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Witness History: The ‘Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes’ anti-racist exercise

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The ‘Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes’ anti-racist exercise

19/06/2020 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, The ‘Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes’ anti-racist exercise

A teacher decided to separate pupils according to eye colour to teach them about racism.

In 1968 US school teacher, Jane Elliott, decided to separate her all-white class according to the colour of their eyes in an effort to teach them about racism.

When Dr Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968, US school teacher, Jane Elliott, decided to try to teach her all-white class about racism.  She decided to segregate them according to the colour of their eyes, and treated them differently.  Although controversial from the start, the “blue eyes/brown eyes” teaching exercise has been adapted in schools and workplaces for diversity training ever since.  Jane Elliott has been explaining to Rebecca Kesby why she still thinks the model has value today in defeating racial prejudice.

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