
2:13 in her third-grade classroom ABC News
2:16 filmed a two-day exercise for a
2:20 documentary the eye of the storm now at
2:22 their request they will see that film
2:25 again and relive the experience of her
2:45 my sweet this is a special week does
2:47 anybody know what it is national
2:52 Brotherhood week what's Brotherhood be
2:56 kind to your brothers treat everyone the
2:58 way you would like to be treated treat
3:02 everyone as though he was your brother
3:04 and is there anyone in this United
3:06 States that we do not treat as our
3:13 brothers yes black people who else in
3:15 absolutely the Indians and when you see
3:17 when many people see a black person or a
3:20 yellow person or a red person what do
3:27 they think look at the dumb people what
3:29 else do they think sometimes what kinds
3:32 of things do they say about black people
3:37 in a city many places in the
3:39 United States how are black people
3:41 treated how are indians treated how are
3:43 people who are of a different color than
3:48 we are they don't get anything in this
3:51 world why is that because they're
3:53 different color do you think you know
3:54 how I would feel to be judged by the
3:55 color of your skin
3:59 I don't do you think you do no I don't
4:00 think you'd know how that felt unless
4:03 you had been through it would you it
4:05 might be interesting to judge people
4:09 today by the color of their eyes would
4:12 you like to try this sounds like fun
4:14 doesn't it since I'm the teacher and I
4:18 have blue eyes I think maybe the
4:20 blue-eyed people should be on top the
4:27 first day I mean the blue-eyed people
4:31 are the better people in this room oh
4:36 yes they are mm-hmm all right people are
4:38 smarter than brown eyed people [Music]
4:40 [Music]
4:44 are you sure dad cried you know one day
4:46 you came to school and you told us that
4:49 he kicked you he dude do you think a
4:59 brings daddy's blue-eyed he's never
5:00 kicked him but Rex is dead
5:05 blue eyed he's never kicked him this is
5:08 a this is a fact blue eyed people are
5:13 better than brown eyed people are you
5:16 brown eyed or blue eyed hello why are
5:22 you shaking your head are you sure that
5:27 you're right why what makes you so sure
5:32 that you're right blue eyed people get 5
5:35 extra minutes of recess while the right
5:42 people have to stay in the brown eyed
5:44 people do not get to use the drinking
5:46 fountain you'll have to use the paper
5:51 cups you brown eyed people are not to
5:53 play with the blue eyed people on the
5:55 playground because you are not as good
5:58 as blue-eyed people well the brown eyed
5:59 people in this room today are going to
6:02 wear collars so that we can tell from a
6:06 distance what color your eyes are on
6:17 page 127 127 is everyone ready everyone
6:18 but Laurie
6:24 ready Laurie she's a brown-eyed you'll
6:25 begin to notice today that we spend a
6:27 great deal of time waiting for
6:32 brown-eyed people the yardsticks dog
6:34 well okay I don't see the yardstick to
6:47 you oh you think if the brown-eyed
6:49 people get out of hand that would be the
6:54 thing to use who goes first to lunch the
6:55 blue-eyed people
6:58 no brown-eyed people go back for seconds
7:01 blue-eyed people may go back for seconds
7:03 brown-eyed people do not run don't you
7:09 know that damn reason might take too much
7:11 much [Music]
7:21 and it seems like when we were down on
7:23 the bottom everything bad was happening
7:27 to us the way they treated you you felt
7:29 like you didn't even want to try to do
7:32 anything seem like mrs. Elliott was
7:35 taking our best friends away from us [Music]
7:45 what happened at recess for two of you
7:50 boys fighting John what happened John
8:22 yeah what's wrong with being called
8:27 bride it means that we're stupid wrong
8:28 like that
8:34 Oh same way as other people call black
8:37 people yeah that's the reason
8:41 you're hitting John did it help
8:46 did it stop him they make you feel
8:50 better inside mmm make you feel better
8:54 inside it make you feel better to call
8:57 him brown eyes why do you suppose you're
9:01 calling brown eyes Freddie 15
9:03 Seth the only reason he didn't call him
9:05 brown eyes yesterday he had brown eyes
9:12 yesterday didn't he get some pinkies
9:17 always this teasing no well he what were
9:20 you doing it for fun to be funny who are
9:28 you doing it to be mean I don't know
9:31 don't ask me did anyone laugh I watched
9:35 what had been marvelous cooperative
9:40 wonderful thoughtful children turn into
9:47 nasty vicious discriminating little
9:49 third graders in space of 15 minutes
9:52 yesterday I told you that brown-eyed
9:54 people aren't as good as blue-eyed
9:57 people that wasn't true I lied to you
10:04 yesterday the truth is that brown-eyed
10:08 people are better than blue-eyed people [Music]
10:10 [Music]
10:12 Russell where are your glasses
10:16 I forgot them you forgot them and what
10:24 Suzan ginder has brown eyes she didn't
10:26 forget her glasses
10:29 Russell ring has blue eyes and what
10:33 about his glasses he forgot them
10:36 yesterday we were visiting and Greg said
10:39 boy I like to hit my little sister as
10:43 hard as I can that's fun what does that
10:52 the brown-eyed people may take off their
