Note
A two-sided DVD. Side A has a concise version of Blue eyed (30 min., close-captioned) and the trainer's edition (50 min.). Also included on Side A is a debriefing video (36 min.) with Jane Elliott and a trainer's manual in PDF format which can be viewed on a PC with a DVD-ROM drive. Side B has the full version of Blue eyed (93 min.).
Distributed in Canada by McIntyre Media.
Blue eyed was originally released as a feature documentary film in 1996. The trainer's edition was issued on videocassette in 1999.
Title from container.
Summary
Jane Elliott believes that white people won't act against racism until they have experienced it emotionally themselves, if only for a few hours in a controlled environment. She developed the "blue eyed/brown eyed" exercise for her all white third grade class in Riceville, Iowa at the time of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination to give them some idea of racial prejudice. She divided her class on the basis of eye color and subjected the blue-eyed members to a regime of intense discrimination. They soon cracked under the pressure, losing self-esteem and competence. The same exercise with the same devastating results has since been replicated hundreds of times in industry, higher education and public employment not just in this country but around the world. The programs shows viewers how even casual bias can have a devastating impact on personal performance, organizational teamwork and productivity, how "color blindness" can itself be a form of racism, how to identify culturally-biased codes of conduct within an organization that may be invisible to the majority and how all participants can take responsibility for building a welcoming and inclusive organizational culture.