The day after Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination in 1968, Jane Elliott, a schoolteacher in rural Iowa, introduced to her all-white third-grade class a shocking experiment to demonstrate . The exercise is "an inoculation against racism," she says. PracticalPsychology. Elliott shared the essays with her mother, who showed them to the editor of the weekly Riceville Recorder. On the first day of the experiment, Elliott told the children who had blue eyes that they were superior to the children with brown eyes; that they were better, nicer and smarter. She was a local girl and the other teachers were intimidated by her success. Mary and Zeke have three children, all of whom have blue eyes. Order from one of our vetted writers instead, First name should have at least 2 letters, Phone number should have at least 10 digits, Free Essay with a Response to Cross Words by UIW President Louis Agnese, How Does Donald Duk View His Chinese Heritage? The Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes Experiment. Did they know what it was like to be discriminated against? Today, she says, it's still playing out as the U.S. reckons with racial injustice. 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. Now 45, she had been in Elliott's third grade class in 1969. She began this work in This meeting, along with other clips of the exercises impact on education, is featured in a PBS documentary called A Class Divided. When Sarah, the Elliotts' oldest daughter, went to the girls' bathroom in junior high, she came out of a stall to see a message scrawled in red lipstick on the mirror: "Nigger lover.". "She got carried away by this possession she developed over human beings. ", Jane shielded her eyes from the morning sun. 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. The mainstream media were complicit in advancing such a simplistic narrative. 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. "She was an excellent school teacher, but she has a way about her," says 90-year-old Riceville native Patricia Bodenham, who has known Elliott since Jane was a baby. 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. She says its because racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, and ethnocentrism are mean and nasty. Through this study, Elliot demonstrated how easy it is for prejudice and discrimination to emerge from just a simple message that people with one eye color are superior to people with another eye color. "Because we might catch something," a brown-eyed boy said. Elliott's friends and family say she's tenacious, and has always had a reformer's zeal. Today, increased migration means more opportunities for people from different backgrounds to interact with each other, which is often a source of conflict. She gave the blue-eyed students an armband so other students could more easily identify them, and then she told her class that it was a scientific fact that people with brown eyes are smarter than those with blue because their bodies had more . The episode features with new footage of the students, who are now adults. 4. The story was then picked up by the Associated Press. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 prompted educator Jane Elliott to create the now-famous "blue eyes/brown eyes exercise ." 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. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. All the work should be used in accordance with the appropriate policies and applicable laws. 4 Pages. One example that has been in place for many years is the blue-eyed/brown-eyed experiment. She repeated the abuse with subsequent classes, and finally turned it into a fully commercial enterprise. Then a picture was taken to remember. "They are cleaner and they are smarter.". Sorry, but it's not possible to copy the text due to security reasons. SpeedyPaper.com 2023 All rights reserved. 1. It was the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968 that Elliott ran her first "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" exercise in her Riceville, Iowa classroom. After the exercise white college students in . If brown-eyed children made a mistake, Elliott would call out the mistake and attribute it to the students brown eyes. Jane Elliot and the Blue-Eyed Children Experiment. I felt mad. On the day after Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in April 1968, Jane Elliott's third graders from the small, all-white town of Riceville, Iowa, came to class . Jane Elliott was a third grade teacher in Riceville, Iowa when she developed the Blue Eyed/ Brown Eyed exercise to teach the effects of racism. At the time, she was a third-grade . On the "Tonight Show" Carson broke the ice by spoofing Elliott's rural roots. According to the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, 2010 the experiment also violates the principle of Integrity. Dick DeMarsico/New York World-Telegram & the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection/PhotoQuest/Getty Images, Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, Committee Member - MNF Research Advisory Committee, PhD Scholarship - Uncle Isaac Brown Indigenous Scholarship. She also assumed that none of the children had interacted with black people and that the only place they could have seen them is on television. Elliott separated her all-white class of students into two groups: blue-eyed children and brown-eyed children. Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. The roots of racism and why it continues unabated in America and other nations are complicated and gnarled. The test violated the principle of respect for people's rights and dignity. As a journalism professor and author of a book on race that spans more than 50 years, Ive watched these developments with great concern. However, the study shows some bias in the sample size and race of participants. Within a few hours of starting the exercise, Elliott noticed big differences in the childrens behavior and how they treated each other. Carson asked, grinning. And Im only doing this as an exercise that every child knows is an exercise and every child knows is going to end at the end of the day., We learn to be racist, therefore we can learn not to be racist. At recess, three brown-eyed girls ganged up on her. Open Document. "Probably because they have been taught how they're treated in this country that they have to understand us. ", Elliott replied, "Why are we so worried about the fragile egos of white children who experience a couple of hours of made-up racism one day when blacks experience real racism every day of their lives?". Children with brown eyes were forced to wear armbands that made it easy for people to see that they had brown eyes. When she went downtown to do errands, she heard whispers. The Blue Eyes & Brown Eyes Exercise. Barbie had to have a Ken, so Elliott picked from the audience a tall, handsome man and accused him of doing the same things with his female subordinates, Pasicznyk said. Jane would get invited to go to Timbuktu to give a speech. More than 50 years after her famous exercise, Elliott is still fighting. It brings up immediate anger and hatred. In this photograph from Sept. 13, 1965, Black children on their way to school in New York City pass by segregationists protesting integrated busing. Days after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Was The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Experiment Ethical? After the local newspaper published a story on Elliott and the experiment, she was flown to New York to appear on May 31, 1968, on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, where she extolled the experiments effectiveness in cluing in her 8-year-old white students on what it was like to be Black in America. Copyright 20102023, The Conversation Media Group Ltd. Elliott is nothing if not stubborn. 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 were also relevant in the 1950s when Elliott first began this work. The answer, in a word, was nothing. The blue-eyed participants faced discrimination for two and a half hours. Order original essays online. She knew that the children weren't going to buy her pitch unless she came up with a reason, and the more scientific to these Space Age children of the 1960s, the better. Elliott began the exercise by dividing her students by eye color. View Module 2 Discussion_ Are We Still Divided_ Blue Eyes_Brown Eyes_ A 3rd Grade Lesson for Us All.pdf from HUMN 330 at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. She then told them that the children with blue eyes were inherently inferior to the children with brown . . When Elliott walked into the teachers' lounge the next Monday, several teachers got up and walked out. ", Others have praised Elliott's exercise. Words are the most powerful weapon devised by humankind. The secretary said the south side of the building was closed, something about waxing the hallways. What Was the Purpose of the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Experiment? Later, it would occur to Elliott that the blueys were much less nasty than the brown-eyed kids had been, perhaps because the blue-eyed kids had felt the sting of being ostracized and didn't want to inflict it on their former tormentors. "He's a bluey! Her class, In Building Moral Intelligence: The Seven Essential Virtues That Teach Kids to Do the Right Things, educational psychologist Michele Borda says it "teaches our children to counter stereotypes before they become full-fledged, lasting prejudices and to recognize that every human being has the right to be treated with respect." I felt like hitting them if I wanted to. As for the criticism that the exercise encourages children to distrust authority figuresthe teacher lies, then recants the lies and maintains they were justified because of a greater goodshe says she worked hard to rebuild her students' trust. ", Elliott says the role of a teacher is to enhance students' moral development. When Elliott conducted the exercise the next year, she added something extra to collect data. One of the ways Hitler decided who went into the gas chamber was eye color, Elliott said in a later speech. 