10:55 collars and each of you may put your
11:02 the brown-eyed people get five extra
11:05 minutes of recess
11:08 you blue-eyed people are not allowed to
11:11 be on the playground equipment at any
11:15 time you blue-eyed people are not to
11:17 play with the brown-eyed people
11:19 brown-eyed people are better than
11:22 blue-eyed people they're smarter than
11:24 blue-eyed people and if you don't
11:28 believe it look at Brian do blue-eyed
11:33 people know how to sit in a chair very
11:40 sad very very sad who can tell me what
11:41 contraction should be in the first
11:42 sentence throw the board and write it
11:45 John come on let's do it again
11:48 loosen up up come on
11:50 that's better now do you know how to
11:52 make a W okay write the contraction for
11:59 we are now that's beautiful writing is
12:01 that better yeah
12:04 brown-eyed people learn fast don't they
12:06 boy I do with brown-eyed people learn
12:08 fast very good [Music]
12:20 Gregg what did you do with that cup will
12:25 you please go and get that cup and put
12:28 your name on it and keep it at your desk
12:33 blue-eyed people are wasteful okay it
12:38 might be time this morning I news
12:39 orton-gillingham phonics we used the
12:42 card pack and the children the
12:43 brown-eyed children were in the low
12:45 class the first day and it took them
12:47 five and a half minutes to get to the
12:49 card pack the second day it took them
12:52 two and a half minutes the only thing
12:54 that had changed was the fact that now
13:03 they were superior people couldn't you
13:16 get them yesterday oh and you couldn't
13:19 think as well with the collars on 4
13:27 minutes and 18 seconds I know how long
13:31 did it take you yesterday 3 minutes how
13:59 because I'm glue I there's nothing it's
14:02 not funny it's not fun it's not pleasant
14:05 this is a filthy nasty word called
14:08 discrimination we're treating people a
14:10 certain way because they are different
14:12 from the rest of us is that fair
14:15 no nothing fair about it we didn't say
14:17 this was going to be a Faraday did we
14:22 and it isn't it's a horrid day ready
14:25 what did you do people who are wearing
14:43 new colors now find out today prison
14:45 make your channel not up in the prison
14:48 you're throwing the key away should the
14:50 color of some other person's eyes have
14:52 anything to do with how you treat them
14:54 no all right then should the color of
14:59 their skin no should you judge people no
15:03 no I the color of their skin no you're
15:07 going to say that today and this week
15:09 and probably all the time you're in this
15:21 every time I asked that question no then
15:28 when you see a black man or an Indian or
15:31 someone walking down the street are you
15:37 gonna say does it make any difference
15:41 whether their skin is black or white or
15:46 yellow or red is that how you decide
15:49 whether people are good or bad what
15:52 makes people good or bad let's take
16:00 these collars off would you like to do
16:12 with them go ahead now you know a little
16:14 bit more than you knew at the beginning
16:18 do you know a little bit more than you
16:23 wanted to yeah this isn't an easy way to
16:33 learn this is it okay now let's all sit
16:35 down here together blue eyes and brown
17:03 eyes hey listen okay now we're back that
17:04 you have make any difference in the kind
17:10 of person you are does that feel like
17:11 being home again girls [Music]
17:12 [Music] [Applause]
17:14 [Applause] [Laughter]
17:17 [Laughter]
17:21 this was the third time Jane Elliott had
17:23 taught her lesson in discrimination the
17:26 first two years earlier was in April of
17:29 1968 on the day after Martin Luther King
17:31 was killed by one of my students came
17:33 into the room and said they shot a king
17:34 last night mrs. Elliott why'd they shoot
17:37 that King I knew the night before that
17:39 it was time to deal with this in a
17:40 concrete way not just talk about it
17:43 because we had talked about racism since
17:47 the first day of school but the shooting
17:48 of Martin Luther King who had been one
17:50 of our heroes of the month in February
17:52 could not just be talked about and
17:53 explained away there was no way to
17:55 explain this to low third graders in
17:58 Riceville Iowa as I listened to the
18:01 white male commentators on TV the night
18:04 before I was hearing things like who's
18:06 going to hold your people together as
18:09 they interviewed black leaders what are
18:12 they going to do who's going to control
18:15 your people as though this was these
18:17 people were subhuman and someone was
18:18 going to have to step in there and
18:20 control them they said things like when
18:22 we lost our leader
18:24 his widow helped to hold us together
18:26 who's going to hold them together and
18:29 the attitude was so arrogant and so
18:32 condescending and so ungodly that I
18:35 thought if white male adults react this
18:37 way what are my third graders going to
18:39 do how are they going to react to this
18:41 thing I was ironing the teepee we
18:43 studied an Indian unit we made a teepee
18:45 every year the first year the students
18:47 would make the teepee out of pieces of
18:49 sheet we'd sew it together and the next
18:51 year we decorate it with Indian symbols
