Event Recap: MPISCC Book Club by Chrissy Thompson

Chrissy Thompson is the Founder & Senior Event Producer at Dynamo Events. We produce events that build brands and drive business.

A Collar in My Pocket: The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Exercise

Earlier this December, I attended MPISCC’s virtual Book Club centered around author and educator Jane Elliot’s “A Collar in My Pocket: The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Exercise.” This 254-page turner is about a now famous experiment in which Jane devised an exercise to help her students understand Martin Luther King, Jr.'s work. The exercise, you ask? Segregate blue-eyed and brown-eyed students, and discriminate against the group with blue eyes to demonstrate just how easy it is for people to learn prejudice. The point being that we are taught to hate each other based on differences, like the color of our skin. While I knew this discussion would be both enlightening and lively, I was not prepared for just how thought-provoking it would end up being.

The virtual event started with a round-circle probe about discrimination that included quotes from insightful parts of the book and rhetorical questions like, “Is there really a cure for racism?” Those brave enough to open up about their personal experiences shared stories with the group about what it was like to experience racism in America and their perspective on whether or not people can change.

We even received insight from virtual members who work to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in their everyday position. They shared what it was like working with executives from the top down. Unfortunately, though, we all concluded that most companies are falling short. Many simply check DEI boxes to say that they've "participated."

Once we finished discussing the book, we streamed a controversial yet deeply eye-opening Oprah Winfrey episode where Jane Elliot performed her famous experiment on the audience. To my surprise, merely after two hours of being discriminated against, the blue-eyed group began to revolt. Before our eyes, we watched as the brown-eyed group developed prejudices against the other segment and just how upset the blue-eyed group became at this false, predatory setup. If you haven't had a chance to see this episode, I'd highly recommend checking it out. In fact, the group shared a handful of resources for everyone to dig into on their own time. All of which I'll share right here for more to see.

Further Reading / Watching
● The Angry Eye, 2001 (Jane Elliot’s Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes Exercise)
● The Oprah Winfrey Show – Jane Elliott's "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" Anti-Racism
Exercise
● Book Recommendation: White Fragility
● More lectures and workshops by Jane Elliot

As always, this was another fantastic event put together by MPISCC. I walked away from this gathering with a new perspective and several resources to enlighten my team.