 
 OPRAH WINFREY: I'm backstage right now
 because today's studio audience thinks that they've come to a regular
 Oprah Winfrey Show, but without knowing it,
 they've walked into this exercise, It's an exercise in racism,
 and my guest, Jane Elliott, started this exercise a long time ago
 in a third grade class back in 1968 after the assas-
 sination of Dr. Martin Luther King.
 What she's going to do is to demonstrate how easy it is to learn prejudice,
 the point being that we are taught to hate each other
 on the basis of the color of our skin.
 So, today's audience was separated into two groups.
 Not on the color of their skin were they separated when they arrived.
 They were separated based on the color of their eyes,
 but they have no idea that they were separated.
 What we did was treat each group differently,
 discriminating against the people who have blue eyes,
 catering to those people with brown eyes.
 So, here's how the blue-eyed people were treated
 when they arrived at the show. 
 JANE ELLIOTT: Come on. Come on. Come on. What color are your eyes?
 Are they blue? Over here. Put it on. No, no, no. Over there. Blue? Over there. 
 OPRAH: The blue-eyed people were pulled out of line,
 told to put on a green collar and wait outside.
 When the brown-eyed people arrived,
 they were told to step to the front of the line.
 Our staff was instructed to be extra polite to brown-eyed people
 and to discriminate against blue- eyed people, like this woman. 
 1st AUDIENCE MEMBER: -but, actually, my license got stolen,
 and when I went to- 
 1st STAFF MEMBER: Well, that's not our problem.
 You always have to have I.D. 
 OPRAH: Audience members with brown eyes were,
 allowed to enjoy coffee and donuts.
 Those with blue eyes were left standing in a crowded room
 without refreshment for over two hours.
 The blue-eyed group became upset when they saw the
 brown-eyed people were being seated first. 
 2nd AUDIENCE MEMBER: What are they doing in there? 
 OPRAH: A woman with blue eyes was outraged when
 she realized we had fed the brown-eyed people. 
 3rd AUDIENCE MEMBER: They have food 
 OPRAH: After two hours of being discriminated against,
 the blue-eyed group began to revolt. 
 BLUE-EYED GROUP: [singing] Row, row, row your boat /
 Gently down the stream / Merrily, merrily 
 2nd STAFF MEMBER: Please shut up! 
 OPRAH: So, I just want to warn all of you who are watching,
 you know more than they know in the audience.
 This show is a very important lesson in racism.
 It may make you angry, but no matter how angry you get,
 I encourage you to- please, don't turn the channel because
 the purpose will be revealed before the show is over.
 The idea is to see how easy it is to be taught to hate.
 What color eyes do you have?
 It really 'doesn't matter, just as it doesn't matter what color skin
 you have, but I want you to watch as my guest convinces
 this audience that blue-eyed people
 are not as smart as brown-eyed people, just as a lot of Americans
 have been convinced that people of color are not as smart.
 So, my guest today is an Iowa schoolteacher, and for 20 years
 and through her research and experience in the classroom,
 she's discovered some shocking news.
 She says that the news is that blue-eyed people
 have an inability to achieve, and brown-eyed people have higher intelligence.
 Welcome Jane Elliott, Jane, first of all- and you came to that conclusion how? 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: I've been a teacher for 25 years in the public,
 private and parochial schools in this country,
 and I have seen what brown-eyed people have done as compared
 to what blue-eyed people do, and it's perfectly obvious,
 and if I didn't believe it before this morning,
 you should have been here this morning when
 we brought these people in here. 
 OPRAH: No way? No way? No way? Blue eyes?
 Blue eyes? Why do you say no way? 
 4th AUDIENCE MEMBER: We were very tolerant.
 Everyone was so kind and courteous down there.
 We shared gum, candy. Everything was really nice. We got to have friends. 
 OPRAH: What? 
 5th AUDIENCE MEMBER: She was rude to us. 
 4th AUDIENCE MEMBER: She was rude to all of us, yelled at us,
 called us names, pushed us aside, She was rude. 
 5th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Very rude. 
