Jane Elliott

Jane Elliott, a diversity educator, is widely recognized for her innovative "Blue eyes/Brown eyes" exercise. This groundbreaking approach to teaching about discrimination and racial stereotyping was first implemented on April 5, 1968, and later garnered national attention through the 1970 documentary "The Eye of the Storm." After transitioning into full-time public speaking, Elliott continued to use the exercise as a powerful tool in addressing discrimination, both in academic settings, as captured in the 2001 documentary "The Angry Eye," and various television appearances, notably "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." In 2026, she was the subject of the Sundance documentary "Jane Elliot Against the World."

Elliott's work has been the subject of multiple books by William Peters, "A Class Divided" and "A Class Divided: Then and Now," and featured in the PBS series "Frontline" in the 1985 episode "A Class Divided," for which she received The Hillman Prize. Her influence as a diversity trainer reached a global audience through Channel 4’s televised edition of her exercise in "The Event: How Racist Are You?". Furthermore, her pioneering work in the field of diversity training has led to collaborations with corporate clients such as General Electric, Exxon, AT&T, and IBM, and lectures to various US government bodies, including the FBI, IRS, US Navy, US Department of Education, and US Postal Service.

Throughout her career, Elliott has received various accolades and recognition for her work. In 1992, she was featured as "Person of the Week" by Peter Jennings on ABC and, in 2016, she was named in BBC's annual list of 100 Women. She has also been invited to speak at over 350 colleges and universities worldwide and made multiple appearances on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." CSU Bakersfield acknowledged her contributions by awarding Elliott the honorary degree Doctor of Humane Letters on May 24, 2019. Her "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" exercise continues to be a significant resource in academic studies and diversity training and has fueled ongoing public discussions about the ethics and effectiveness of diversity training methods.