The Official Biography of Jane Elliott and the Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes Exercise
What if, by eight years old, children could possess the mechanism to disrupt prejudicial tendencies? That is an argument posited by Jane Elliott for more than five decades. She initially made the claim the day after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.—first with elementary school students in Riceville, Iowa, then with adults in seminar rooms full of corporate, correctional, educational, and military personnel. Elliott is famous for placing learners of all ages into a manufactured society of hate, oppression, and in-group synchrony. In Shades of Brown, historian Todd M. Mealy offers a fascinating, never-before-told reconstruction of Elliott’s life as a child on a Depression-era farm in Iowa to her rise as one of the world’s leading voices on the anatomy of prejudice.
Loved and despised by millions, this schoolteacher invested most of her life trying to expose the root cause of bigotry: ignorance. Racism is not new. It will likely never end. However, in 1968, Elliott discovered a method to mitigate racist inclinations. She calls it the “Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise,” a controversial role-play on discrimination that separates learners by the color of their eyes. Elliott contends that a short period of discomfort and alienation will teach her central lesson that we are one race.
Based on rarely tapped sources, especially never discovered family documents, Shades of Brown offers the full context of the origin, use, and implications of the Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise.
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING
In an era of unprecedented challenges to societal change, Todd Mealy's captivating biography of Jane Elliott provides insights into her long advocacy for challenging racial bigotry in all its forms as inspired by the work of my father, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which encompassed eradicating what he called "the triple evils of poverty, racism and militarism." Mealy’s narrative reconstructs a comprehensive and nuanced portrayal of Jane Elliott’s courageous journey in the struggle for social justice and as an anatomy of prejudice. “Shades of Brown” offers an insightful critique and is a must read that resonates with the urgency of our times to overcome racial bias, prejudice, bigotry, and work toward the ultimate elimination of racism which is essential in creating the Beloved Community.—Dr. Bernice A. King, CEO, The King Center
In Shades of Brown, author Todd M. Mealy invites readers into the extraordinary life and transformative work of esteemed educator Jane Elliott. From her groundbreaking "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" exercise to her tireless advocacy for equality and justice, Elliott's story is a testament to the power of one person's unwavering dedication to dismantling racial prejudice. Mealy's intimate portrait delves into the personal and professional experiences that shaped Elliott's journey, revealing the challenges she faced and the triumphs she achieved along the way. Through a captivating narrative, readers gain profound insights into the spirit and lasting impact of a true trailblazer who continues to inspire generations.—Keith A. Beauchamp, Filmmaker, Producer/Writer Till
When I think about Jane Elliott, I think about a courageous human being who refuses the recursive hubris regarding the so-called rightness of whiteness. In this way, one might assume that the meaning behind Jane Elliott's "blue eyes, brown eyes" experiment on prejudice and discriminatory behavior is easily discernible. Indeed, journalists have covered this controversial lesson plan for many decades. However, in Shades of Brown, Todd M. Mealy once again establishes himself as a skillful and formidable scholar. In this must-read biography, Dr. Mealy puts forth original and engaging ideas about Elliott, her groundbreaking exercise, and the deeply problematic Faustian tendency at the very core of racism, xenophobia, and sexism. With prose akin to that of a guiding beacon, Mealy's work illuminates the intricacies of our shared human condition, urging us to stand in solidarity with those who are subjugated and painfully treated as "less than." Through the powerful genre of biography, this book helps us to understand not just the profound social justice dimensions of Jane Elliott's pedagogy, but it functions as a clarion call, one that sheds light on the unqualified and perpetual need for all of us to resist attempts to stifle critical thinking, social diversity, and what the humanities can offer.—George Yancy, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Philosophy, Emory University
by Todd M Mealy
Page Count: 387
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Publish Date: July 25, 2023
Imprint: Oxford Southern
Genre: Biography
Biography & Autobiography / Women
Education / History
Biography & Autobiography / Social Activists
You might also like ...