 OPRAH: She was rude? 
 5th AUDIENCE MEMBER: [crosstalk]
 -was the result of what she acted with us first. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: Let's talk about that. 
 OPRAH: What did you say? 
 6th AUDIENCE MEMBER: She told me to shut my mouth
 when I was in line. She said, "Close your mouth and shut up."'You are rude. 
 OPRAH: Go ahead, Jane, Go ahead, Jane. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: No, I did- no, I did that for- 
 OPRAH: What? What? What did you- what? What? What? 
 7th AUDIENCE MEMBER: I said I was waiting for friends
 and had friends coming. She told me, "1 don't care," 
 OPRAH: OK, What? What? What? 
 3rd AUDIENCE MEMBER: She said,
 "Put that green collar on or you're out of here." 
 OPRAH: What? Jane said what to you? 
 3rd AUDIENCE MEMBER: She told us to
 "Put that green collar on or you're out of here." 
 OPRAH: Why are you all wearing collars? Do you= 
 3rd AUDIENCE MEMBER: We wanted to see the show! 
 OPRAH: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Come down here.
 Come down here, Come down here, You're wearing a green collar.
 You're wearing a green collar and you don't know why? Why? Why? 
 3rd AUDIENCE MEMBER: Oprah, we came- we came this morning
 with high expectations, and this lady came out in the line with
 all of us people that had light-colored eyes and said,
 "You put this green collar on now and keep it on,
 and if you don't, hit the road," and we said, "But why?"
 and we were told to shut up and be still and get out of the way. 
 OPRAH: Wait! Wait! Wait! 
 8th AUDIENCE MEMBER: You people- look, it is- people,
 I had a girlfriend in school- I had a girlfriend in school who was blue-eyed.
 She was so stupid. She was always copying off of my papers.
 These people were so rude and so noisy today.
 We couldn't hear any- ourselves even talk. It was ridiculous. 
 OPRAH: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait. Wait. Wait. 
 9th AUDIENCE MEMBER: There was an awful lot of rude,
 brown-eyed staff of "0prah's out there yelling at us and telling us to shut up.
 We were singing, They told us to stop singing. We were just trying to have a- 
 OPRAH: My staff? 
 9th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes, Oprah, your staff. 
 OPRAH: What do you say, Jane? 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: I say all you have to do is look at the way they're behaving now.
 What are these people so angry about? They have- they have been-[crosstalk] 
 OPRAH: What? 
 10th AUDIENCE MEMBER: We were treated very poorly,
 not just with regard to her behavior, but as we came inside,
 the brown-eyed people were taken upstairs, given donuts, given- 
 OPRAH: But how do you know that? How do you know? 
 10th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Because- 
 OPRAH: Were you all given donuts? 
 10th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Because' they ate them in front
 of us as they came down the- 
 OPRAH: Oh, they ate them in front- they ate-
 you all ate the donuts in front of those- let Jane speak, Let Jane speak.
 Let Jane speak. What? 
 11th AUDIENCE MEMBER: This was on your bathroom door,
 OK, where we were, OK, "No blue eyes allowed." 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: And why do you have it? 
 OPRAH: It says "No blue eyes allowed."? 
 11th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: And why does she have it?
 Is she assigned the duty of taking the signs off the restroom doors?
 Now, you can only- 
 OPRAH: OK. Let Jane speak. Let Jane speak. Go ahead, Jane. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: You can only judge these people by their behaviors.
 There's obviously a poverty of values
 in this blue-eyed group if ever I saw one.
 Number one, they are rude. They are belligerent.
 They are angry at a little bit of discomfort. If you don't like it here,
 why don't you go back where you came from? Now- 
 OPRAH: And she says? She says? What? 
 11th AUDIENCE MEMBER: We flew here from Philadelphia.
 That's why we're staying. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: If you don't like it here, go back where you came from.
 The flight goes both ways, 
 OPRAH: OK. What do you say? 
 12th AUDIENCE MEMBER: The whole problem here is this has been
 a setup situation. This is not real life. We were treated- 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: But wait a minute. Wait a minute. This isn't real life for you. 
