Madeline's Freedom Writers Blog
Freedom Writers
I read critique of the movie, Freedom Writers: White teacher to the rescue by Chela Delgado. I chose this article because I not only know this story well, but my first teaching position was in the same district, and I graduated from the school the teacher/hero taught at.
Delgado did get the basic storyline of the movie correct when she said there were no real villains and that it was just a little too neat because the movie gave the viewers the impression that it takes a caring white teacher to be the hero when it comes to teaching black and Hispanic students about racism. Although it is true that it is quite difficult for many people to understand how a single white female can so easily teach minority students about the injustices of the world, this concern is not the main premise of the movie. The author fails to connect the bigger issue about the racism that was happening in their very own school. The reason why the protagonist in the story had to work two jobs to teach her students about the holocaust was so that she could raise enough money to purchase relevant books for her students that they can later use to make parallels with their own life experiences in their own communities. In other words, the school refused to give her the books she wanted not because of what she was teaching—but who she was teaching. In this particular district, they had a bussing policy where any student from any area can be bussed to any school in the district if there was a spot so that each school had at some diversity. Unfortunately, the schools in the wealthier part of the district did not like this policy, and tended to place these students in classes based on their “math scores”. However, the students from the poorer parts of town somehow always ended up in the same classes with resources that were far different than that of their wealthier counterparts. As a result, the teacher was not given access to the same books as other students, which was depicted in the movie. The movie also showed us that the books she was allowed to use with her students were ripped, outdated and of no interest to the students. This practice would have continued if the hero did not find a way to purchase more contemporary books for her students. The events portrayed in the movie are true and correct, but they say more about what is happening in our own backyards with regards to racism and inequality, than a they do about a white teacher trying to teach her ethnic students about racism. These events can then be used to relate to important historical events such as the holocaust, and should ultimately serve as a tool to remind us of what can happen when people look the other way or fail to notice man’s inhumanity to man. It can also remind us that even under the most arduous circumstance you can always find an example of the triumph of the human spirit, and the need to tell others of these injustices. None of these concerns were even considered in this critique, which gave me the impression that they author over simplified the premise, and didn't quite understand the bigger underlying issue.
I read critique of the movie, Freedom Writers: White teacher to the rescue by Chela Delgado. I chose this article because I not only know this story well, but my first teaching position was in the same district, and I graduated from the school the teacher/hero taught at.
Delgado did get the basic storyline of the movie correct when she said there were no real villains and that it was just a little too neat because the movie gave the viewers the impression that it takes a caring white teacher to be the hero when it comes to teaching black and Hispanic students about racism. Although it is true that it is quite difficult for many people to understand how a single white female can so easily teach minority students about the injustices of the world, this concern is not the main premise of the movie. The author fails to connect the bigger issue about the racism that was happening in their very own school. The reason why the protagonist in the story had to work two jobs to teach her students about the holocaust was so that she could raise enough money to purchase relevant books for her students that they can later use to make parallels with their own life experiences in their own communities. In other words, the school refused to give her the books she wanted not because of what she was teaching—but who she was teaching. In this particular district, they had a bussing policy where any student from any area can be bussed to any school in the district if there was a spot so that each school had at some diversity. Unfortunately, the schools in the wealthier part of the district did not like this policy, and tended to place these students in classes based on their “math scores”. However, the students from the poorer parts of town somehow always ended up in the same classes with resources that were far different than that of their wealthier counterparts. As a result, the teacher was not given access to the same books as other students, which was depicted in the movie. The movie also showed us that the books she was allowed to use with her students were ripped, outdated and of no interest to the students. This practice would have continued if the hero did not find a way to purchase more contemporary books for her students. The events portrayed in the movie are true and correct, but they say more about what is happening in our own backyards with regards to racism and inequality, than a they do about a white teacher trying to teach her ethnic students about racism. These events can then be used to relate to important historical events such as the holocaust, and should ultimately serve as a tool to remind us of what can happen when people look the other way or fail to notice man’s inhumanity to man. It can also remind us that even under the most arduous circumstance you can always find an example of the triumph of the human spirit, and the need to tell others of these injustices. None of these concerns were even considered in this critique, which gave me the impression that they author over simplified the premise, and didn't quite understand the bigger underlying issue.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with you. This teacher went out of her way to make sure that her students had the correct tools for the to be successful in order to do their best learning.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that the main story line of this movie should be viewed as "a teacher trying to help her students," but I believe that Delgado's point here is to bright to light the hidden narrative within the text of the movie. I had written about this in my blog too - and though it is imperative that we teach about the Holocaust, there are also many other genocides that don't nearly get enough attention when teaching kids what can happen when we are discriminatory and prejudice. However, I think her main point is to instead have students write about themselves and the social injustices they experience within their worlds, instead of writing about/reading about what happens to other people!
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