-
$19.95- What Happened to Radio, 1960 to 2020 - Joe ...- What Happened to Radio, 1960 to 2020 - Joe Taylor, on the air and in the boss’s chair witnessed and was part of how radio changed from the end of the network era, through the days of Top 40, th...
-
$19.95by J Richard Watkins - One Soldier's Tour of Du...by J Richard Watkins - One Soldier's Tour of Duty - In the 30 plus years since its conclusion, countless volumes have been crafted regarding the Vietnam War, not to mention movies, television spec...
-
$16.95Their Lives, Contributions, and Burial Sites Jo...Their Lives, Contributions, and Burial Sites Joe Farrell, Joe Farley, and Lawrence Knorr have traveled across the eastern USA to the graves of over 200 founding fathers (and mothers) responsible fo...
-
$14.95Their Lives, Contributions, and Burial Sites Jo...Their Lives, Contributions, and Burial Sites Joe Farrell, Joe Farley, and Lawrence Knorr have traveled across the eastern USA to the graves of over 200 founding fathers (and mothers) responsible fo...
-
$16.95The indelible image lingers from every cemetery...The indelible image lingers from every cemetery and nostalgic detail consuming the human mind. It is a sumptuous palace swarming with bodies from the past. Cemeteries can be dynamically active or...
-
$24.95In Deals, Danger, Destiny—the first book in thi...In Deals, Danger, Destiny—the first book in this series—John LaCasse takes us through the glamour of wealth and his high-octane lifestyle. He opens the existential crises of fast and furious living...
-
$24.95Their Lives, Contributions, and Burial Sites Jo...Their Lives, Contributions, and Burial Sites Joe Farrell, Joe Farley, and Lawrence Knorr have traveled across the eastern USA to the graves of over 200 founding fathers (and mothers) responsible fo...
-
$22.95This book covers the entire 1960 Pittsburgh Pi...This book covers the entire 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates season from spring expectations through a season of destiny culminated by the wildest, most lopsided World Series ever—one which saw a team get ...
-
$16.95Before the US Constitution defined the role of ...Before the US Constitution defined the role of the President of the United States as the chief executive, fourteen men filled the role of President of the United States in Congress Assembled. Thoug...
-
$16.95Finding and Losing the Love of My Life in Six S...Finding and Losing the Love of My Life in Six Short Years What if you came home one day and found your husband dead in his favorite chair? This grief memoir explores the author’s experience of the ...
-
$19.95- The Newly Revealed T206 Baseball Card Collect...- The Newly Revealed T206 Baseball Card Collection of Thomas Edison's Youngest Son Thomas Edison was a long-time baseball fan. In his younger years, he once proclaimed, he could have named the play...
-
$34.95This is the riveting, brutally honest story of ...This is the riveting, brutally honest story of a man’s struggle to make something of himself in the theater. Coming from meager circumstances in the Ozark Mountains, he fights his way up the shaky ...
-
$34.95On December 1st, 1784, along a cold and wintry ...On December 1st, 1784, along a cold and wintry Fourth Street in Philadelphia, Major William Trent sputtered his last breath surrounded by friends and family and soon became forgotten in history. Th...
-
$19.95The Life and Times of the Author of Ben Hur -- ...The Life and Times of the Author of Ben Hur -- An analytical and deeply rich historical biography of a great American author who is little known or remembered today. Lew Wallace, a fascinating and...
-
$19.95of the New York Yankees Mike Burke arguably led...of the New York Yankees Mike Burke arguably led one of the most interesting lives in twentieth century America. It seems that it was his destiny to have a rendezvous with history at every turn in ...
-
$16.95A Memoir Beyond Barron, the second volume of a ...A Memoir Beyond Barron, the second volume of a memoir initiated by the publication of Back to Barron (in 2008), encompasses captivating humor and telling detail to narrate the story of author Van T...
-
$19.95The authors have combed the Mid-Atlantic region...The authors have combed the Mid-Atlantic region, including Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and Washington, DC, to write about and visit the graves of some of the most horren...
-
$19.95Biographies of Famous People Buried in Pennsylv...Biographies of Famous People Buried in Pennsylvania Joe Farrell, Joe Farley, and Lawrence Knorr are back with more interesting biographies and unusual tombstones. Included in this volume: Dick All...
