Race Relations Pioneer to Present an "Eye-opening" Lesson on Racism
10/6/2005 2:15:21 PM
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NOTE: Tickets for this lecture are sold out as of Oct. 20. The lecture will be broadcast on closed-circuit television in the University Union Hawk’s Nest. Seating will be available on a first come, first served basis and is not guaranteed.
Wilmington, NC – Jane Elliott, adaptor of the landmark “Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes” discrimination experiment, will speak at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 24 in Kenan Auditorium at University of North Carolina Wilmington. Her lecture, “Anatomy of Prejudice,” will be followed by a question and answer period and book signing. This is the second event of the UNCW Presents Leadership Lecture Series and is co-presented with the UNCW Upperman African-American Cultural Center.
Elliott is committed to being a leader in the fight against prejudice, ignorance and racism in society. Her talk is designed to build up a realistic microcosm of society, and a powerful tool in exposing people to the experience of being a minority. For the first time, many audience members will experience the feeling of being discriminated against, in the same way others have been discriminated against in society on the basis of gender, race, homosexuality or disability.
"Theoretically, you go to college to be exposed to others different from you in order to enrich your way of thinking,” said Shannon Hooker, assistant director of UNCW Presents. "It is through meeting and interacting with other people that stereotypes get broken down, and you get to the core of humanity.”
In 1968, Elliott, a third-grade teacher in Iowa at the time, segregated her students according to eye color. The students with brown eyes had the privilege of going back for seconds during lunchtime, and they were able to play outside for recess. The blue-eyed students had to wear collars for the day, signifying their supposed inferiority. More than 30 years later, Elliot believes that her exercise still proves that racism is a learned response, and insists that education and awareness are the solutions to racism. “White people in this country are tweaked,” Elliott says. “We are raised to believe a myth of White superiority.” Malcolm X, in The Autobiography of Malcolm X, said that white people’s “…belief that they are ‘superior’ in some way is so deeply rooted that these things are in the national White subconscious.” Malcolm X went on to explain, “Many whites are even actually unaware of their own racism, until they face some test, and then their racism emerges in one form or another.” Elliott administered such a test.
Those who have been through this exercise have said it is an emotionally significant and life-changing experience. The ground-breaking blue-eyed/brown-eyed lesson is considered the pinnacle of all other diversity programming in the country today.
Elliott's audiences include numerous corporations, government agencies and universities across the country as well as international participants. She has been featured on Oprah, Today, The Tonight Show, ABC News and PBS’ Frontline. Elliott’s work has been the subject of three award-winning films: Eye of the Storm, Eye of the Beholder, Blue Eyed, and the most recent film, The College Eye.
Elliott will be interviewed for UNCW-TV by David Weber, UNCW communication studies professor, at 2 p.m. on Oct. 24 in UNCW ‘s Video Production Studio in Leutze Hall. The public is free to observe, though studio seating is limited and registration is required. RSVP to 910/962.7971 or berryt@uncw.edu.
ABOUT THE LEADERSHIP LECTURE SERIES
The Leadership Lecture Series invites nationally and internationally-known speakers who enlighten, challenge, inspire and demonstrate that all people have the ability to lead if they have the desire to make a difference. Sponsored by UNCW Presents, the series serves as a forum for intellectual inquiry and discussion offering the campus and community opportunities to discuss and explore the political, cultural, and economic trends and issues that shape and affect our communities today. By inviting a speaker to the campus, the university does not endorse any particular position. For more information about the series, please visit www.uncw.edu/arts.
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