Breaking the walls separating students from each other in Freedom Writers (2007)

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Racial and Ethnic Division in Freedom Writers (2007)
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Name and Number
Professors Name
Due Date

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Racial and Ethnic Division in Freedom Writers (2007)
Freedom Writers (2007) is an inspiring film about an idealistic teacher who choose to
break down the walls separating students from each other. The film delivers message about hope
and the inspirations that changes the destiny of the characters and does it in a way that it evokes
emotion and intellectual satisfaction. The movie is staring Hillary Swank who plays Erin
Gruwell shows encounters recorded in the diaries about 150 ‘Untouchable and at risk students in
California. The movie incorporates students from students at Wilson High School as an
instrument to navigate through the instance of racial and ethnic division.
Race, ethnicity and Tolerance are important issues and virtues evident in the film story.
The daily lives of the students is affected by the rivalry among the Asians blacks and Latinos.
The most determinants of peace and clashes was external appearance and loyalty to the various
groups. In this case, students learnt to remain between the confined of their identity groups.
Despite the intense clashes, Ms. Gruwell started teaching his students the repercussions of racial
and ethnic violence from the historical perspectives. The teacher emphasized on Anne Frank
stories about the Nazi-occupied Netherlands and Zlata Filipović who gave a narration about the
contemporary war torn in the Bosnia and Herzegovina (LaGravenese,2007). In this case, the
teacher navigates the students’ imagination into the horrific consequences of ethnic hatred in the
prevalent society. As a result, the students learn to focus on a society that is beyond racial and
ethnic divisions.
The hate and hate and fear existing between people due to hatred can be stripped off and
emphasize on the similarity within the society. Through the process, people will understand that
they are fundamentally the same regardless of the differences in the race and ethnicity. While
racism and ethnicity continue to mere the United States, people tend to identify with groups due

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to the stereotypes associated with the groups. The movie portrayed instances where some
students endured physical abuse from their colleagues due to skin tone or race (Yulinarni,
Asridayani & Efendi,2020). There is a prevalence stratification between the race and ethnicity is
illustrated in the movie as sad ordeal as some students were undergoing some negative family
situation and pressure.
The implications of discrimination due to racism and ethnicity is a societal problem that
people should avoid since the implication of the actions is not good for the cohesion within the
groups. Clair &Denis (2015) termed racism as a subject of race and stated that “
“Although biologically meaningless when applied to humans – physical differences such
as skin color have no natural association with group differences in ability or behavior –
race nevertheless has tremendous significance in structuring social reality. Indeed,
historical variation in the definition and use of the term provides a case in point” (p.857)
On the other hand, race is distinct from ethnicity. The biological case of race is the main
attribute of the particular race. The race is perceived by physical characteristics within an
individuals. It is evident that racism is actually the social constructs that offers permission to one
group to exploit another in notion that justifies the practice. The practice is evident in countries
with high level of racism leading to increased social jealous among the population. The movie
plot in Wilson High School is in an urban world with a long beach where racial tension and gang
wars lead to racial and ethnic divisions. For instance, the social identity of an individual
determines the group of belonging and the chances of survival I the respective streets. In 1992,
officers in Los Angeles police Department were caught on Camera brutally beating Rodney
King, an unarmed African American in police custody. The action sparked anger and reaction
among the Blacks who protested against the historical discrimination and abuse among the black