18:53 I was ironing the previous year's teepee
18:55 getting it ready to be decorated the
18:58 next day and I thought of what we had
19:00 done with the Indians we haven't made
19:03 much progress in these 200-300 years and
19:06 I thought this is the time now to teach
19:08 them really what the Sioux Indian prayer
19:10 that says oh great spirit keep me from
19:12 ever judging a man until I have walked
19:14 in his moccasins really means and for
19:16 the next day I knew that my children
19:17 were going to walk in someone else's
19:18 moccasins for a day
19:20 like it or lump but they were going to
19:22 have to walk in someone else's moccasins
19:24 I decided at that point that it was time
19:27 to try the eye color thing which I had
19:28 thought about men
19:30 many times but had never used so the
19:33 next day I introduced an eye color
19:35 exercise in my classroom and split the
19:37 class according to eye color and
19:40 immediately created a microcosm of
19:42 society in a third grade classroom
19:45 Riceville hasn't changed much in the 17
19:48 years since then it's still a small
19:50 farming community surrounded by corn
19:53 fields its population is still under a
19:56 thousand and it's still all white and
19:59 all Christian and though Jane Elliott
20:01 has continued to teach her a lesson in
20:03 discrimination there's been little
20:05 outward local reaction no objections
20:07 from school authorities or the parents
20:10 of the 300 odd students who have by now
20:15 been through it the reunion of her
20:18 former third graders was Jane Elliot's
20:20 first chance to find out how much of her
20:24 lessons her students had retained Raven
20:29 why I wanna know why you were so eager
20:31 to discriminate against the rest of
20:32 these kids yeah
20:34 at the end of the day I thought the
20:38 miserable little Nazi really I just I
20:41 couldn't stand you it felt tremendously
20:45 evil you could all your inhibitions were
20:47 gone and no matter if they were my
20:51 friends or not any pent-up hostilities
20:53 or aggressions that these kids had ever
20:55 caused you you had a chance to get it
20:56 all out
21:06 it felt like I was a king like happy you
21:10 know and you did it all day yeah how did
21:13 you feel when you were the out-group boy
21:15 that day after we went home
21:18 who gonna talk about hating somebody it
21:22 was there you hated me yeah of what you
21:25 were putting us through nobody likes to
21:27 be looked down upon nobody likes to be
21:30 hated teased or discriminated against
21:34 and it just boggles up inside of you you
21:37 you just get so mad where you're just
21:40 angry or was there more than that
21:44 I felt demoralized humiliated is the
21:48 learning worth the agony yeah it made
21:51 everything a lot different than what it
21:55 was you uh we was a lot better family
21:57 all together even in our houses we was
22:02 probably because it it was hard on you
22:04 when you have your best friend one day
22:08 and then he's your enemy the next it
22:11 brings it out real real quick in you I
22:14 don't know some of the remarks were the
22:16 kinds of things I would have wished I
22:18 could have programmed into them if I had
22:19 been able to program them they're the
22:21 things I would have wanted them to say
22:23 some of the things were just
22:25 mind-blowing you know you hear these
22:29 people talking about you know different
22:32 people how they're you know me
22:34 difference and they'd like to have a
22:36 mother country wish they'd go back to
22:38 Africa you know and stuff sometimes I
22:40 just wish I had that caller in my pocket
22:42 I could whip it out and put it on and
22:44 say wear this and put your put yourself
22:47 in their place I wish they would go what
22:49 I went over you know do what I went
22:52 through we was at a softball game a
22:55 couple weekends ago and there was a
22:58 black you know I really and we hugged
23:00 each other and everything and some
23:03 people really look just like what are
23:07 you doing with him you know and you just
23:10 get this Bernie feeling insatiable let
23:10 it out
23:12 and put them through what we went
23:14 through to find out they're not any
23:18 different myself sometimes when I see
23:19 some people together and I see how they
23:22 act you know I think well that's black
23:24 and then right in the next second don't
23:26 even finish the thought I'm saying well
23:28 I've seen whites do it I've seen other
23:30 people do it it's not just the blacks
23:32 it's everyone acts differently it's just
23:34 the different color is what hits you
23:37 first and then later as I said I only
23:38 have finished that thought before I
23:40 remember back when I was like that and I
23:42 remember not you know everyone acts the
23:44 same way it's just your way of thinking
23:47 is the difference like one of my
23:48 grandparents just somebody and they
23:50 started talking about old times and they
23:52 say the Japs and all this and that and they
23:53 they
23:54 start you know holding that against them
23:58 I think how'd you like to have been them
24:00 Japanese Americans get sworn into this
24:02 camp just because they happened to be
24:06 part Japanese you know I I just calm
24:08 down and think about it but when they