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. Even family members can turn against each other if some authority suddenly decides that those differences are a problem. Although Jane Elliot's intentions were to teach the youngsters about racism, ethical issues related to the simulation were raised. "It changed my life. The people and cultures already present in a place often feel threatened by new immigrants. On the other hand, privileged members of the community are treated as in-groups which earn them undue respect and capacity to abuse the less advantaged. There are risks to those inoculations, too, but we determine that those risks are worth taking. Role Theory: Expectations, Identities, and Behaviors. "It's Riceville 30 years ago. Jane Elliott's experiment of dividing an otherwise homogenous group of school kids by their eye color. Nobodys standing here. "Hey, Mrs. Elliott," Steven yelled as he slung his books on his desk. In fact, most of the initial response was negative. The next day, Elliott reversed the roles. The blue-eyed brown-eyed experiment was conducted by Jane Elliott, a school teacher from Iowa, in which she separated blue eyed children from brown eyed children and took turns making one of the "superior" to the other. Some guidelines for avoiding or reducing this effect are: In conclusion, Jane Elliotts experiment demonstrates the fragility of coexistence and cooperation. "I understand this is the first time you've flown?" Elliott was even brought on The Tonight Show to talk about her experiences. In Jane Elliott's experiment she made the third graders believe that the blue eyed people were better,than the brown eyed people. We dont have to learn about those who are other than white. That phrase came to my mind when I watched the video, A Class Divided, about education experiment to teach stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination (Frontline, 1985 . Blue Eye/Brown Eye is an experiment performed by Jane Elliot in 1968 on the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated to demonstrate what prejudice was to her third grade class. 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. It was typical of Elliott's blunt styleno "Good morning," no small talk. Everyone's tired of her. Many critics that the children were too young to understand the exercise. That might have been the end of it, but a month later, Elliott says, Johnny Carson called her. She has led training sessions at General Electric, Exxon, AT&T, IBM and other corporations, and has lectured to the IRS, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Department of Education and the Postal Service. She wanted to show her students that an arbitrarily established difference could separate them and pit them against each other. 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 . Once indoors, the brown-eyed group was then treated to coffee and doughnuts, while the blue-eyed group could only stand around and wait. This is the phrase that inspired one of the most well-known experiments in education. Why are we still talking about this experiment over 50 years later? There were more brown-eyed students in the room. On the first day of the experiment, she declared the brown-eyed group superior and gave them extra privileges like seconds at lunch, extra recess time, and access to the new school playground. Traditionally, society has always treated leadership as a male issue. In explaining the experiment rules to the brown-eyed contestants, she addresses the people of color in the room. she asked the children, who were white. 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. Blue eyes, brown eyes: What Jane Elliott's famous experiment says about race 50 years on. The textbook publisher McGraw-Hill has listed her on a timeline of key educators, along with Confucius, Plato, Aristotle, Horace Mann, Booker T. Washington, Maria Montessori and 23 others. You should be happy! 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). You give them something nice and they just wreck it." "Malinda? Days after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., she pioneered an experiment to show her all-white class of third graders what it was like to be Black in America. We walked into the principal's office at RicevilleElementary School, Elliott's old haunt. She has appeared on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" five times. Subsequent research designed to gauge the efficacy of Elliotts attempt at reducing prejudice showed that many participants were shocked by the experiment, but it did nothing to address or explain the root causes of racism. Separate the class into two halves - those with blue eyes and those with brown. If you had a good German name, but you had brown eyes, they threw you into the gas chamber because they thought you might be a Jewish person who was trying to pass. March 26, 1985. 980 Words. Your Privacy Rights Professor of Journalism, University of Iowa. Below, . On the morning of april 5, 1968, a Friday, Steven Armstrong stepped into Jane Elliott's third-grade classroom in Riceville, Iowa. ", Absolutely not. Malinda Whisenhunt? Facilitators should be aware that Jane Elliott's focus on white people can lead viewers to the wrong impression that people of color are passively molded by white people's behavior when, in actuality, people of color can and do respond to racism in a variety of ways. On the first day, the blue-eyed students were informed that they were genetically inferior to the brown-eyed students. Racism is not genetical. Solve your problem differently! Melanin, she said, is what causes intelligence. The "invisible knapsack" is an analogy for a set of invisible and not widely talked about privileges that white people possess in the society. This paradigm helps understand the current problems related to discrimination. If you have ever heard of the self-fulfilling prophecy, these results may not come as a surprise. Blue-eyed students suggested that the teacher use a yardstick to discipline brown-eyed students that misbehaved. Professor Jane Elliott performed a group experiment with her students that they would never forget. Is your time best spent reading someone elses essay? "We'll just be a couple of