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Following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Jane Elliott, a third grade teacher in an all-white, all-Christian small town, wanted to teach her class what it feels like to be discriminated against based on a physical characteristic over which one has no control.
She divided her students into two groups: those with brown eyes, and those with blue eyes.
DAY ONE: She tells the class the “truth” about brown eyed people: that they’re lazy, stupid, dirty … all of the stereotypes Americans hold about people of color.
In a matter of minutes, blue eyed students begin to get the gleam of power in their eyes. Brown eyed students sink in their chairs, and their test scores decline.
DAY TWO: Elliott introduces a twist. She tells the class that she made a mistake; blue eyed people are the inferior ones.
The cycle begins again. Once both groups of students have been on the receiving end of discrimination, Elliott brings them together to talk about how they felt and help them draw connections between their feelings that day and racism in the outside world.
Package includes: 25 minute VHS video or DVD and a comprehensive Facilitator’s Guide.
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