I’ve seen videos of this experiment done before in classrooms, but I’d never seen a video like this one that shows the experiment being tried on adults, let alone audience members of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
It’s still powerful seeing how people react, and diversity expert Jane Elliott’s words are impactful and well-said throughout the experiment.
The unknowing participants in this particular experiment, which was conducted in 1992, had a lot to say about how they were treated. Once they figured out it was an exercise about racism, some of them still had a lot to say. One man in particular stood out to me because I inwardly cringed at his comment. Elliott’s timely, matter-of-fact response, though, let me breathe freely again.
Man: “…[Elliott] can’t get away from the fact that God created the races, and you are gonna be different. Can’t help it, to be like that.”
Elliott: “God made one race, the human race, and human beings created racism.”
Since this is a “Where Are They Now?” segment, be sure to watch all the way to the end of the video. The last few minutes show modern-day Jane Elliott explaining why she created the experiment, how she essentially did what Hitler did, and why it’s ridiculous to treat people differently due to pigmentation.