 ELLIOTT: For how many of you people of color is this real life?
 I'd like to see your hands. 
 12th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Well- and number one-  
 12th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Number one, you didn't even tell what
 color eyes I have. I have hazel eyes.
 They're ''more brown than they are blue." That's- 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: Are you ashamed of the blue in them today? 
 12th AUDIENCE MEMBER: -this is a totally setup situation. It's not even real. 
 12th AUDIENCE MEMBER: No, I'm not. I'm just saying that- 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: Well, you should be. 
 OPRAH: What do you want to say, Jane? 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: I'm saying that, number one,
 the person who said we were tolerant, that's a favorite blue-eyed thing,
 to be tolerant. How many of you people of color want to be tolerated?
 How many of you want to be appreciated and valued? That's a- 
 OPRAH: Why are you sitting on the floor? Why are you on the floor here? 
 13th AUDIENCE MEMBER: I was told to sit here. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: He was told to sit- 
 OPRAH: We don't have a chair for him, Sally? I- we don't have a chair? 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: No, No. 
 OPRAH: Anyway, go ahead, Jane. Go ahead. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: He was told to sit there because these people multiply like flies. 
 OPRAH: OK. OK. What? What? What? What? 
 14th AUDIENCE MEMBER: What color are her eyes? 
 OPRAH: What color are your eyes, Jane? 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: My eyes are blue, and that's
 the reason I know what you people are like. 
 OPRAH: Now, Jane has been a teacher for 25 years.
 She has won many awards based upon this study,
 and she says that blue-eyed people are lazy
 and less intelligent than people with brown eyes.
 Is that- I- we're going to find out where she gets
 that from and if the audience agrees in a moment. 
 15th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Did the government pay for her study? 
 OPRAH: Did the government pay for her study?
 Did the government pay for your study? 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: No. 
 15th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Too bad. They paid for other studies. 
 OPRAH: OK, We'll be back in a moment. We'll be back in a moment. 
 OPRAH: Remember, this audience doesn't know
 that they're a part of an exercise on racism.
 My guest has told them that blue-eyed people
 are not as smart as brown-eyed people and, amazingly,
 as you're seeing, some of the people have started to believe her,
 but we all know that eye color has nothing to do with intelligence,
 just as skin color does not make a group of people superior or inferior.
 That's the point. My guest today is Jane Elliott,
 and Jane has done years of research on intelligence
 and has come to the conclusion, she says,
 that blue-eyed people are not as intelligent as brown-eyed people,
 and all the blue-eyed people have collars on,
 and some people are taking their collars off, Jane, 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: I want them out of here. The rule- 
 OPRAH: You want them out of here? 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: The rule in this room is you wear the collar or you leave,
 In this society, the rule is do it the white way or get out.
 Now, if this is going to be real,
 Oprah, they need to put their collars on or they need to leave. 
 OPRAH: What did you want to say? 
 16th AUDIENCE MEMBER: I want to say, why doesn't Jane have
 a green collar on. She's got blue eyes. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: Because I've learned to act brown-eyed.
 I have a brown-eyed husband and three brown-eyed children,
 and the message in this room is act brown-eyed and you, too,
 can take off your collar. Act intelligently and you too won't need your collar, 
 16th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Oh, come on! That's- 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: None of you have acted intelligently yet. 
 18th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Oh, I've got a son that's blue-eyed.
 I've got six children, and some have hazel, and some blue,
 and he's gone all through school with A's, years of college with A's. 
 OPRAH: OK. What did you want to say?, What did you want to say? 
 17th AUDIENCE MEMBER: I say- but I have a blue-eyed daughter,
 and people look 'at her and they say to me,
 "She's beautiful, but she has blue eyes, those big blue eyes."
 She's ostracized because of those blue eyes.
 I mean, she just stands out like a- 
 16th AUDIENCE MEMBER: I had blue eyes all my life and I- 
 OPRAH: But what? 
 18th AUDIENCE MEMBER: I say look at her.
