Jane Elliott, a third grade teacher from Riceville, Iowa, decided that she wanted to teach the kids in her class about racism and discrimination shortly after the murder of Martin Luther King in 1968. The problem she was faced with was that all the children in her class were white and came from similar backgrounds and from the same community. How could she get them to understand discrimination on a personal level?
She divided her class into two groups, (the "blue eyed people" and the "brown eyed people") telling them that those with blue eyes are superior to those with brown eyes. She told them that the brown eyed kids are not to play with the blue eyed kids because they are not as good or as smart. The blue eyed kids had to put collars on the brown eyed kids so that they could be distinguished from a distance.
Jane Elliot reported: "I watched what had been marvelous, co-operative, wonderful and thoughtful children, turn into nasty, vicious, discriminating little third graders in a space of fifteen minutes. " Fifteen years later, the kids who unknowingly took part in the experiment spoke about their feelings of that day.
The blue eyed children felt like rulers and kings and truly looked down on the brown eyed kids, venting all their anger toward them as if it was then justified. The brown eyed kids reported that they felt worthless and as if there would be no use in trying to become anything. They also felt intense hatred towards those who treated them so badly.
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