Jane Elliott

Who is Jane Elliott?

Jane Elliott is an American former schoolteacher, recognized most prominently as an anti-racism activist and educator. She is also known as a feminist and LGBT activist. Elliott created the famous "blue-eyed/brown-eyed" exercise, first done with third-grade school children in the 1960s, which later became the basis for her career in diversity training. The exercise was conducted the day following Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. The purpose of the exercise was to try to teach her students the effects of being a minority. Her exercise, and the subsequent controversy, became the basis for the television documentaries Eye of the Storm and A Class Divided. Elliott was also recipient of the National Mental Health Association Award for Excellence in Education and many other awards.