 She's the only thing standing up right now except myself
 and- [crosstalk] -complaining about having blue eyes. 
 16th AUDIENCE MEMBER: I'm not complaining. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: Have you heard about the dumb blonde? 
 OPRAH: Now, what did you want to say? Yes, ma'am? 
 19st AUDIENCE MEMBER: Well, I just think it's really ridiculous,
 and that the color of the eyes has nothing to do with the way
 a child achieves. I taught for 36 years in elementary education,
 and I didn't have time for a survey.
 I had time to teach kindness and understanding and develop- 
 20th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Let me ask the young lady a question.
 She said eye color doesn't make a difference.
 Does that mean that you will let me date
 your daughter because I have brown eyes? 
 19th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes. 
 20th AUDIENCE MEMBER: You, young lady, are an exception to the rule. 
 19th AUDIENCE MEMBER: But color has nothing to do with it.
 The treatment does and the attitude does,
 but color has nothing to do with love. 
 20th AUDIENCE MEMBER: You're an exception to the rule.
 Everyone does not have the exact same attitude that you have. 
 19th AUDIENCE MEMBER: But in America, we are the melting pot of the world,
 and we should be able to be tolerant,
 and you shouldn't dislike because me I'm white
 and I shouldn't dislike you because you're black. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: Now, what do you mean by melting pot?
 Now, wait a minute, people. What do you mean by melting pot,
 that we put everybody together and mix them up and they all come out
 the same so that white folks feel comfortable with them,
 so that blue-eyed folks feel comfortable with them?
 We don't need a melting pot in this country, folks,
 We need a salad bowl. In a salad bowl, you put in the different things.
 They keep- you want the vegetables - the tomatoes,
 the lettuce, the cucumbers, the onions, the green papers - to maintain
 their identity. You appreciate differences.
 A melting pot does not appreciate differences,
 and this country ought to be about appreciating differences.
 That female wants us to be the same, 
 OPRAH: Well- so, how- what do you base
 the fact that blue-eyed people are less intelligent or lazy-.what do you- 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: They haven't been on the earth
 as long as brown-eyed people, and that's a fact.
 Yeah, the first- scientists at the University of Southern California traced
 the DNA molecule back- now, look at this boy. He wants to talk.
 Is he being a good listener? Do these people know their listening skills?
 And if they know the listening skills, why aren't they practicing them?
 As I was saying, people at the University of Southern California- 
 21st AUDIENCE MEMBER: We can see where this is going. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: Sit down and listen, -traced the DNA molecule
 back using computers two or three years ago, and they-
 in order to find out where the first modern human being evolved
 on this earth, and what they found was that the first modern
 human being evolved on this earth was a black female,
 and in every one of your genes runs the memory of that first black female,
 People of color have been on the earth longer than white people have.
 That's a fact. You need to be aware of that. 
 OPRAH: Now- but, but you are blue-eyed.
 Would you want your daughter to marry a blue-eyed person? 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: I'd be very careful of the one I chose. 
 OPRAH: Why? 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: Because- be- [crosstalk] No, my daughter has brown eyes.
 Both of my daughters and one of my sons are brown eyed.
 Because you need to be careful about mixing the races,
 as far as eye color is concerned. You need to be aware, folks.
 You need to be aware that it was blue-eyed people in Germany.
 It was blue-eyed people in Germany who oversaw the killing
 of 10 million human beings, and one of the ways you went into
 the gas chamber in Germany was eye color.
 If you had brown eyes and a good German name,
 they threw you into the gas chamber because
 they said you might be trying to pass,
 you were a Jewish person trying to pass.
 I didn't invent this, Adolf Hitler did, and there are people
 in this country today -- neo-Nazis, the Aryan Nation -
 who are now absolutely trying to do the same thing again,
 and unless you are aware of it, it will happen again.
 We have 69,000 excess deaths among the black population
 of this country per year now. Now, if we had that rate in number
 of excess deaths among the white population,
 we would do something about it. 
 OPRAH: What did you want to say? 