24:10 get older they set in their ways and
24:12 they're not gonna change when you get
24:16 older I'll be set in my ways but they're
24:19 different than that way when fellas
24:22 absolutely enthralled Sandi dolmens
24:24 statements that when my son comes home
24:25 with the word and the other
24:29 things that he hears downtown I say to
24:31 him listen that isn't the way we judge
24:32 people you don't judge people by how
24:34 they look you judge them by what's on
24:36 their inside not their outside I'm glad
24:38 that she's teaching him not to hate
24:40 because even though he does hear this
24:42 from the other people he if he goes home
24:45 anything's on mom and diet dad like the
24:47 black people I'm gonna like him too so I
24:49 don't think he's gonna pick nothing bad
24:52 about it you chose your husband well he
24:59 chose me taken you know they listened a
25:01 lot of other people too so they're gonna
25:07 end up kind of confused over it yeah
25:10 kind of person you kids are or is he
25:11 going to be the kind who judge people
25:13 whether well he'll know right somewhat
25:20 right from wrong the ideas he won't be
25:23 judging him by their color but he won't
25:26 know what we know fully having been
25:27 through it
25:30 he won't learn collar the prejudice
25:32 Piermont dollar he won't look prejudice
25:34 first handed yeah
25:36 they don't learn to be prejudiced from
25:38 us I mean they won't learn to
25:41 discriminate between people from us they
25:43 might he might hear from others but
25:44 never from us okay what's it like to be
25:50 married to somebody like that and I was
25:52 gonna marry Sheila I knew it for my
25:53 future that I was going into the
25:58 military at first I thought is she gonna
26:00 be able to handle being with all the
26:03 different nationalities
26:07 and then I read the storm read the book
26:10 a class divided the class divided before
26:12 we got married and before I joined the
26:16 army and I said hey she's not gonna have
26:20 any problems should every should every
26:22 child have the exercise or should every
26:28 teacher I think every school ought to
26:31 implement something like this program in
26:33 their in their early stages of education
26:36 if Jane Elliot's lesson in
26:38 discrimination changed the way these
26:39 young people feel about discrimination
26:42 and racism it also had a totally
26:45 unexpected result the second year I did
26:47 this exercise I gave little spelling
26:50 tests math tests reading tests two weeks
26:52 before the exercise each day of the
26:55 exercise in two weeks later and almost
26:59 without exception the students scores go
27:02 up on the day they're on the top down on
27:04 the day they're on the bottom and then
27:06 maintain a higher level for the rest of
27:08 the year after they've been through the
27:11 exercise we sent some of those tests to
27:14 Stanford University to the psychology
27:16 department and they did a sort of an
27:18 informal review of them and they said
27:20 that what's happening here is kids
27:22 academic ability is being changed in a
27:24 24 hour period and that isn't possible
27:26 but it's happening something very
27:28 strange is happening to these children
27:30 because suddenly they're finding out how
27:32 really great they are and they are
27:35 responding to what they know now they're
27:37 able to do and it has happened
27:40 consistently with third graders the film
27:42 made of Jane Elliott's third graders in
27:45 1970 has been widely used with students
27:48 and teachers and by government business
27:50 and labor organizations concerned about
27:53 human relations perhaps the most unusual
27:56 use of it is here at Green Haven
27:59 Correctional Facility a maximum-security
28:09 [Music]
28:12 here in a sociology course taught by
28:15 Professor Dewayne W Smith of Dutchess
28:17 Community College is almost exclusively
28:20 black and Hispanic classes have been
28:22 seeing the film for more than 10 years
28:26 what I'd like to do is introduce the
28:28 subject of prejudice and discrimination
28:31 through this film called the eye of the storm
28:43 [Applause] [Music]
28:45 [Music]
28:48 Sandra and her brown-eyed friends didn't
28:58 like that day but did you think the
29:01 children by this process really learned
29:04 the meaning of the discrimination most
29:07 of the children before the film started
29:08 they had played and lived together in harmony
29:09 harmony
29:12 and certain action of coming from the
29:14 teacher and seeing the teacher has an
29:16 authoritarian figure and someone to
29:18 respect they accepted the views that was
29:21 being given to him but I think in at the
29:22 end of the lesson they would they could
29:25 clearly see that prejudices and other
29:28 forms of discrimination are things that
29:30 people build within their minds and
29:32 they're not actually actual physical
29:34 barriers that say yo you can't cross the
29:37 street the one kid I could really agree
29:42 with was at recess it was a brown-eyed
29:48 kid he had this inner turmoil against
29:51 this feeling of being divided or
29:53 prejudiced against where he would hit
29:55 another kid that he is known for so many
30:00 years in the gut whether he also stated
30:03 that it didn't help any so that
30:05 automatically should be a lesson to
