It is a safe bet not many speakers who lecture at the Memorial Union request for their audience to move up close to the front so the speaker can see their eye color.

But for renowned race relations expert Jane Elliot, the request was nothing out of the ordinary.

Elliot, a former elementary school teacher and creator of the “blue eyes/brown eyes” experiment, lectured Thursday, Sept. 17, in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union to a captivated audience of about 650 people on the “Anatomy of Prejudice” in America today.

Elliot, known for her quick wit and biting commentary, acknowledged those in the audience who might be offended at her harsh commentary about racism early on in her program.

After a blunt monologue in which Elliot confronted and denounced any racism or homophobia in the audience, she instructed those who were uncomfortable with her speech to “get up and leave now.”

“Believe me, those are going to be the nicest things I’ll say tonight,” she said.

Elliot, a petite woman dressed in all black, paced around the stage with a hand-held microphone and challenged the audience with her harsh words for prejudiced white America.

“For all you folks out there who are looking at me with my short hair and no make-up and lack of curls, and are thinking, ‘She must be one of them,'” Elliot said. “My sexual orientation is none of your damn business. And neither is anybody else’s.”

Elliot began her three-hour long program with commentary on white males in society.

“There are more women, more black, more Asians, more gays and lesbians, more everybody than there are white males. Now some of you are sitting there and thinking, “‘She hates white men.’ That’s not true, I like men,” Elliot said. “I like men in their proper places.”

After raucous laughter, Elliot said, “No, I do like men. But I don’t like how we in American society have socialized our men.”

Elliot delivered a powerful commentary about “minding our own business.”

“If you don’t know how to relate to a homosexuals, don’t have sex with one,” Elliot said. “If you believe homosexuality is a choice, then don’t be one. And if you think abortion is wrong, then don’t have one. It’s that simple, people.”

Racism could be eliminated in one generation, Elliot said, because children are taught to be racist.

She said a person is a racist if they have ever used statements similar to the ones, “When I see you, I don’t see you as black,” or “We’re all the same under our skin.”

Elliot told the audience as a wife, mother and teacher she is “the only living racist in America” because she recognizes differences between people. She said differences such as color, gender, age, disabilities, etc. should never be ignored, for they are part of the person.

“Now folks, you don’t need a color-blind society, as long as there’s nothing wrong with color,” Elliot said.

“We have been taught in our schools to see color as negative … skin is the largest organ in your body,” Elliot said.

“To pretend we don’t see each other as black, is to say, ‘We have to agree to be temporarily insane for a while, because I’m not comfortable with your skin color.'”

She also attacked a college professor from Texas who made a remark about blacks and Mexicans not being able to learn as quickly or as well as whites.

“We can treat each other equally even if we don’t see each other as equal,” Elliot said.

Elliot first became nationally recognized shortly after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

Elliot was enraged with insensitive remarks made to black leaders by white male journalists.

She decided to give her all-white, Riceville, Iowa, third-graders a real education in the realm of racism.

Elliot separated the students into “blue-eyed” and “brown-eyed.”

The first day of the experiment she would treat one group of students badly, and instruct the “dominant” group of students to discriminate against them.

After the second day, she would reverse who was treated badly, and the students would switch roles.

Elliot said students from all across the country who have had similar experiments done to them as elementary-aged children have “never forgotten what it felt like.”

Elliot reported some of her bright, active students would become extremely passive on the days they were the “outcasts.” Several of her students even forgot how to read and multiply on the days when they were the “unclean, slow, naughty” group.

Although she didn’t perform the “blue eye/brown eye” experiment with the audience Thursday, she relied heavily on audience participation.

Elliot asked the crowd to name the differences between a white female audience member and a black male audience member.

And she frequently asked questions about the “racist” upbringing and education most of the audience admitted to having.

The “blue-eyed/brown-eyed” experiment has been repeated numerous times.

Elliot said if she could go back in time, she wouldn’t originate the experiment again because of the horrendous treatment some of her family members received.

“Don’t you think I haven’t been discriminated against!” Elliot said, speaking of her town’s and fellow teachers’ crusade to have the “nigger-lover” thrown out of their school district.

Elliot has fought discrimination for more than 20 years through her workshops, speeches and films.

She has three documentaries released about her experiments, including “Eye of the Storm,” which was shown during her presentation.

Disney is also producing a feature-length film about her life, starring Academy Award-winning actress Susan Sarandon as Elliot.

“Yeah,” Elliot said. “Disney does something, and suddenly it’s important.”

Many audience members said the speech was eye-opening.

“They should have filled a stadium full of people to listen to her, from President Jischke on down,” Melissa Frederick, a graduate student in English, said.

“I think it says something that Iowa State President Jischke isn’t here,” she said.

Other audience members reacted to her remarks about ISU not being a particularly welcoming environment for African-Americans and other minorities.

“I thought her speech was very eye-opening,” Mariah Burrell, a junior in journalism/mass communications, said. Coming from Chicago, Iowa State was a real culture shock.”