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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
(65,290 posts)alwaysinasnit
(5,063 posts)Solly Mack
(90,762 posts)0rganism
(23,937 posts)damn
dchill
(38,465 posts)NoMoreRepugs
(9,404 posts)TimeToGo
(1,366 posts)They understood her point, right? Thats why they didnt stand.
reACTIONary
(5,770 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
(86,515 posts)I though the name sounded familiar. Glad she's still teaching.
Joinfortmill
(14,410 posts)Mr.Bill
(24,274 posts)There isn't a white person in this room who would trade places with me, and I'm rich.
dalton99a
(81,432 posts)djacq
(1,633 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
(81,432 posts)Hermit-The-Prog
(33,316 posts)It's pretty clear that breathing while black is a dangerous act.
onecaliberal
(32,814 posts)KS Toronado
(17,189 posts)madamesilverspurs
(15,800 posts)Does anyone have another link that might work?
TIA
crickets
(25,960 posts)madamesilverspurs
(15,800 posts)iluvtennis
(19,844 posts)iluvtennis
(19,844 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
(19,844 posts)Demovictory9
(32,445 posts)Sunsky
(1,737 posts)DavidDvorkin
(19,473 posts)Nor do we accept it, but we don't have the power to stop it.
soldierant
(6,846 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
(51,064 posts)I plan on using this .
czarjak
(11,266 posts)The same yesterday, today and forever. Just like Jesus, huh, rubes?
CrispyQ
(36,446 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
(51,064 posts)c-rational
(2,590 posts)Marthe48
(16,932 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
(8,034 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
(1,192 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
(268,885 posts)He replied with a teardrop
Response to crickets (Original post)
geralmar This message was self-deleted by its author.
Nevilledog
(51,064 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Very powerful!