30:07 every adult in the world violence
30:08 doesn't open
30:11 and you know this is a film that I hope
30:15 my children good to see unlike New York
30:19 Iowa is 98% white anglo-saxon yet even
30:21 here minority groups account for more
30:24 than 20% of the prison population to
30:27 make sure its prison system employees
30:29 are sensitive to the concerns of this
30:31 large minority the Iowa Department of
30:34 Corrections last fall hired Jane Elliott
30:38 to give her lesson to some of them the
30:40 group which included prison guards and
30:42 parole officers was told only that it
30:45 would be attending a day-long workshop
30:48 David Stokes buried most of our training
30:50 you go to people give you information
30:54 and you learn that way Lou I when I
31:00 first came with the sign up and such and
31:02 and got put in the group I didn't know
31:05 when I start seeing the signs around you
31:08 know brown eyes only in such I figured
31:10 they were the better group because they
31:13 had a lot of spaces available and and
31:16 they were done for the blue eyes so when
31:18 I got put in the blue eyes group and put
31:21 the collar on and I I knew well then I
31:22 was going to be in the deprived coop
31:25 again okay now you can stay in this area
31:28 the workshop was supposed to begin at
31:31 9:00 they took the brown eyes in about
31:33 9:00 and then left us standing in the
31:36 hall but I'd literally stood because
31:37 there weren't enough chairs and I didn't
31:39 know whether or not I'd wanted to fight
31:40 to take a chair down it and know if
31:42 somebody'd come and take the chair away
31:45 from me if I did while David Stokes
31:46 Barry and the other blue-eyed people
31:49 waited inside the meeting room Jane
31:51 Elliott prepared the brown-eyed people
31:53 for what was going to happen
31:56 now this is not something I can do alone
31:58 this exercise won't work without your
32:01 cooperation blue eyed people aren't
32:04 allowed to smoke blue eyed people aren't
32:05 allowed to sit in these empty chairs
32:07 do not let a blue-eyed person sitting
32:09 next to you you know you can't trust
32:11 them and besides which they don't smell
32:12 good everybody knows that about
32:14 blue-eyed people you don't know what you
32:17 can catch from a blue-eyed person by
32:19 9:20 I felt someone tagging
32:20 and I'm stuck out here for 20 minutes
32:24 standing waiting I still say we always
32:26 see what kind of reaction we'd get by
32:30 everyone just simply going in no one
32:40 wants to do opposed and by all senior
32:46 song we shall overcome I need to have
32:49 you keep it down I don't how many times
32:51 I need to give that instruction but you
32:52 need to keep it down so you don't bother
32:55 the people in the little workshop mm-hmm
32:58 I was pretty well ticked off by the time
33:02 we got taken in their home person
33:03 already pointed at your own feet have
33:13 it would be to your advantage in the
33:15 future people if you'd get to meetings
33:16 on time it would also be to your
33:22 advantage if you'd put your gum away put
33:24 your gum away you want to get paid for
33:27 today well then stay but put your gum
33:32 away I'm sure that you are inventive
33:35 enough to find a place for the gum now
33:37 I'd like for you to notice where she put
33:39 her gum you have this problem with
33:41 blue-eyed people you gives them give
33:42 them something decent and they just
33:44 wreck it you'll also notice that
33:46 blue-eyed people spend a lot of time
33:48 playing look at me see how cute I am I
33:50 can be funny I can make a joke of this
33:52 this is amusing I'm amused by this
33:54 another thing that is obvious about
33:55 blue-eyed people is that they're poor
33:57 listeners the first thing you have to do
33:58 when you get when you're teaching in a
34:00 segregated situation when you're working
34:04 in a segregated situation is teach the
34:06 listening skills the listening skills
34:09 are number one good listeners have quiet
34:13 hands feet and miles everyone needs to
34:15 write these down I'd like for you to
34:17 look at the man in the back in the black
34:21 jacket the game we're playing is playing
34:24 it cool this is a favorite blue eyed
34:26 game playing it cool nobody can bother
34:27 me man
34:29 I can handle this I don't have to do
34:31 this I'm gonna ignore this whole thing
34:34 number two good listeners keep their
34:42 take it you don't have a pencil
34:45 you're you perhaps you could borrow one
34:49 from one of your neighbors sir I realize
34:50 that you feel that you don't need to
34:52 write it down but whether or not you
34:54 write it down perhaps you could remember
34:57 it good listeners have quiet hands feet
34:58 and miles do you know what that means
35:01 I'm not sure I believe that
35:03 do you want me to explain it to you ok
35:04 I'll get a pencil and write this down directly
35:05 directly
35:08 look blue-eyed people all many of you
35:10 have pencils well one of you please lend
35:13 him a pencil or don't you trust me which
35:17 I can understand from the last 10
35:18 minutes what have you observed about
35:21 blue-eyed people you lie people are very
35:24 stubborn very self-centered and wish to
35:27 control as much of their surrounding as