 21st AUDIENCE MEMBER: Well, we can see where this is going,
 She's saying that everybody has racism in them. It's not really about the eyes.
 She's trying to teach about racism,
 but she can't get away from the fact that God created the races,
 and you are going to be different. You can't help it, God created races,
 and He didn't want the races to be like that. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: God created one race, the human race,
 and human beings created racism. 
 OPRAH: So, what does Jane think should be done
 with the blue-eyed people in society?
 She's going to tell us her plan when we come back. We'll be back. 
  8th AUDIENCE MEMBER: What do you call a blue-eyed person
 who gets brown-eyed contacts? 
 8th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Artificial intelligence. 
 OPRAH: I don't know, 
 OPRAH: I didn't know there were blue-eyed jokes out.
 This lady said- had a blue-eyed joke out earlier. What was it? 
 22nd AUDIENCE MEMBER: I said why do blue-eyed people have "TGIF"
 on the foot of their toes- on their shoes? 
 UPHAM: And the reason is? 
 22nd AUDIENCE MEMBER: "Toes go in first." 
 OPRAH: I never heard blue-eyed jokes before, but- go ahead, Jane.
 What? Go ahead. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: Now, I want to know if this- several people in this
 group are very, very angry. They're angry after an hour of being denied
 what they considered their rights, and those very- 
 OPRAH: This man- 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: But those very people who are that angry over
 an hour of very minor discomfort in a place they volunteered
 to be are the same people who would say they don't understand L.A.
 and the anger. "Why are you black people angry?"
 And you are this angry. You blue-eyed people are this angry over
 an hour of discomfort. Now, that should tell you something,
 but I don't think it has yet. 
 OPRAH: OK. So, then this- what is 'the question? What is the question? What? 
 11th AUDIENCE MEMBER: I just don't know
 why you're bringing the L.A. incident into this? 
 OPRAH: [crosstalk] Good point. Good point. OK. Yeah? What? 
 23rd AUDIENCE MEMBER: Isn't your theory a little backwards?
 You're using discrimination to try to end discrimination.
 I think there's a better way of doing it. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: We have used discrimination in this country for
 500 years to teach people what their place is and how to stay in it.
 You haven't learned it yet. 
 OPRAH: Yes? 
 24th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Your point might be made here by us
 wearing our collars and treating us really poorly, but then again,
 you've made a complete generalization and assumption that those
 of us who have green collars support or don't- can't empathize
 with what happened in L.A,.
 You've made a complete assumption
 on what we look like based on our beliefs, 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: You don't like people making broad generalizations
 about you and assumptions about you without knowing you?
 That doesn't make you comfortable, to have people making
 broad generalizations and assumptions
 about you without knowing you as an individual? 
 24th AUDIENCE MEMBER: It makes me very uncomfortable. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: It makes you very uncomfortable?
 Anybody else in this room ever had that kind of discomfort on a daily basis?
 Have you been uncomfortable about their discomfort
 for the last 30 years of your life? [crosstalk] Oh, sure. Uh-huh.
 That- the majority of white people in this country say,
 "I'm uncomfortable about this,
 but they'd better not move into my neighborhood." 
 25th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yeah, I'd like to say something, I am from Sweden.
 The majority of the population in Sweden are blue-eyed,
 and my country is a world leader. We have a lot of stuff in Sweden,
 I mean, we have- 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: The highest income tax rate in the world. 
 25th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes, but, see, what we get from it,
 too, all our Social Security, everything, our hospitals, everything- 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: Were neutral during the second world war
 while the Nazis were destroying 10 million people- 
 25th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yeah, but- 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: That's good thinking.
 You want to just- do you want to defend Sweden some more? 
 25th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: Explain why you allowed 10 million people to die. 
 25th AUDIENCE MEMBER: We didn't allow anything. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: Did you do anything to stop it? 
 25th AUDIENCE MEMBER: No, we didn't.
 We were a country that let people come into our- [crosstalk] 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: That is a fair question. If one is going to hold up
 one's country as an example to the world, then one has to- 
 25th AUDIENCE MEMBER: -country to seek comfort. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: -be able to defend the behaviors of one's country.
