Should we be Color Blind about Race?
The short answer is no. The fact of the matter is that skin color is an arbitrary difference and shouldn't matter. But in society today it does matter because it is used as a means to oppress individuals and groups. There is a god gene, and there is gay gene, but there is still no gene for race. This means skin color is just as an excuse to find differences between individuals and groups because there is no real difference other than those created by perception.
Jane Eliot was a third grade teacher from Rice Hill Iowa who was appalled at a comment one of her co-workers said when Martin Luther King was shot. He said (verbatim) "It's about time someone shot that stupid nigger." In response, Jane wanted to explore the nature of prejudice and discrimination. Being a teacher in an all white school, she wanted to make her students feel what it was like to be discriminated against based off something they couldn't help. So, she/they chose eye color.
Elite divided her class into two groups. The superior blue-eyed people and the inferior brown-eyed people. She told the kids that "This is a fact, blue-eyed people are better than brown-eyed people." Jane made brown-eyed people wear collars and told the students brown-eyed people can't play with blue-eye people because blue-eyed people were too good for "them brown-eyes." "I watched wonderful marvelous wonderful children turn to nastey, vicious third graders in 15 minutes," Jane recalled. The next day she did a roll reversal and told the kids that brown eyes were better than blue.
The conclusions of this social experiment are astounding. It showed that the most minimal differences between people can be used as the basis of discrimination if authority adds value to one attribute or the other. In other words, as long as there is a discernible difference between people, no matter how silly the difference, if authority adds a value judgement, it will effect people's perception, thoughts and (then) actions.
When the tables were turned and brown-eyed kids became superior,one would think they would be more compassionate and empathize with the blue-eyed kids. But instead the kids used their newly acquired power against their previous oppressors. What is even more interesting, is that their social position affected their academic performance. When kids were in the inferior position their test score went down and when they were in the superior position, they went up.
Jane Eliot shows us that the most minimal arbitrary differences can be used as a basis of discrimination and how power can be used to make people feel useless and helpless.
The Arbitrary Nature of Inequality
As Jane Elliott’s experiment demonstrates, racism isn't a biological reality; it is a tool of perception used by those in power to create artificial hierarchies. When we accept these labels, we don't just divide ourselves—we actively participate in our own oppression.
Ready to dismantle the lie?
If you are ready to stop playing by the rules of an arbitrary system and understand the true mechanics behind how racial division is manufactured to maintain control, read my book, "Dark Racism."
Expose the system—get your copy at
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