35:30 possible people that wise I mean very
35:31 inconsiderate people I don't even know
35:32 what you're having here in the first
35:35 place we have them here because we are
35:39 required to have them here this is one
35:41 of the things you have to put up with
35:45 number three good listeners listen from
35:56 okay good listeners decide to learn
36:01 something and this is the thing you'll
36:03 have the most difficulty with with
36:05 relied people they decide not to learn
36:08 something some of you have had trouble
36:10 with blue-eyed people in your home
36:11 environment some of you have had trouble
36:12 with blue-eyed people in your workplace
36:14 does anybody have an example of that
36:18 that they'd like to talk about anyone
36:22 two nephews ones blue eye and one brown
36:24 eye and the blue eye one that King never
36:27 cleans his room and he's real lazy and
36:30 the brown you know he doesn't seem to
36:32 have a lot of energy the blue eye one
36:35 but the brown eye one he's draw outgoing
36:36 and he plays in sports and then he's
36:39 pretty good at it you know he just seems
36:42 like a better kid so if I have kids I
36:44 hope they have brown eyes you are you
36:47 married no I think it's a good thing you
36:48 don't have kids in it right well you
36:51 will know what to do when it's when you
36:54 choose a mate right would you like to
36:56 read that first listening skill to me
36:59 have we got on that paper yet oh why is that
37:00 that
37:05 I am the borrow the pencil to write it
37:07 down as yet how do you think it's
37:11 unnecessary at this particular point yes
37:11 I do why
37:21 well I have it in my head for the most
37:23 part they're a base up there for it
37:26 isn't their friend do you suppose you
37:29 could tell me what it is it had
37:31 something to do with keeping your hands
37:34 and feet still that's something to do
37:38 with that I find it interesting that
37:39 you're amused by our having to stand
37:41 here and wait for this man to do
37:42 something that everybody else has
37:45 already done I find that highly
37:50 interesting stupid but interesting if if
37:52 you are in a situation where someone is
37:56 constantly constantly refusing to do
37:58 what the people in authority ask them to
37:59 do what do you know about them what do
38:02 you know about that person well I think
38:06 it's a game with them attention has it
38:08 gained anything for this gentleman
38:10 disrespected from I think for the
38:13 brown-eyed people has it proven anything
38:17 to brown-eyed people yeah this is a
38:23 typical trait of a blue-eyed person I
38:29 read the second one yeah I don't have
38:31 the second one can I read it off right I
38:32 don't have the second one either you
38:33 have you are keeping it in your head
38:35 what happened to that plan just them
38:37 just the first one I had in my head not
38:41 this the other three aren't important
38:45 well they're probably more important but
38:46 not important enough for you to write
38:51 down right well they're important I
38:53 should have written them down most
38:57 probably most probably does anybody back
38:59 there knows you don't have it written
39:01 down either I want you to take a look at
39:08 now we need to hear the good listening
39:11 skills from you I don't want you to
39:15 think that I'm badgering you boys but on
39:18 the other hand on the other hand you're
39:19 here to learn something and if you learn
39:21 nothing else today it would be nice if
39:23 you would learn the listening skills
39:25 what do you know now about brown-eyed
39:27 people that you didn't know before you
39:28 about blue-eyed people that you didn't
39:32 know before you came in here finding I'm
39:34 gonna have to explain things a bit more
39:37 explicitly to a blue-eyed person that I
39:39 went to a brown that person how many
39:40 times did I have to repeat the listening
39:44 skills for Roger brother Rogers having a
39:47 rough time two days man it was about six
39:50 seven different times you think that's
39:53 amusing Roger apparently somewhat
39:58 amusing as part of the lesson the
40:00 corrections department employees took a
40:02 written test all right I need these
40:10 names and the scores are just initials
40:13 they are just an initial no last name no names
40:13 names
40:20 how many eleven in Jordan or Charles I'm
40:24 not sure thank you sir tell me the name again
40:26 again
40:29 Jordan you can't read the name no I
40:40 what's your name my name is chambers
40:46 first name Janine and what was her score
40:52 thanks you Riley with a 5e e Riley
40:59 well a Riley please stand you know it's
41:03 what you do to the image of blues with
41:07 your behavior is unfortunate what you
41:10 three people do to the image of women
41:12 with your behavior really makes me angry
41:15 the fact that you do this kind of thing
41:17 and this kind of sloppy work reflects
41:22 badly on women I resent that ee yes
41:24 ma'am I'd really appreciate it if you'd
41:26 call us by name when you say you three
41:27 people we don't know who you're speaking
41:30 to it could be anyone here my dear if
41:32 you wanted me to call you by name you to
41:35 put your name on your paper it's on my
41:37 it was to be on your paper you didn't
41:40 see my papers I didn't get your name
