Jane Elliot Against the World is hopeful it what it address and frustrating in what it avoids about white people earning money in antiracist activist spaces.
Jane Elliot Against the World, playing at the Sundance Film Festival, is both a documentary centering the life of anti-racist activist and creator of the blue eye/brown eye exercise, Jane Elliot, and the impact on her family, and melds it with the current conflict in education, where stifling the truth to protect white comfort is paramount. It focuses on Temecula, California, where Jane raised her daughters and must now fight as the conservative school board bans books, including hers.
Included are video clips from her exercise sessions, footage from the civil rights movement, and interviews with various individuals. Jane Elliot Against the World is hopeful in what it address and frustrating in what it avoids about white people earning money in antiracist activist spaces.
Directed by Judd Ehrlich (Keepers of the Game, We Could Be King), the documentary shows what shaped Jane Elliot’s shift to combat racism, its impact on her, her family, and Riceville, Ohio, where she first did the exercise with her third-graders. With that comes the current fight in the education system as the Republicans—who claim people need more freedom from the government—implement book bans across the country. Plus, it shows a white woman who spent the better part of her life fighting racism and white supremacy and making enemies along the way. It does not shy away from uncomfortable questions, but it doesn’t lean into them either. It’s about Jane and the battle through her eyes.
Jane Elliot Against the World Shows Impact
The documentary focuses on the impact of moments that shape how a person sees the world. For Jane, that was turning away a Black woman renter and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. It spurred her determination to never take part in upholding white supremacy and racism. However, it wasn’t all positive as she dealt with plenty of hate from all sides. Plus, Jane’s two daughters, who experienced bullying take part in the documentary. They point out how they took a backseat next to their mother’s students. So, Jane Elliot Against the World drives home how one action or decision can impact countless others.
Gather Your People, But Challenges of Who’s Heard
Interviewers like Ibram X. Kendi broach the issue surrounding Jane Elliot’s success, appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Show multiple times, and attending workshops for companies, etc. White people tend to make more money in spaces dealing with antiracism and DEI for a problem they created. Jane herself acknowledges how the words are more palatable coming from a small white woman. Someone who was Black or Brown would not survive a night after the first exercise.
But acknowledging it while still reaping the benefits is a problem. More often than not, they do not recommend Black writers or any other person of color in that space. However, there is also the flip side. After all, we tell white people to “come get their people.” So, where does that line between gathering and exploitation and playing into the system meet? Jane Elliot Against the World does not answer that. That part is given little attention. Rather, it speeds through that as though checking off a necessary point without exploration.
If You Don’t Know About Jane, Watch It
Jane Elliot Against the World focuses on Jane’s feelings, opinions, and beliefs. As it should, I suppose. Her determination to stand up at the risk of losing friends and family is inspiring. However, how much can these white people attending the lectures, workshops, etc., actually change if they still need to hear it from a white person? Better yet, survey them. Ask how many lectures they attended led by Black or Brown activists, how many of their books have they read. Having people like Killer Mike on the documentary does not legitimize it.
It’s praise for something done better elsewhere. Jane Elliot Against the World works for those interested in learning about Jane. But does nothing to move the needle if they cannot fully address the elephant in the room that is white liberal complicity. Intentional or not, it shows how white people create the problem then profit from talking about it.
