Freedom Writers: Outlooks of Students to Learning

Since historic times, the subject of race relations has been crucial in shaping the outlooks of students to learning. The film presents a diverse set of learners; however, the major composition is ethnic minority groups, primarily Latinos and African-Americans. For a long time, these groups have been victims of social limitations, including poor education, lack of opportunity, and marginalization (Jones 1212). For these reasons, the students emerge from a background marred by educational, ethnic, commercial, and societal unfairness. Besides, their living spaces are hubs for criminal activities, dysfunctional household units, and gang-related experiences (Banerjee 5).

The hopelessness of their futures is evident in their day-to-day engagement in school life as a means to escape the realities back at home. Their desire to attain education is lacking, chiefly because the one responsible for facilitating the process is Gruwell, a woman from a Caucasian background. Their unresponsiveness to her rests in the fact that she signifies the structure that they feel is liable for their predicaments over the years.

They hinder learning within the classroom due to the preconceived notion that the teacher is part of an oppressive society, which constantly demoralizes the minority groups. Due to past racial tensions, the students are incapable of changing their mindsets initially as they are familiar with the idea of perceiving the White population as the domineering unit that racially suppresses the rest (Alhumam 160).

The prolonged nature of this master-slave perspective is an outcome of a self-preserved stance over the years. It is a testament to the inter-generational cycle of persecution of minorities. Reasonably, minority populations have such deep-rooted opinions on ethnic tensions that they take on and project the racial typecasts alongside their attempts to fight them. Evidently, the film demonstrates this standpoint regarding racial tensions between the White population and the minority groups.

Even though Gruwell has a sincere desire to enlighten the students, the endless sequence of racial prejudice and abuse transforms her humble intentions into what the learners perceive to be compassion. At a superficial level, her optimistic outlook does not change the mindsets of the students. Therefore, this initial perspective reinforces their belief that the educational system sets them up for failure.

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