41:41 either because it wasn't on your paper
41:43 all right now how can one call you by
41:45 your name if you don't care enough about
41:46 your name to put it on your paper don't
41:49 expect me to worry about it don't expect
41:50 me to worry about it if you don't put it
41:53 on your paper don't sit here and say my
41:56 name is important to me after you have
41:58 just deliberately not put it on your
42:01 paper you're being totally unrealistic
42:03 important to me I remember saying I like
42:05 to know who you're speaking to you when
42:07 you say you three then what should you
42:11 do ask you to use my name which I did
42:13 and where should your name of the bin
42:16 right where it is on your paper and on
42:17 my birth certificate is it on your paper
42:20 no ma'am where'd you get a birth
42:23 certificate same place you got out of a
42:25 slot machine same as you did lady I
42:27 think you're probably right about your
42:31 own at least I know who my parents are ma'am
42:32 ma'am
42:35 being rude yes she's being inconsiderate
42:37 very being uncooperative very being
42:39 insulted yes are all those the things
42:40 that we've accused blue-eyed people of
42:42 being yes
42:49 is she proving that we're right yes does
42:51 anyone have any comments to make at this
42:53 point do you feel that there are
42:55 important blue-eyed people there are
42:58 exceptions to every rule and what are
42:59 those exceptions there are a few
43:04 important blue eyed people very few you
43:06 should think that you're one of them
43:10 no that is why are you up there then I'm
43:12 blue eyed the difference between you and
43:14 me is I have a brown eyed husband and
43:16 brown eyed offspring I've learned how to
43:19 behave in a brown-eyed society and when
43:22 you can act brown enough then you too
43:25 can be where I am I wouldn't be where
43:27 you are are you certain
43:30 absolutely how'd you like where you are
43:33 I love where I am you liked it so much
43:35 that you don't even identify your self
43:40 on your paper I don't need to lady her
43:42 using the term lady where I'm concerned
43:45 what you think she's trying to do is it
43:48 ignorant or is it deliberately insulting
43:50 I wouldn't say was deliberately
43:53 insulting if it's ignorance she needs to
43:56 be taught that to many of us the word
43:59 lady is a pejorative I don't appreciate it
43:59 it
44:03 it is it's a put-down and it's used to
44:06 keep women in their place
44:09 I'm sorry calling it by a correct name
44:11 after this I won't be kind that was
44:14 kindness on your part yes then you are
44:16 sure come when a lady is a kindness then
44:18 your problem is ignorant you shouldn't
44:21 call me lady anytime you like I wouldn't
44:24 do that to you no I really wouldn't I I
44:25 think that and that's part of the
44:29 problem is a total lack of awareness and
44:32 what sexism amounts to and how much you
44:36 contribute to the sexism that keeps you
44:39 where you are it's not like where I am lady
44:45 get up with this whole bunch of garbage
44:48 just brown-eyed people's are no
44:51 different than we are I hate to tell
44:52 them that they have these false
44:54 delusions and such are they being
44:59 erected no you trained them very well I
45:01 think that's what they did with the
45:02 stormtroopers in Germany also you guys
45:11 do a real good job sitting where do I
45:25 think I am the Jews after a break for
45:26 lunch Jane Elliott helped the
45:28 corrections department employees analyze
45:32 what had happened did you learn anything
45:37 this morning I was powerless there was a
45:41 sense of hopelessness I was angry I
45:43 wanted to speak up and yet I at times I
45:46 knew if I spoke up I'll be back in a
45:49 powerless situation I'd be attacked a
45:54 sense of hopelessness had you had you
45:56 experienced that before I realized this
45:58 morning that there are very few times in
45:59 my life that I've ever been
46:01 discriminated against very few and you
46:03 are this uncomfortable in an hour and a
46:06 half I was amazed at how uncomfortable I
46:08 was in the first 15 minutes can you
46:11 empathize it all then with blacks
46:12 minority group members in this country
46:17 I'm hoping better than before we tried
46:20 to argue with you you you would use just
46:23 the mere argument as the reason for us
46:26 being lesser than the brown-eyed folks
46:28 you know you couldn't win don't we do
46:31 that every day I think I think some do
46:34 yeah but I would hope that I never get
46:35 so unreasonable I died
46:37 you know the statements you were making
46:39 were groundless and such and yet we
46:40 couldn't argue with them because if we
46:42 argued then we were argumentative and
46:47 you know not listening and and getting
46:49 out of our place and all that stuff and
46:52 and that was frustrating to me and then
46:53 frustrating to me was the other
46:55 little green tags who are sitting on
46:58 their hands my group here was I didn't
47:00 think the boisterous enough in our
47:02 opposition to the whole thing why didn't
47:06 you people support one another why
47:08 didn't the blue-eyed people who I people
47:11 on this side just sat there and let's
47:16 face it you're covered your asses right
47:21 why did you just sit there I think that
