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Aiyana Cisneros
Feminist Perspectives
Dr. Kendra Parker
29 Nov 2016
The Portrayal of Educational Success in Freedom Writers
In of November 2016, a teacher, who is unnamed and that I will be calling Jane Doe, was
fired from Harlem Park Elementary Middle school for using racial slurs towards her
predominantly black classroom. Because racism is still a problem here in America, there are
prejudicial assumptions about each race and which is more likely to fail within the educational
system. Racial prejudices are something that have always existed and when it comes to
educational success, African-American and Hispanic students are those most looked at. Not only
does race impact a students education, but socioeconomic class, fatherlessness and teachers,
because they are the educational system, impact how a student succeeds. Overall, fatherlessness,
race, socioeconomic class, and students teachers are all contributing factors that can negatively
impact a students educational success.
Using a cultural studies approach in which I explain how different labels or
circumstances can impact a student's education, I argue that these circumstances, stated above in
the introduction, can cause a student to be less successful than others in the education system.
Using Freedom Writers (2007) and Jane Doe, I argue that some teachers are able to teach a more
racially diverse classroom than others, which can impact how a student succeeds as well. As I
move forward with this argument, I will present different statistics that prove all of these
circumstances to be true. I maintain that all four of these factors contribute to how a student
learns and succeeds.

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As we look more into the educational system and how class, fatherlessness and race
connect, there are statistics upon statistics that have shown the outcome of what all three can do
to a students education. An article called The Fatherless Generation gives statistics about the
outcomes of what fatherlessness can do. Outcomes can consist of suicide, teenage pregnancy,
incarceration, and high school dropouts (The Fatherless Generation). Race is also a contributing
factor in educational success. In an article written by Thomas S. Dee named, The Race
Connection he talks about how race and students teachers can impact a student's education.
Socio-economic class also plays a big part in a students educational success and Helen F. Ladd
and Edward B. Fiske explain that well in their article, Class Matters. Why Wont We Admit It?.
I will also be using the movie Freedom Writers (2007) and the video of Jane Doe to show the
difference between how teachers handle racially diverse classrooms.
The portrayal of students in Freedom Writers (2007) establishes how fatherlessness
negatively impacts other people's beliefs about the student's educational success, which confirms
what 21st century people believe about marginalized students. For example, there are 8 Asians, 8
Hispanics, 9 African-Americans and 1 White student looked at in the movie. Only one student,
whose name was Eva, had a father mentioned in the movie. When she was a young girl her father
was taken by police in an unlawful accusation leaving her without her father at home. When we
look closer at how a student is impacted by fatherlessness, the statistics gathered are
heartbreaking, and prove peoples beliefs of students failure in the educational system. 63% of
youth who commit suicide are from homes that dont have a father present (The Fatherless
Generation). 71% of students who drop out of high school are also from homes without a father.
That is said to be 9 times more the average of students who have fathers present in their lives
(The Fatherless Generation). It is also said that those who dont have a father become heavily

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involved in gangs. More than 5 students in the movie were apart of gang. If we look at those who
have a father in their home, the statistics change greatly. Students who have a father in their
home are 70% less likely to drop out of school, unlike those who dont have a father in the home.
Students whose fathers are involved are also more likely to receive As, participate in outside
school activities, and have happier emotions (The Fatherless Generation). The difference that a
fathers presence can make in a home is astonishing with a student's education. If a father is
absent, it causes a student to experience all of these different aspects of fatherlessness thats
causing them to do less sufficiently in school. Some of the outcomes even ending their journey of
learning in the education system. Because all students are solely judged on their performance, if
a circumstance such as fatherlessness can impact a student's performance so greatly, something
has to change in order to help them succeed.
The portrayal of Mrs. Gurwells boss's attitude towards the races of her students shows
how race can negatively impact the way a student learns and is taught. When there is a stereotype
threat, such as when an African-American student who is labeled as a troublemaker is being
taught by a white teacher, it can cause that student to believe that that stereotype given to them
will interfere with how they are taught and treated by their teacher (Cook). Race and class
coincide greatly in this area because when a student doesnt have the resources to help them at
home excel more in school, they tend to fall behind. It is said that by age 2, there are already
differences between black and white children due to how they are introduced to colors, early
counting and reading (Cook). The reason is most likely because of income and what a parent is
able to afford in order to teach their child early childhood subjects. Hispanic students rate of
dropouts have dropped from 32% in 2000, to 12% in 2014, but 66% get jobs our enter a military
branch after high school instead of continuing to college due to wanting and needing to help their