 We cannot defend the behaviors of the United States of America
 if we do not change the level of racism in this country.
 Somebody has said the only thing necessary for the perpetuation
 of evil is for good people to do nothing.
 That's what happened in Portugal and Sweden during the second world war,
 good people did nothing, and that helped that situation to go on. 
 OPRAH: OK. So, how many of you blue-eyed people
 in here right now with the collars are really angry about what Jane is saying?
 You're angry about what she's saying? You're angry?
 What? What are you angry about? 
 19th AUDIENCE MEMBER: We're angry about the attitude,
 but it doesn't have anything to do with the color of the eyes.
 We're angry about the treatment, and we've been here before,
 and all your people have been so kind, and we got a negative attitude,
 but we sort of felt like there was a purpose in it
 so the anger isn't deep-seated. 
 OPRAH: You got a negative attitude today or before? 
 19th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Today, but it was because of her attitude
 and the attitude of the staff building up a prejudice. 
 OPRAH: Against? 
 19th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Well, attitudes, but- not colors, but attitudes. 
 OPRAH: Against? 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: You don't know anything about my attitude. 
 ELLIOTT: You know my behavior. 
 OPRAH: So, you're angry about- 
 OPRAH: This is- 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: You're judging me by my behaviors. 
 ELLIOTT: You're judging me by my behaviors.
 You know nothing about my attitude. You only know what my behaviors are, 
 19th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Pardon me. 
 19th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Right, and that's what you would do with us,
 judging us by our behaviors, and- 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: That's right. 
 19th AUDIENCE MEMBER: -we were trying to behave very
 well until we got a little tired of waiting, and then we started
 "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and that sort of thing. 
  OPRAH: What did you want to say? 
 26th AUDIENCE MEMBER: You know, Oprah,
 I think that the treatment that the blue-eyed people experienced
 was bad, but I think that it was just that, an experiment,
 and I think that the reality of the matter is that people should wake up.
 You preach about it, you talk about it, revolution,
 but you never do anything about it, and revolution is nothing to change.
 People need to change, and I think that people are afraid to change.
 Until we have a revolution, there's going to be turmoil and more,
 and I believe that. 
 OPRAH: OK. So, let me explain to you all.
 Do you all realize that this is an experiment?
 OK. This is an experiment.
 This isn't how we normally treat people when they come to this show.
 We're going to find you all some seats for the next segment because-
 most people who come to the show- so, I have to tell you that my staff-
 you all were right who said this today,
 that our staff today treated the blue-eyed people differently than
 the brown-eyed people. It- this goes against everything I believe,
 so- I was downstairs. I had to go upstairs. I heard somebody saying,
 "Shut up and move to the other side!" I went, "Oh, boy!"
 It goes ,against everything that I really believe about how you treat people,
 but we've discovered over the past six months - we've been doing
 a Series on racism - that people don't understand that racism is really about,
 Jane, who knows this so well, how you treat people.
 It's really about what this woman up here was saying.
 So many people over the past few months when we do shows say,
 "How can Hispanic people and black people feel that there is racism
 when they've got jobs, you can go anyplace you want to go,
 the Civil Rights movement gave you your freedom?"
 I've heard people say that. "So, what are you so upset about?"
 And what people of color are so up- set about is exactly some
 of the same things that you all experienced here that you wouldn't
 know unless it happened to you, when you walk in a store as a black man
 and everybody starts to clutch their purses because you come in the store,
 when I walk to a store, black belt shopper that 1 am,
 and they put the sign in the window that says,
 "We're closed. By appointment only." You don't know it unless you feel it,
 and that's why we put the collars on you so that you could feel it.
 We apologize for doing it to you under these circumstances,
 but do you feel it? do you feel it?  Do you feel it? OK. So, how did you feel?
 Let's talk about- those of you sitting down here on the floor- so pitiful.
 So pitiful- Come to The Oprah Winfrey Show and sitting down on the floor.
 1 want you all to now talk about how you started to feel,
 Any- who wants to share with me? Yeah? Yes? 
