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A Collar In My Pocket: Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise
Jane Elliott is an educator who began her career in a third-grade classroom in Riceville, Iowa, and over the past fifty years has become an educator of people of all ages all over the U.S. and abroad.The Blue-eyed, Brown-eyed Exercise which she devised to help her students to understand Martin Luther King, Jr.'s work, has been cited and studied by psychologists and sociologists all over the world. Elliott lives in a remodeled schoolhouse twenty-one miles from where she was born. She remains stedfast in her belief that there is only one race, THE HUMAN RACE, of which we are all members.
254 pages, Paperback
Published August 3, 2016
33 people are currently reading
745 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 22, 2019
Amazing amazing book! Made me get tearful every time I was on the train reading. Jane really puts bigots/racists in their place. She is a miracle worker and an amazing educator. I would love to be in one of her exercises! She quotes real black people and what they go through is just inhumane! EVERYONE really needs to read this book. It’s a page turner all the way to the very last page! It’s sad to believe racism is still going on today, it’s heartbreaking. But Jane gives you great advice and teaches you how you can start to make a difference. If you don’t learn anything after reading this you are one of them! You bluey!
December 24, 2020
Jane Elliott is a pioneer in anti-racist education and this book is her personal account of the importance of her life’s work. The book started as a personal history for her to share with her children so they would have a narrative in Elliott’s own words. I would give 5 stars to her anti-racism education but this book earns only 2 from me for its repetition, poor writing and lack of analysis.
September 12, 2018
Important book, especially in the cultural climate we are presently living in. It takes a sometimes complex concept and shows the ridiculousness of it. This book should be required reading in at least high school, if not earlier, and discussed in-depth.
December 27, 2024
I grew a huge liking in Jane Elliott when I first watched her Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise on television, one of which is on the Oprah Winfrey show.
Her story is truly inspiring. Showing her thoughts of how the world views others based on the color of your skin can really relate to the reader. Her experience in the classroom shows that racism is taught through the prejudice of the parent and the earlier generations. It is unfortunate that she had to sacrifice her role as a teacher in order to teach the lesson of judgment based on something miniscule, such as eye color, is foolish and should never occur.
One thing I did learn is that I did not realize that this exercise was done a lot more often than I had initially thought. I was aware that this was nationally and internationally exercised on television programs. I did not know that an entire company used this as their training for discrimination in the workforce.
I will say, there may have been a few typos here and there, but that did not deter me from reading more.
Jane, if you ever do read this review, I hope that a.) you are doing well and b.) this book leaves your legacy of teaching everyone not to judge. Judgment is only within the eyes of God (if there is one).
Her story is truly inspiring. Showing her thoughts of how the world views others based on the color of your skin can really relate to the reader. Her experience in the classroom shows that racism is taught through the prejudice of the parent and the earlier generations. It is unfortunate that she had to sacrifice her role as a teacher in order to teach the lesson of judgment based on something miniscule, such as eye color, is foolish and should never occur.
One thing I did learn is that I did not realize that this exercise was done a lot more often than I had initially thought. I was aware that this was nationally and internationally exercised on television programs. I did not know that an entire company used this as their training for discrimination in the workforce.
I will say, there may have been a few typos here and there, but that did not deter me from reading more.
Jane, if you ever do read this review, I hope that a.) you are doing well and b.) this book leaves your legacy of teaching everyone not to judge. Judgment is only within the eyes of God (if there is one).
April 2, 2022
Disappointed. The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise is dramatic and makes a prima facie case.
However, Jane Elliott's assertion that there is only one race, the human race, is not supported by the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise or this poorly edited book -spelling/grammar mistakes are everywhere.
Jane Elliott's assertion is absolutely correct -there is only one race. However, her Blue Eyes Brown Eyes method only demonstrates the division labeling to increase bias causes.
Over the 50 years that Blue Eyes Brown Eyes has been tried, the high-drama exercise has been shown to have no significant benefit. The many studies of the exercise show no measurable change in bias. Studies have shown that the psychological/emotional harm of the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise outweighs the potential benefits (Goodson and Sikes).
Jane Elliott would have been more successful using strategies that encourage seeing people as individuals.
However, Jane Elliott's assertion that there is only one race, the human race, is not supported by the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise or this poorly edited book -spelling/grammar mistakes are everywhere.
Jane Elliott's assertion is absolutely correct -there is only one race. However, her Blue Eyes Brown Eyes method only demonstrates the division labeling to increase bias causes.
Over the 50 years that Blue Eyes Brown Eyes has been tried, the high-drama exercise has been shown to have no significant benefit. The many studies of the exercise show no measurable change in bias. Studies have shown that the psychological/emotional harm of the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise outweighs the potential benefits (Goodson and Sikes).
Jane Elliott would have been more successful using strategies that encourage seeing people as individuals.
June 8, 2020
As a music education major, I read excerpts of Jane's work in college. I hadn't read the entire book or seen any of the films of the exercise until now, when my partner's mom sent me this book to help me learn more about racism in America. This book was really interesting to me as both an education on discriminatory behavior and a study in innovative education methods. I also found it super interesting to hear Elliot discuss her experiences doing this exercise in small town Iowa. It sounds so similar to the small town in which I was born. This was definitely worth the read, especially because Elliot writes with personality and has some really bold opinions!
January 19, 2024
There was an important theme in this book: anti-racism. I thought A Collar in My Pocket was written the way I imagine Jane Elliott speaks and terribly edited - spelling and grammar mistakes everywhere - but the lesson was a good one and presented in a way that really gets the point across.
Read
July 7, 2020Very informational and true.
August 3, 2020
EXCELLENT book! Jane Elliot is a wonderful teacher and a powerful role model for everyone. I highly recommend this book to everyone.
Enjoy the Moments 🍀
Enjoy the Moments 🍀
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 3, 2020
Absolutely fantastic read
May 18, 2023
Really interesting read. Will hopefully teach you a lot, but towards the end of did get kind of repetitive.
November 12, 2024
Truly eye opening a must read for anyone with young kids I think
November 28, 2020
I did like the insight we get into Jane Elliott’s mind, how she came up with her famous exercise and the experiences she had along the way.
I came out of this having learned a new thing or two. and I do think this is an important topic for everybody to educate themselves on.
but the formatting of this book? the writing? the lack of depth? sorry, but I just cannot get over it. luckily I received this as a gift, had I spent my own money on it I would have been really disappointed.
what she has to say is important, but this could have been so much better. the execution was just ... bad.
overall, I just didn’t like it very much. there are so many other books about anti-racism that will be much more worth your time. but if this is going to be the only one you’re going to read, please! go ahead. it’s still so much better than not educating yourself at all.
I came out of this having learned a new thing or two. and I do think this is an important topic for everybody to educate themselves on.
but the formatting of this book? the writing? the lack of depth? sorry, but I just cannot get over it. luckily I received this as a gift, had I spent my own money on it I would have been really disappointed.
what she has to say is important, but this could have been so much better. the execution was just ... bad.
overall, I just didn’t like it very much. there are so many other books about anti-racism that will be much more worth your time. but if this is going to be the only one you’re going to read, please! go ahead. it’s still so much better than not educating yourself at all.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews