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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAnti-racism activist Jane Elliott leaves white audience speechless
with a brilliant question about race:
Link to tweet
[auditorium is silent, stays seated]
You didn't understand the directions. If you white folks want to be treated the way blacks are in this society, stand.
Nobody's standing here. That says very plainly that you know what's happening, you know you don't want it for you. I want to know why you're so willing to accept it or to allow it to happen for others.
Jane Elliot is the school teacher who originated the Blue-Eyes-Brown-Eyes exercise in her classroom after the assassination of Martin Luther King.
https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/jane-elliott-taught-kids-not-be-prejudiced-now-she-sees-racism-growing#stream/0
Edited to add youtube video link:
tblue37
(65,488 posts)alwaysinasnit
(5,072 posts)Solly Mack
(90,785 posts)0rganism
(23,970 posts)damn
dchill
(38,532 posts)NoMoreRepugs
(9,459 posts)TimeToGo
(1,366 posts)They understood her point, right? Thats why they didnt stand.
reACTIONary
(5,771 posts)... Black folks aren't treated fairly.
TimeToGo
(1,366 posts)It seemed as if people were acting as if the audience had been caught. Or had acted incorrectly- they understood the speaker as we do.
2naSalit
(86,776 posts)I though the name sounded familiar. Glad she's still teaching.
Joinfortmill
(14,456 posts)Mr.Bill
(24,319 posts)There isn't a white person in this room who would trade places with me, and I'm rich.
dalton99a
(81,570 posts)djacq
(1,634 posts)You may not want to be treated that way but I, as a black citizen and many others of color, don't have that choice.
Welcome to Institutionalize Racism in America.
Educate yourself about the African American History.
dalton99a
(81,570 posts)Hermit-The-Prog
(33,414 posts)It's pretty clear that breathing while black is a dangerous act.
onecaliberal
(32,894 posts)KS Toronado
(17,317 posts)madamesilverspurs
(15,806 posts)Does anyone have another link that might work?
TIA
crickets
(25,983 posts)madamesilverspurs
(15,806 posts)iluvtennis
(19,871 posts)iluvtennis
(19,871 posts)For x weeks, the blue-eyed kids were told they were superior and brown eyed folks were no good. Blue eyed kids drank from water facets different than the lowly brown eyed kids. Same with bathrooms, use of library space, etc.
She noted the behavior of the kids and how the treatment of brown eyed kids (..previously friends with the blue-eyed kids..) by the blue-eyed kids changed when they were told the brown eyed kids were inferior.
Then for next x weeks, the roles were reversed. Brown eyed kids were told they were superior and blue-eyed kids were inferior.
Very effective experiment in how racism is taught.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Elliott
CaptYossarian
(6,448 posts)The brown-eyed adults were screaming at her and pointing their fingers.
It was powerful enough that I still remember it about 20-25 years later.
A DUer posted a Chris Rock video above. The last time I was shocked by anything (other than this administration) was when he said his mom told him that when blacks needed dental work in South Carolina back in the day, they would have to go to a veterinarian.
The United States of Apartheid.
iluvtennis
(19,871 posts)Demovictory9
(32,475 posts)Sunsky
(1,737 posts)DavidDvorkin
(19,485 posts)Nor do we accept it, but we don't have the power to stop it.
soldierant
(6,921 posts)but we do have more power than we are using. Some more than others, certainly.
IllinoisBirdWatcher
(2,315 posts)We o have the power. We need to VOTE for every office from the bottom to the top.
Nevilledog
(51,197 posts)I plan on using this .
czarjak
(11,289 posts)The same yesterday, today and forever. Just like Jesus, huh, rubes?
CrispyQ
(36,509 posts)Racism isn't born, folks, it's taught. I have a two-year-old son. You know what he hates? Naps! End of list.
~Denis Leary
Nevilledog
(51,197 posts)c-rational
(2,595 posts)Marthe48
(17,019 posts)I saw the Blue Eyes-Brown Eyes exercise. I worked harder on my own outlook ever since.
napi21
(45,806 posts)birth. In most cases there aren't specific words, but actions. Kids are very perceptive, and they sense a lot of things that are never verbalized. We as a population, need to hear that, over & over until it sinks in. Some may not realize what they're doing & must change their behavior.
Upthevibe
(8,071 posts)I had NEVER seen that. I know all about the blue eyes/brown eyes exercise but I didn't know really who did it. That was soooo powerful! Thank you for posting.
BarbD
(1,193 posts)You've got to be taught
to hate and fear
You've got to be taught
From year to year
It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught
To be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made
And people whose skin is a different shade
You've got to be carefully taught
You've got to be taught
Before it's too late
Before you are 6 or 7 or 8
To hate all the people your relatives hate
You've got to be carefully taught.
malaise
(269,157 posts)He replied with a teardrop
Response to crickets (Original post)
geralmar This message was self-deleted by its author.
Nevilledog
(51,197 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Very powerful!