Stereotypes In The Freedom Writers

No person is the same as another. Everyone has different likes and dislikes, interests in school and out, pet peeves, and odd habits. No matter how big or small something is to a person, it makes up who they are. One should not judge them based on how they look or where they came from. Underneath all that initial judgement, someone could find a best friend in that person or someone who is going through a similar hard time. This was predominate in the movie The Freedom Writers. The movie showcased stereotypes and judging someone by what they looked and where they came from. In Mrs. Gruwell’s English class, there were several different groups or cliques. There were blacks, latinos, and there was one lone white man. Those were the three separate

The blacks judged the latinos because of the “gangs” that they were apart of. That was the same way the latinos regarded the blacks. Not one of those students knew another from a different cliques on a personal level. They knew them and interpreted them by what they heard from their own gang and friends. What would one think of when the groups who seemed to despise the other were put in the same class? That there would be a fight? That there would be glares and yelling? There was all of those, but there was one thing that one would not expect. All those people, the latinos, blacks, and the white man, all became a family. They put aside of what they original thought of the other and got to know each other for who they truly are. The message of The Freedom Writers showed that an initial judgement and idea about a person can change throughout time with knowledge, just like with what happened during the Civil Rights Movement and the racial issues

The Civil Rights Movement was a fight against racial segregation and discrimination in the southern states. There were several cases of discrimination against African Americans in those states. The Civil Rights Movement was to go against that discrimination and fight for equal rights for all African Americans. There were many that for the Civil Rights Movement, and many who fought against it. That was the same case with Woodrow Wilson High School. At that school, there was a racial integration program that was implemented. This allowed any kind of any race to join and attend the school. Some teachers did not want to teach those students because they were considered “high risk” and believed to be too dumb to be taught. Those students were stereotyped before they even had the chance to be taught. African Americans in the Civil Rights Movement were judged based on their looks and where they came from, just like the students in Mrs. Gruwell’s class. Just like many in the movement, Mrs. Gruwell would fight for her students and the rights they should