On the morning of April 5, 1968, a group of third-graders walked into their classroom expecting an ordinary school day. Instead, they became participants in an experiment that would echo through decades of conversations about race, discrimination, and education.

The day before, the nation had learned of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.^[1]Scott P. Johnson, The Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King: Understanding the Criminal Behavior and Prosecution of James Earl Ray, 49 Ohio N.U. L. Rev. 543 (2023). This document can be found in HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library. For Jane Elliott, a teacher in Riceville, Iowa, the question was immediate and unsettling. How could she explain hate and inequality to a classroom of children who had never experienced them? Her answer was not a lecture or a worksheet; it was an experience.^[2]Greta McMorris, Critical Race Theory, Cognitive Psychology, and the Social Meaning of Race: Why Individualism Will Not Solve Racism, 67 UMKC L. Rev. 695 (Summer 1999). This document can be found in HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library.

Now, more than 50 years later, it continues to spark discussion about race, empathy, education, and the ethics of experiential learning,^[3]Aina N. Watkins, Executive Order 13950, on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping: Its Effect on Government Contractors’ Use of Diversity Training, 56 Procurement Law. 10 (Fall 2021). This document can be found in … Continue reading raising questions that extend well beyond the classroom where it began.

A Lesson Born from a National Moment

Elliott divided her students by eye color. Children with blue eyes were told they were smarter, cleaner, and more capable, while those with brown eyes were told the opposite. Privileges followed these distinctions, reinforcing the hierarchy that had been created in minutes. Extra recess time, praise from the teacher, and preferred seating quietly communicated who belonged at the top and who did not.

What unfolded over the course of the day was swift and striking. Confidence among the so-called superior group grew into dominance, while the students labeled inferior became withdrawn and frustrated. Academic performance shifted. Friendships strained. The classroom atmosphere changed in ways that felt sudden, yet disturbingly familiar.

When Elliott reversed the roles the following day, the emotional response was just as powerful. For some students, the lesson left a lasting impression about fairness and empathy. For others, it raised difficult questions about discomfort, authority, and the emotional cost of learning through experience. That tension would follow the exercise long after it left the classroom.

From One Classroom to a National Conversation

As news of the Blue Eyes–Brown Eyes exercise spread, it drew national attention through interviews,^[4]Joanie Eppinga, Divided by Gender: An Interview with Jane Elliott, 6 J. Hate Stud. 117 (2007-2008). This document can be found in HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library. documentaries,^[5]Sherri DioGuardi, Critical Thinking in Criminal Justice Ethics: Using the Affective Domain to Discover Gray Matters, 27 J. Crim. Just. Educ. 535 (2016). This document can be found in HeinOnline’s Law Journal … Continue reading and television appearances.^[6]Peter H. Huang, Anti-Asian American Racism, COVID-19, Racism Contested, Humor, and Empathy, 16 FIU L. Rev. 669 (Spring 2022). This document can be found in HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library. Elliott later repeated the exercise with adults, including educators and corporate groups, where reactions were often intense and deeply personal.

Supporters described the exercise as a rare opportunity to confront implicit bias in a way that traditional instruction could not replicate. Critics raised concerns about the psychological impact on participants, particularly children, and questioned whether emotional distress should play a role in education at all. Over time, the exercise became less about eye color and more about a broader debate over how society should teach about prejudice, power, and inequality.

There has never been a single consensus.

These debates mirror questions raised by other well-known studies of authority and institutional authority, including the Stanford Prison Experiment^[7]Harry Perlstadt, How to Get out of the Stanford Prison Experiment: Revisiting Social Science Research Ethics, 1 Current Res. J. Soc. Sci. & Human. 45 (2018). This document can be found in … Continue reading conducted in the early 1970s. In that study, college students assigned the roles of guards and prisoners began to internalize expectations associated with those labels in ways that neither the participants nor the researchers fully anticipated. Although the settings and methods differed, both experiments demonstrated how quickly behavior can change when power and status are imposed by an external system. In later years, scholars revisited both studies to examine not only what they revealed about human behavior, but also the ethical questions surrounding experiential research.

Studying Power, Bias, and Behavior

The enduring attention given to the Blue Eyes–Brown Eyes exercise reflects a broader scholarly interest in how power, authority, and social labels influence behavior. Rather than offering a definitive lesson, the exercise has become part of an ongoing effort to understand how inequality is learned, reinforced, and challenged within structured environments.^[8]John O. Calmore, Chasing the Wind: Pursuing Social Justice, Overcoming Legal Mis-Education, and Engaging in Professional Re-Socialization, 37 Loy. L. A. L. Rev. 1167 (Spring 2004). This document can be found in … Continue reading

Researchers, educators, and legal scholars continue to examine questions raised by the exercise alongside other studies of social behavior,^[9]A. H. Maslow, The Comparative Approach to Social Behavior, 15 Soc. F. 487 (May 1937). This document can be found in HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library. authority,^[10]Tom R. Tyler, The Social Psychology of Authority: Why Do People Obey an Order to Harm Others, 24 Law & Soc’y Rev. 1089 (1990). This document can be found in HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library. and institutional influence.^[11]Cliff Zimmerman, The Hidden Curriculum and the Discounting of Students’ Identity: The Sources of Disaffection and the Challenge in Formation of Professional Identity, 2 J.L. Teaching & Learning 15 (2025). This … Continue reading These inquiries explore not only how individuals respond to assigned roles, but also how systems themselves shape outcomes, often in ways that feel inevitable once they are set in motion.

In this way, Elliott’s classroom has remained relevant not because it provides answers, but because it encourages sustained examination. Its legacy lies in prompting critical analysis of how discrimination operates, how it is justified, and how it is confronted, particularly within educational and legal frameworks that carry real consequences beyond the classroom.

A Reflection of a Larger History

The exercise emerged during a period of profound social change in the United States. The late 1960s marked a turning point in civil rights law, education policy, and public awareness of systemic discrimination. While Elliott’s classroom was small, the forces it mirrored were not.

Understanding that broader context requires access to historical records, legal decisions, and scholarly analysis. It requires looking beyond one moment to the systems that made it recognizable in the first place.

HeinOnline’s Social Justice Suite brings together resources that document this larger story. Through Civil Rights and Social Justice, users can explore legislation, court cases, and law review articles that trace the legal fight against discrimination. Slavery in America and the World provides historical foundations that show how inequality became embedded in law and society. Other databases in the suite expand the lens to global justice movements, gun regulation, and LGBTQ+ rights.

Together, these collections allow researchers to situate moments like Elliott’s exercise within a continuum of struggle, reform, and debate. All five databases are available free of charge to any interested organization. Librarians, educators, researchers, and students can register for access to explore these collections and incorporate them into teaching, research, and institutional initiatives focused on social justice.