 6th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Well, we were here this morning real early and- 
 OPRAH: And we asked you to be early on purpose,
 so we could make you wait all day. 
 6th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Right, and we were waiting,
 but after a while: it's like my back started to hurt, and I thought,
 you know, usually, this isn't the case, and then when we came in,
 it was like the Gestapo with the bathroom.
 I mean, somebody actually followed me into the bathroom and watched me. 
 OPRAH: Which is what happens to people all- listen, Listen.
 I was just talking to some friends who were shopping this weekend,
 some white friends and some black friends,
 who say that the white friend said to me .that she noticed in the store,
 when she was trying to get the salesperson to help her,
 that the salesperson wouldn't give her any attention because
 they were so busy following the black people who were with her,
 watching every move. Can you imagine what that feels like? Now, you know, 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: It happens all the time. 
 OPRAH: Do you get it now? Do you understand it was just-
 and how did you feel? 
 16th AUDIENCE MEMBER: I felt degraded. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: Right. 
 16th AUDIENCE MEMBER: I felt degraded. 
 OPRAH: You felt degraded? 
 16th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes, I sure did. 
 OPRAH: Now, he was so angry. He took off his collar way on early. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: Yeah, I- we need to talk about that, taking off the collar.
 These people can take off their collars, and then nobody knows
 what color their eyes are from a distance.
 How many of you people of color can take off the collar
 that we have put on you? How many of you can take off your color?
 How many of you would like to in a society that says
 that it's wrong to be that color? Yeah.
 Now, people, there are- these folks could take off their collar
 and make a statement, but if a black male refused to follow
 your orders or your husband's orders or your father's orders on the street,
 you would not see that- as a matter of principle,
 you would not see that as being highly principled.
 You would see him as being an uppity nigger.
 You'd do it, you'd say it, and that's the way you'd treat him.
 You wouldn't even want him to go through your neighborhood
 at a certain time of night because of the color of his skin.
 I know what this is like and- 
 OPRAH: OK. What? What? What? What? What? What? What?
 Oh, excuse me. Yeah? What? 
 27th AUDIENCE MEMBER: I am totally appalled. I am brown-eyed
 and I was treated good, I got donuts and all that good stuff,
 but I don't want you to sit there and judge me
 or my friends if I'm not that way.
 I think it's terrible - terrible- the way people are treated. I may be tall.
 I may be blonde. Blonde jokes are a big thing,
 and I would never wish that on anybody,
 but don't you tell me that I'm that way. 
 OPRAH: What do you want to say, Jane? Go ahead.
 Go ahead, What? What? What? What? Wait. Wait. Wait a minute. 
 18th AUDIENCE MEMBER: I mean, she's saying don't judge me,
 but what is she doing to make a change in the system.
 This is all about a system that oppresses people,
 and she's doing nothing except- [crosstalk] What are you doing?
 What has been done? I'm living the life, 
What has been done? Absolutely nothing. 
 9th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Even though we knew it was
 an experiment and we were all- 
 OPRAH: Exercise. 
 9th AUDIENCE MEMBER: Exercise. Sorry.
 -and we were all standing in the hall telling ourselves
 that they're just doing this, we still did tend
 to get riled up and aggravated after a while. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: Even though you knew what was- 
 OPRAH: And they still know- these people who are now gone,
 although they heard it was an exercise, still left because- 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: Because they can't take it.
 Because white- because we white people- this is a new reality for us.
 You need to realize that white people do not live in the same reality
 that people of color do. We think that because we have all these freedoms,
 everybody else has them too.
 That isn't the way it is, people. We are living in a society
 in which white people- how many of you people of color can leave
 when you get tired of racist behaviors directed toward you?
 How many of you can leave? [crosstalk) Why not?
 There is no place to go in this country where there isn't racism.
 How many of you women, when you get tired of sexist behaviors
 directed towards you, can leave? None of you because there's no place
 in this country where there isn't sexism.
 How many of you know a gay or a lesbian person who is real tired
 of the treatment we're giving them?