-
$24.95Richard Peters was one of the most important of...Richard Peters was one of the most important officials in colonial Pennsylvania. In the employ of the Penns, Peters was at different times Secretary of the Land Office, Secretary of the Province, a...
-
$16.95A Memoir of Loss, Longing, and Letting Go Linda...A Memoir of Loss, Longing, and Letting Go Linda Schifino’s beloved childhood neighborhood is gone—apartment buildings, familiar stores, and family homes demolished, the church that nurtured three g...
-
$22.95Uncovering My Grandfather's Journey from Spy to...Uncovering My Grandfather's Journey from Spy to Children's Book Author — Why do people keep deep secrets about their lives and ancestry? In Family Declassified, Katherine Fennelly applies her exp...
-
$24.95The Success and Tragedy of the Deadball Era’s G...The Success and Tragedy of the Deadball Era’s Greatest First Baseman The life story of Jake Daubert, who left the coal mines of Pennsylvania to become a two-time major league batting champion. Jake...
-
$24.95Think a Renaissance Man is a thing of the past?...Think a Renaissance Man is a thing of the past? Think again. Better yet, read the day-to-day adventures of John LaCasse, whose 25-year career as a Seattle yacht broker brought him into deals with b...
-
$19.95Joe Farrell, Joe Farley, and Lawrence Knorr hav...Joe Farrell, Joe Farley, and Lawrence Knorr have combed New York and Pennsylvania for the gravesites and biographies of some of our most interesting and accomplished authors, musicians, actors, and...
-
$19.95Final Touchstones tells the story of four broth...Final Touchstones tells the story of four brothers leaving Sicily for America in the early 1900s. The author’s maternal grandfather is the seminal figure from age three through his later emigration...
-
$24.95Quaker scholar Joseph Walton compiled an excell...Quaker scholar Joseph Walton compiled an excellent record of the discourse between the colonists and the various native nations during the colonial period in the Mid-Atlantic from primary sources. ...
-
$29.95EDUCATION EDITION One Woman’s Remarkable Escape...EDUCATION EDITION One Woman’s Remarkable Escape from Nazi Germany The peaceful farm life of a teenage girl in Germany is abruptly upended when WWII comes knocking at her family’s door. One month b...
-
$29.95FAITH-BASED EDITION One Woman’s Remarkable Esca...FAITH-BASED EDITION One Woman’s Remarkable Escape from Nazi Germany The peaceful farm life of a teenage girl in Germany is abruptly upended when WWII comes knocking at her family’s door. One month...
-
$19.95A Marine veteran with PTSD gravitates toward th...A Marine veteran with PTSD gravitates toward the natural world to find refuge from a human world difficult to navigate. The inner beast is always there, always solid, always ready to fully embrace ...
-
$29.95The Vanderbilts. The Rockefellers. The Carnegie...The Vanderbilts. The Rockefellers. The Carnegies. The Pinchots? In America’s Gilded Age, successful families forged self-made and powerful aristocracies, but history slighted a wealthy, influentia...
-
$19.95Author and historian Guy Graybill presents the ...Author and historian Guy Graybill presents the mind-boggling analysis of the various falsehoods of folklorist, naturalist, and collector, Henry Wharton Shoemaker. Henry Wharton Shoemaker was born i...
-
$27.95The History of Miami Minor League Baseball - 19...The History of Miami Minor League Baseball - 1962 - 1991 ~~~ Following an epic failure of the International League’s Triple-A Marlins (1956-60), baseball made its triumphant return in 1962, spearhe...
-
$19.95A Stone’s Throw from a Coal Mine to the Hall of...A Stone’s Throw from a Coal Mine to the Hall of Fame Stanley Coveleski’s life was a story of triumph and tragedy. He was born in the Coal Region town of Shamokin, PA in 1889, the eighth child of P...
-
$4.99Redefining Sin through Sacred Sexuality & P...Redefining Sin through Sacred Sexuality & Psychedelics Lana Shay reveals secrets of the sex industry and of Gentlemen’s clubs across America in this rousing memoir. Lana Shay, a Tantrika, or...