47:23 symptomatic of the problem as a whole we
47:25 see that you know in society in general
47:27 you see a few people who are making a
47:29 lot of noise and the rest of people
47:30 sitting back waiting to see what they're
47:32 going to do okay as long as I was
47:33 picking on you to him I was leaving you
47:35 alone right right I'd say a lot of
47:37 people accept that they let have a few
47:39 people do their fighting form and they
47:41 stand back and and if this person's
47:43 gonna win then they'll get on this side
47:45 if that person's not gonna win they'll
47:48 stay back over here you know that's just
47:50 how it works if you were in a real
47:52 situation where you had to do something
47:55 about racism well just would you stand
47:56 up and be counted
47:57 what I would do I don't know it would
48:00 depend on the existing I couldn't go
48:03 home tonight and face my kids if I
48:05 didn't how did you brown eyed people
48:11 feel while this was going on did you
48:15 have the right color eyes absolutely I
48:18 really understood at least I felt that I
48:20 understood what it was like to be in the
48:24 minority why are you angry first of all
48:28 because it was unreasonable secondly
48:29 because I felt discriminated against
48:32 thirdly I think that all of us everyone
48:33 in this room has dealt with
48:36 discrimination on both sides you don't
48:40 have to be black or Jewish or Mexican or
48:41 anything else to have felt
48:44 discrimination in your life and as you
48:47 become an adult you learn to deal with
48:49 those feelings within yourself you learn
48:51 to handle those and when you feel
48:54 yourself in a situation that you can't
48:57 get out of which we couldn't we were a
48:59 captive audience and it was not a normal
49:01 situation because normally aren't
49:04 badgered what if you had to spend the
49:05 rest of your life this way
49:10 I don't know how to answer that you
49:12 don't wake up every morning knowing that
49:14 you're different you wake up as a white
49:16 woman who is going to her job at 8
49:18 o'clock whatever where a black person is
49:20 going to wake up knowing for a minute
49:21 they get up out of the bed and look in
49:23 the mirror they're black and they have
49:24 to deal with the problems they've had to
49:25 deal with ever since they were young and
49:28 realize that I am different and I have
49:30 to deal with life differently things are
49:34 different for me and I don't think you
49:36 can really say that you have felt maybe
49:37 it felt some sort of discrimination but
49:40 you haven't felt what it is like for a
49:42 black woman to go through the daily
49:46 experiences of arguing and saying listen
49:48 to me my point of view is good you know
49:51 what I have to offer here is good and no
49:53 one wants to listen because white is
49:57 right that's the way things are I think
49:59 the necessity for this exercise is a
50:01 crime no I don't want to see it used
50:03 more widely I want to see it's the
50:05 necessity for it wiped out and I think
50:07 if educators were determined that we
50:10 could be very instrumental in wiping out
50:14 the necessity for this exercise but I
50:16 want to see something used I'd like to
50:18 see this exercise used with all teachers
50:21 all administrators but certainly not
50:24 with all students unless unless it's
50:25 done by people who are doing it for the
50:27 right reasons and in the white right way
50:29 I think you could damage a child with
50:32 this exercise very very easily and I
50:34 would never suggest that everybody
50:38 should use it I think you could have
50:40 training classes for teachers bring them
50:42 in put them through the thing explain
50:44 what happened do the debriefing and then
50:47 practice doing this until teachers until
50:50 a group of teachers were able to do it
50:52 on their own and I'd that teachers are
50:56 not disabled learners they could learn
50:59 to do this obviously if I can do it most
51:01 anyone can do it it doesn't take a super
51:04 teacher to do this exercise what began
51:07 in a third-grade classroom has spread
51:10 from students to teachers to corrections
51:13 officers at the center is still a single
51:16 teacher determined to inoculate her
51:17 students both young and old
51:24 against the virus of bigotry after you
51:25 do this exercise when the debriefing
51:27 starts when the pain is over and you're
51:29 all back together and you're all one
51:31 again you find out how society could be
51:34 if we really believed all this stuff
51:36 that we preach if we really acted that
51:39 way you can feel as good about one
51:40 another's those kids feel about one
51:43 another after this exercise is over you
51:45 create instant cousins I thought maybe
51:47 that lasted just while they were in my
51:49 classroom because of my superior
51:52 influence but indeed these kids still
51:53 feel that way about one another they
51:56 said yesterday over and over the remark
51:59 was made we're kind of like a family now
52:01 they found out how to hurt one another
52:03 and they found out how it feels to be
52:06 hurt in that way and they refused to
52:08 hurt one another that way again and they
52:10 said we're kind of like a family now and
52:40 [Music] you
52:42 you [Music]
52:57 you [Music]
Chrome Extension