 People, we've lost 150,000 people to AIDS in this country.
 Now, think about that. We lost 130-some to the Vietnam war in combat.
 People who are gay are being blamed for AIDS. We're calling AIDS
 a gay disease, and we're letting people die of it because we disapprove
 of their sexual orientation. If it can happen to gays today, and it is,
 it can happen to so-called heteros tomorrow.
 It can happen to blondes tomorrow, 
 10th AUDIENCE MEMBER: As a member of the group that was,
 treated so poorly, I was feeling very frustrated,
 and the bottom line feeling- this isn't fair, and I can relate to that,
 because as a female in what is not just a white power structure
 in this country, but a white male power structure in this country,
 I've lived that one, 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: But you haven't lived as a black female- 
 ELLIOTT: -and there is a total difference.
 All you have to do is attach yourself,
 to a significant white male and you'll be OK- 
 OPRAH: Now, I want you to say to all of them what you just said to me. 
 21st AUDIENCE MEMBER: I said somebody has to be in control whether
 you like it or not. If it's not, then there's total anarchy. 
 OPRAH: And so therefore? And so therefore? 
 21st AUDIENCE MEMBER: So, therefore, if men are in power-
 if it was the other way, we might be where we are today.
 Men might be saying,"Well, women just can't do it right." 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: May I respond to that? May I respond to that?
 The major fear- and I do this exercise in corporations
 all over the United States all the time,
 When we finish the exercise, the first thing that is said-
 some white female turns to the black person sitting beside her and says,
 "If you get power, aren't you going to want
 to do to us what we have done to you?" and males say,
 "If women get power, they'll want to do to us what we have done to them."
 Now, how many of you people of color want to get even with all white, folks?
 How many of you want to get even with one or two?
 How many of you females want to get even with all males?
 How many of you want to get even with six or seven of them? [applause]
 Now, how many of you people of color and females want
 to get equity with white males, equal treatment under the law?
 How many want that? [applause]
 You see, the whole thing is not about getting even.
 It is about getting equity and, yes, somebody needs to be in control,
 but the possession of the proper urinary tract does not make
 you more qualified to be in control than somebody else. 
 21st AUDIENCE MEMBER: Well, it just wasn't by perchance that
 it happened that way. I mean, it was meant for a reason. 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: No, it didn't happen that way perchance.
 About 10,000 years ago, males and females were acting equitably
 and were treating one another as equals,
 and then males took over the power because
 they have physical power and physical strength. 
 21st AUDIENCE MEMBER: Who gave them that power? 
 Ms. ELLIOTT: Men took that power.
 Men took that power by their physical strength, and they maintain
 it by their physical strength, and if they don't, then you explain to me
 why we were willing to use tanks against American citizens
 in Los Angeles three weeks ago. Tanks against American citizens'
 That's called the ultimate use and misuse of power, 
 OPRAH: I'm going to let you rest.  
     31st AUDIENCE MEMBER: That woman told me to come with
 the brown-eyed group, and because I was with two other women,
 I said, "No, I won't go," you see.
 So, you know, the exact opposite happened to me,
 and I'm grateful that you're not teaching any longer
 and that you're doing talk shows because I would hate
 to have my child being taught by someone so angry as you.
 You're obviously very angry, and I- hostile,
 and I really feel badly about that. I mean- 
 OPRAH: OK. What do you say? What do you say? What? What? 
 32nd AUDIENCE MEMBER: The experiment's over, and you haven't
 even cracked a smile. You're just really hostile person, and I just-
  Ms. ELLIOTT: You need to realize that when you put people
 in a situation where they have to defend every movement
 and justify every movement that they make, you get this kind of behavior
   OPRAH: This is not a personal attack. This is not personal.
 The exercisae was to show us in general what racism feels like.
 It was not a personal attack on anybody.
 Jane does not fool personally any of the things that she has
 said about blue-eyed people. Do you all- do you get that?
 You want to hear her say that? [crosstalk]
 Oh, you think she does? You think she does? Jane has blue eyes! 
 
