Exclusive Interview With Jane Elliott on #BlackLivesMatter, Donald Trump & His Followers, Her Career & More

Given the opportunity to speak with such an amazing person is something I will cherish for the rest of my life. Speaking with Jane Elliott is an experience I can’t describe. It was like talking to someone I’ve known all my life, but just haven’t seen in a while. We were able to discuss many things, ranging from #BlackLivesMatter, to the only time she was scared, to even Donald Trump and his campaign. My conversation with her was insightful, while also having moments of comedy.

Check out part of our interview below:

I explained to Jane Elliott the situation that recently happened at Albright College, and a previous incident that happened at the school 2 years prior.
WC: When you have racial incidents like that, which are constantly thrown in your face; how can you kind of break up that patriarchal society to get people to understand this its not okay? Get them to understand that what you’re doing, or you’re beliefs are just wrong? How do you go about teaching those people?
Jane Elliott: There are some people you don’t have to bother with. Somebody once said “he who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool; shun him. He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is a student; teach him. He who knows, and knows that he knows is a leader; follow him.” Those that know not, and know not that they know not are following Donaldsaurus T. Rump.

Make no mistake about that. The people who are following that man do not know what he’s about; they think he agrees with everything they believe. They don’t know, and they don’t want to know. They just want somebody to like; they’re like rats following the pied piper. They’re gonna go through the cracks in the wall and then it’s gonna close behind, and they’re gonna be stuck with the pied piper. I don’t want to among that group, and neither do you.

The people who refuse to learn; you cannot teach them. If people had decided not to relearn, but to unlearn what they learned in high school and to learn the truth; there’s nothing that you can do about that. What you have to do is talk with people, be with people, visit with people, and help to educate people who know they don’t know but want to learn. There are people who want to learn about what’s happening with people of color in this country. They want to sit down and visit about it, but first, you have to teach them how to not say things like ‘when I see you, I don’t see you as black.’
JE: Has anybody ever said that to you?
WC: Yes
JE: Has anybody ever said to you ‘under the skin we’re all the same’ ?
WC: Yes
JE: You think you and I are the same under the skin? Let me put it this way. Have you ever had hot flashes? Have you ever been pregnant?
WC: No
JE: So do you think you and I are the same under the skin?
WC: No
JE: No, I have parts that you don’t have, and you have parts that I don’t have. Our female brains and male brains are different. Make no mistake about that. So we are not all the same under the skin, nor should we have to be. People need to understand that if you believe in God, God made differences. He didn’t make every man look the same, every tree the same, every animal the same, we are all different. And instead of ignoring
those differences and pretending they don’t see them; has anyone ever said to you ‘I don’t see color I’m color blind’?
WC: Yes
JE: When a woman says that to me I say, “Obviously you are, or you wouldn’t wear that blouse with those pants.” Now, there’s a price to be paid for making ignorant statements. I wear a sweatshirt to work, wherever I work, which says “Prejudice is an emotional commitment to ignorance.” If you prejudge something or somebody without learning anything about it; you are ignorant and intend to stay that way. Now there are people who plan to stay ignorant because they don’t call themselves ignorant. Today, they call themselves privileged; they call themselves suffering from white privilege. They aren’t suffering from white privileged, they’re enjoying white ignorance, and they need to be taught that if you’re white; you’re gonna have to learn. Now, let me tell you what’s going to happen in about 30 years in this country. Within 30, white people will have lost their numerical majority within the United States of America. That is one of the main fears that white people express to me when I do the blue eyes/ brown eyes exercise, or even talk about it in an audience of mostly white people. They say, “well if they get color,” meaning those other than the white color group. “If they get color, aren’t they going to want to treat us like we treat them?”
Last week I was with a college, over 600 students, most of them black at this college. I said to that group “major fear of white folks is black folks want to her even with us. How many of you black students want to get even with all white folks?” About 3/600 students raised their hands. Then I said, “How many of you want to get even with about 1 or 2?” …

Purchase the magazine and check out the whole interview & more here: IC Magazine