minutes. Cookie Policy One caller complained that white children would not be able to handle the exercise and would be seriously damaged by the exercise. And they are smarter than blue-eyed people." The brown-eyed children got to sit in the front of the room, to go to lunch first, and to have more time at recess. Elliott pulled out green construction paper armbands and asked each of the blue . One student answers, since the day I was born. Throughout the entire experiment, Elliott leads frank conversations about race and discrimination. Children often fight, argue, and sometimes hit each other, but this time they were motivated by eye color. "Brown-eyed people have more of that chemical in their eyes, so brown-eyed people are better than those with blue eyes," Elliott said. That's not true. She and her husband, Darald Elliott, then a grocer, have four children, and they, too, felt a backlash. Want a quality guarantee? She left teaching in the mid-80s to speak publicly about the experience and the impact of prejudice and racism. In 2001, she was still trying to make a change. This procedure is sometimes so subtle that no one notices it happening. Its not true and its not fair no matter what you say! he responded. How can we teach kids to be more like him? The Blue-Eyes, Brown-Eyes Experiment. Exploring your mind Blog about psychology and philosophy. Kellen Castineiras PSY Dr. Gail C. Flanagan February 6, 2022. . The Associated Press followed up, quoting Elliott as saying she was "dumbfounded" by the exercise's effectiveness. The students were surprised, but they didnt argue. Charity is humiliating because its exercised vertically and from above; solidarity is horizontal and implies mutual respect.. They embraced the experiments reductive message, as well as its promised potential, thereby keeping the implausible rationale of Elliotts crusade alive and well for decades, however flawed and racist it really was. Jane Elliott's Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes experiment was a turning point in social psychology. Kors writes that Elliott's exercise taught "blood-guilt and self-contempt to whites," adding that "in her view, nothing has changed in America since the collapse of Reconstruction." Though Jane's actions were justifiable because she was not a psychologist, her experiment cannot be replicated in the present society. Shermer and Bloom discuss: "Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes" Jane Elliott famous racism experiment reactions to it (in the classroom, locally, nationally, internationally) whether the "experiment" was really more of a demonstration public interest, from Johnny Carson to Oprah Winfrey the questionable ethics of the experiment what it reveals about tribalism, racism . The experiment known as Blue Eyes Brown Eyes experiment is regarded as an eye-opening way for children to learn about racism and discrimination. From Elliot's highly controversial experiment it is clear that prejudice and discrimination can only be understood through experience. Advertising Notice SYNOPSIS OF BLUE EYED. The fourth of five children, Elliott was born on her family's farm in Riceville in 1933, and was delivered by her Irish-American father himself. Retrieved from https://speedypaper.com/essays/ethical-concerns-in-jane-elliots-experiment, Free essays can be submitted by anyone, so we do not vouch for their quality. Consequently, the brown-eyed children started using blue-eyes as an insult. She believed that experience was the only way her students could understand how it felt like to be discriminated. Many critics that the children were too young to understand the exercise. New York: Elsevier Science. They killed hundreds of thousands of people based on eye color alone, thats the reason I used eye color for my determining factor that day., Elliott divided the class into children with blue eyes and children with brown eyes. Blue-eyed people would get 5 extra minutes on the playground and blue-eyed people could not talk to brown-eyed people. Let's just move on. The experiment was to be a division of eye colour starting with blue eyed student having superiority and then the following day, the roles would be reversed. Many of them noted that when they hear prejudice and discrimination from others, they wish they could whip out those collars and give them the experience they had as third graders. 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 the first day of the two-day experiment, Elliott told the . Elliott split her students into two groups, based on eye color. They gossiped about her in the hallway. On April 4 1968, King was killed by the single . Brown-eyed people. The experiment is to help the children to understand about prejudice and discrimination. Still, Elliott said the last few years have brought out America's worst racist tendencies. Elliotts bullying rejoinder to any nonbeliever was to say that however much pain a white person felt after one or two days of made-up discrimination was nothing when compared to what Blacks endure daily. To begin with, Jane Elliot's experiment involved deception in which the children were made in believing that change in eye color influence intelligence. ", "I've never forgotten the exercise," Whisenhunt volunteered. "No person of any age [was] going to leave my presence with those attitudes unchallenged," Elliott said. In doing the research for my book with scores of peoples who were participants in the experiment, I reached out