Jane Elliot Visits South Suburbs To Discuss Race and American Bias

Jane Elliot (pictured) recently visited South Suburban College to speak about conscious and unconscious bias and to give a message on equality and how to overcome racism. Photo Credit: Provided by Thornton Township
Jane Elliot (pictured) recently visited South Suburban College to speak about conscious and unconscious bias and to give a message on equality and how to overcome racism. Photo Credit: Provided by Thornton Township

Jane Elliot Visits South Suburbs To Discuss Race and American Bias

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

The Youth & Family Services Department of Thornton Township recently hosted Jane Elliot, at the South Suburban College Performing Arts Center in South Holland, to speak about conscious and unconscious bias and to give a message on equality and ways to overcome racism.

Jane Elliott is an internationally known teacher, lecturer, diversity trainer, and recipient of the National Mental Health Association Award for Excellence in Education. Elliot gained notoriety, shortly after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s was assassinated, when she devised the Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise which famously labels participants as inferior or superior based solely upon the color of their eyes and exposes them to the experience of being a minority, according to information provided on Jane Elliots professional website.

“We decided to bring Jane Elliot to Thornton Township because she is a dynamic woman who brings an interesting perspective that people need to hear,” said Dr. Jerry Weems, director of youth and family services at Thornton Township. “The community has responded well to us bringing global speakers

like Jane and Dick Gregory.”

Thornton Township Supervisor, Frank M. Zuccarelli, collaborated with the Youth and Family Services Department, the Human Relations Commission, and the Faith, Dignity, and Respect Initiative to sponsor this forum on Race and Bias.

Elliot very light-heartedly discussed many of the experiences in her life that have made her ask questions about the role that race plays in people’s day to day lives, the way that race and religion are connected, and the way that people are perceived because of their race.

“The only reason I got away with doing the Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise in my classroom in Iowa the day after Martin Luther King Jr. was killed was because I am a white woman and the only reason people ask me to come talk to them today is because I am a white woman. If a black man would say the things that I say, he would never get hired “It is important to have these open conversations about conscious and unconscious bias. We can’t shy away from these important discussions because that’s how we can grow as a nation and grow individually,” said Ernst Lamothe Jr., communication manager at Thornton Township.

While Elliot kept the tone of the entire event very light, she hit on some very real topics including how highly Americans regard certain physical features over others.

“We all need to realize that we assign power in the United States of America on the basis of physical characteristics of which we have absolutely no control. We assign power on the basis of height, skin color, gender, and age. That is ridiculous. I know 10-year-old black girls who understand more about race than I will ever be able to learn but they don’t have the power to stand up to a teacher that is making racists statements,” said Elliot.

To learn more about Jane Elliot visit www. janeelliot.com.

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