Theme Of Racism In Freedom Writers

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Racism and discrimination has been a problem in the United States for hundreds of years. The United States has a long history of prejudicial thinking and behavior towards minorities. As the number of minorities and various ethnicities have grown within the United States, progress has all been made in regard to racism and discrimination. The movie, Freedom Writers, directed by Richard LaGravenese depicts how the color of a person 's skin can often define a person. Racism can exist between all races and is not simply Whites against Blacks or vice versa. Freedom Writers is a story that shows the hate and fear that can exist between people based solely on their race or ethnicity and how when stripped of the barriers that appear to separate us, …show more content…
Freedom Writers focuses on Erin Gruwell, a new, enthusiastic teacher who specifically seeks employment at Woodrow Wilson High School because of their new racial integration plan. Before the new integration plan, Woodrow Wilson had been an exemplary school with high-achieving students. Due to the new racial integration program, the school became plagued with gang fights, violence, and students who had below-average test scores. As the new, inexperienced teacher, Gruwell is given a class composed of “at-risk” and “unteachable” students. She soon realizes that the new integration program is not as effective as she expected it to be. Gruwell has to face the hostility of the students and deal with the segregation of the racial groups in her class (LaGravenese, …show more content…
Hate and fear that exist between people because of race or ethnicity can be stripped away under the right circumstances and lead people to realize that we are all fundamentally the same regardless of race or ethnicity. Racism and discrimination continue to exist in the United States today. Racism and discrimination tend to group people together based on stereotypes associated with a particular race or ethnicity. The truth is, within every race and ethnicity stratification exists. In the movie, some of the kids were physically abused. Some of the students were poor and losing their homes. Most of them had some kind of negative family situation or pressure. One of them was in a refugee camp. None of the students were exactly alike or in exactly the same situation. In order for equality to exist and racism and discrimination to cease, we all must realize that we have our own unique experiences and circumstances, but at our core we are all human beings who need the same things in order to

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