to Elliott. Elliott rattled off the rules for the day, saying blue-eyed kids had to use paper cups if they drank from the water fountain. The brown-eyed students also exercised a certain level of power over the blue-eyed students when they put the armbands on them. When my grandchildren are old enough, I'd give anything if you'd try the exercise out on them. The demonstration has since been taught by generations of teachers to millions of kids across the country. The blue-eyed students, when told they were superior and offered privileges such as extra recess time, changed their behavior dramatically and their attitudes toward the children with brown eyes. The students who had blue eyes were told that they were better and smarter than their inferior brown-eyed peers. In Zimbardo's experiment the conditions were much more controlled for later study but the r. The three outcomes are: (1) virtually all of the subjects reported that the experience was The blue eyes and brown eyes experiment According to supporters of Elliott's approach, the goal is to reach people's sense of empathy and morality. "The browneyed people are the better people in this room," Elliott began. She told them that people with brown eyes were better than people with blue eyes. The experiment, known as Blue Eyes Brown Eyes experiment, is regarded as an eye-opening way for children to learn about racism and discrimination. Elliott instructed the blue-eyed kids not to play on the jungle gym or swings. Is it even possible today? "Why?" hide caption. American Psychological Association, 4. In the 60s, the United States was in the midst of a social race crisis. She said she watched and was horrified at what she saw. How do you think the world would change if everyone experienced the perils and setbacks that come with prejudice and discrimination? The corn grows so fast in northern Iowafrom seedling to seven-foot-high stalk in 12 weeksthat it crackles. Therefore when she gave the blue eyed people more freedom than the brown eyed people, the blue eyed people started feeling like kings because they thought they were better, and were treated better. 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. Folks leave their cars unlocked, keys in the ignition. Yet what Elliott did continues to stir controversy. Essay Example, Essay Example on Racism Towards Black People, Essay Sample about Developing a Campaign for School Intimidation, Essay Example on Therapist-Client Relationship Boundaries, Islamic Perspective on Euthanasia, Free Essay Sample. Jane divided the class into 9 brown eyes and 9 blue eyes. The blue eyes brown eyes study was a study on group prejudice and discrimination conducted by Jane Elliot. The students initially involved wished that everyone could participate in an exercise like this. When you read about this experiment, its hard not to question labels. Multi-Problem Adolescents: An Increasing Problem, Professor Jane Elliott performed a group experiment, the current problems related to discrimination. The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise received national attention shortly after it ended. The children said yes, and the exercise began. The selection was based on the color of the eye for each group. The 1970s and 1980s were ripe for diversity education in the private and public sectors, and Elliott would try out the experiment at workshops on tens of thousands of participants, not just in the U.S. and Canada, but in Europe, the Middle East and Australia. She wanted them to understand what discrimination felt like. (In later versions of the exercise, children in the inferior group were given collars to wear.). The blue-eyed participants faced discrimination for two and a half hours. Withdrawn brown-eyed kids were suddenly outgoing, some beaming with the widest smiles she had ever seen on them. In the early morning, dew and fog cover the acres of gently swaying stalks that surround Riceville the way water surrounds an island. "That's what I tried to teach, and that's what drove the other teachers crazy. The basic idea was to separate the class into two halves - those with blue eyes and those with brown. Regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status, decision making in psychology should protect individual rights and welfare to eliminate potential biases. Elliot wanted to show that the same thing happens in real life with brown eyed people (minority). She has since refused to answer any of my inquiries. Yes, the children felt angry, hurt, betrayed. Proceeding with the experiment, Elliot divided the children into two groups each with nine pupils. Ethics + Religion; Health; Politics + Society; . Privacy Statement "Eye color, hair color and skin color are caused by a chemical," Elliott went on, writing MELANIN on the blackboard. These are the sources and citations used to research Jane Elliott's blue eye brown eye case study is/isn't more ethical than Zimbardo's Stanford prison experiment. At lunchtime, Elliott hurried to the teachers' lounge. Initial Reaction to the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Exercise. Need an original essay on Essay Sample: Ethical Concerns in Jane Elliot's Experiment? ", That spring morning 37 years ago, the blue-eyed children were set apart from the children with brown or green eyes.
The Colosseum At Caesars Palace Covid Restrictions,
Michael Jackson And Elvis' Daughter,
Missing Child Atlanta Ga,
Halal Index Funds List,
Mastoid Air Cells Radiology,
Articles B