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family with income (Krogstad). These statistics show that racism is still alive and well in our
society and because of it, students are already becoming impacted at young ages on how they
will succeed in school. Imagine how much they are impacted by 17, 18, and 19 years old. Equal
opportunity is something that the educational system still struggles with today. I can only
imagine how different a student's learning process would be if they received an equal education
and how much more minority, lower class students would succeed.
There has always been unspoken tensions in our society about students who are minority,
of a lower class and fatherless, and how far they will get into their education and how teachers
seem to handle it. There are both teachers who are able to handle it, and then there are those who
dont know how to handle it. For example, in Baltimore Maryland, an unnamed teacher in who I
will call Jane Doe was fired from Harlem Park Elementary/Middle school for not only calling
her students idiots but also punk a** n****** (Baltimore Teacher Caught on Video Using N
Word). Im curious as to what that teacher was thinking when she said those words to a
predominantly African-American class full of students. In the video, she seems to be dealing
with one student in particular by yelling at him to get out of the class as the rest of the students
are talking to each other as shes doing this, which is common act that students do, she starts to
yell at the whole class then proceeds to say what I mentioned above. What made the teacher
react that way? is something that Ive been asking myself throughout researching all of this. I
cant know for sure why she said that, but I believe that they way we act when we are angry can
really show who we are as a person. At some point in Jane Does life, she heard that the word
n***** was associated with African-Americans and knew that it was offensive. I think they way
a teacher is brought up can also really impact the way the see students who arent of the same
race as them. The way that Jane Doe reacted makes it seem like she was raised in a home where

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she wasnt exposed to many other races than her own. If she would have been, it is more than
likely that she would have handled the situation better and without using negative words. The
way she handled the situation is an example of how not all teachers are capable of teaching in a
racially diverse classroom.
Now on the counterpart of Jane Doe, we have Hilary Swanks role as a teacher in a
classroom where there is only one white student and the rest are either African-American,
Hispanic, or Asian. In Freedom Writers, Hilarys character is a white teacher challenged by
students who have the walls that theyve built up towards white. Throughout the movie, Hilary
finds different ways that she can reach, connect and break down the walls that have built up
towards her as a white woman. In a certain scene Ava, one of the characters, tells Hilarys
character that she hates white people automatically because she knows what they can do
(Freedom Writers). Another student from the class who is African-American says that hed be
lucky if he reaches the age of 18 (Freedom Writers). Shes faced with these high school students
who are broken and feel like white people have been against them and have brought them no
good. Shes challenged with finding ways to have her students also find respect for each other.
Shes challenged with finding ways she can get them to know that she is there to help them and
to give them what they deserve, and education and worth. I dont want to say that Jane Doe
didnt care about her students, but what is seen in and heard in the video shows otherwise.
Hilarys character shows compassion and determination to show her students that she wants them
to know they are capable of making it in a society that tells them otherwise. She decides to give
her students a journal to write in and what it does it makes each student vulnerable. After that
happens, the atmosphere changes in the classroom. She has the students read the entries out loud
to the class so that each student can know what each has gone through, and to also show that they

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are all more alike than they think. Overall, Hilarys character shows how a teacher can be
compassionate and willing to help students that people dont want to help.
Where we are today in the American society is a place where students who are of poverty
and fall into a minority group and are fatherless are not being given the same type of education
as a rich, or even middle class white student would. It is also important that we look at our
teachers and that we make sure that they are taught how to teach in any type of environment.
When a teacher is given their certificate to teach, when they even think about wanting to become
a teacher, they should already have the mindset of teaching to anyone. Students should all be
given equal opportunity, and should always be pushed to do their best and to always be
encouraged. It should not matter what the color of their skin, the amount of money they have or
what their home situation is. All students should be given an education system, as well as
teacher, that will help them succeed and push them to be the best that they can be.

Hilary Swanks character in Freedom Writers shows how