-
$19.95(1741-1782) George Croghan, (c. 1720—1782), was...(1741-1782) George Croghan, (c. 1720—1782), was an American colonial trader who won the confidence of Indian tribes and negotiated numerous treaties of friendship with them on behalf of the British...
-
$12.95H M J Klein's history of Lancaster County, Penn...H M J Klein's history of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, focused on the city of Lancaster in the years 1821 to 1921. This history was originally published in the 1920s but has been updated with per...
-
$29.95John Chester Miller’s 1936 biography of Boston’...John Chester Miller’s 1936 biography of Boston’s leading Son of Liberty. Sam Adams was instrumental in fomenting rebellion in the American colonies as an ardent patriot. Adams was a Continental Con...
-
$19.95The Story of Susanna Parry and Her Cousin Alice...The Story of Susanna Parry and Her Cousin Alice Paul With a revolutionary spirit, two Quaker cousins rebel against tradition. One cousin is notorious: Alice Paul endures censure and prison to win ...
-
$29.95The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania is a factual ...The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania is a factual account of the indigenous history of North America's Eastern Frontier and the contributions made by many outstanding chiefs in shaping it. Originally ...
-
$19.95Volume 1 was Baseball Almanac's favorite read o...Volume 1 was Baseball Almanac's favorite read of 2021 When the Pros Played on the Sandlot Ever wonder what your favorite ballplayer’s childhood was like? Kelly G. Park is at it again with the secon...
-
$19.95Celebrated model Toto Koopman had beauty, brain...Celebrated model Toto Koopman had beauty, brains, and fame. Born to a Dutch father and Indonesian mother, she took up the life of a bon vivant in 1920s Paris and modeled for Vogue magazine and Coco...
-
$24.95Teedyuscung (c. 1700–1763) was known as "King o...Teedyuscung (c. 1700–1763) was known as "King of the Delawares." He worked to establish a permanent Lenape (Delaware) home in eastern Pennsylvania in the Lehigh, Susquehanna, and Delaware River val...
-
$22.95Hemingway and the Rise of Modern Literature, Vo...Hemingway and the Rise of Modern Literature, Volume 2 The Modern Movement in art was an authentic response to a much-changing world. The rapid industrialization and urbanization of western society ...
-
$19.95The Long Road to the Bronx Zoo No one saw more ...The Long Road to the Bronx Zoo No one saw more baseball during the 20th century than Gabe Paul. He started out as a bat boy. Then a newspaper correspondent. A press agent. A traveling secretary. ...
-
$19.95Joe Farrell, Joe Farley, and Lawrence Knorr hav...Joe Farrell, Joe Farley, and Lawrence Knorr have combed New York and Pennsylvania for the gravesites and biographies of some of our most interesting and accomplished sports figures. Included in thi...
-
$19.95Joe Farrell, Joe Farley, and Lawrence Knorr hav...Joe Farrell, Joe Farley, and Lawrence Knorr have combed New York and Pennsylvania for the gravesites and biographies of some of our most interesting and accomplished authors, musicians, actors, and...
-
$16.95Harry Joseph Deitz was born into a life that ha...Harry Joseph Deitz was born into a life that had little hope and offered few opportunities. He was the youngest of six children in a family that was struggling to survive on a coal miner’s income i...
-
$12.95Ars Breve Vita Longa follows the author's decad...Ars Breve Vita Longa follows the author's decades-long odyssey through orchestras in the United States and Europe to describe the indelible characters he encountered on and off the screen and that,...
-
$19.95“War pinches time,” he said. “And as with me, i...“War pinches time,” he said. “And as with me, it kills slowly.” A young man of no celebrity, John Moore Lancaster of Fayette County, PA, responded to Lincoln’s call to arms in 1862. Being the “tall...
Recently Viewed Products
So much more than just a biography. This opens your mind to a decades old introspective and the correlation it has to the world today. 10/10 must read for anyone.
Customer Reviews