Introduction
Racism is the belief that some races are superior and more important than others. Erin Gruwell starts teaching in a historical situation of racial tensions. It is evident in recent years that Racism exists among people from different communities. Ethnic and racial societies are always in direct rivalry with each other. It is evident in the freedom writer's book, where Erin Gruwell educates his students on the war that began as a result of Racism and fought for power. Nowadays, whites tend to discriminate blacks just because of their color. The paper links the freedom writers book theme on race, tolerance, and ethnicity to personal experience.
I heavily support that Racism and ethnicity exist among different communities from different races, mainly the whites and blacks. It gets seen in the freedom writers book where the teacher, Erin Gruwell, questions a student on the war between the Asian gangs and the Latino gangs, trying to make them understand that the war was senseless (Reid 40). The students realize that the teacher was right. Nowadays, people from different races, mainly white and black, begin wars, discriminating against each other. Racism is practiced more by the whites, who see themselves more superior than the blacks. In my opinion, Racism is evil and causes war between two races where one of the races tends to act more superior, thus discriminating against the other community.
In the book freedom writers, Erin Gruwell flashes back in 1992, where white officers from the police department of Los angelus get seen beating up a black man Rodney King, an unarmed black man, the beat him before arresting his. It happened because the man was black, it seen nowhere that the man was armed (Muraviov and Nataliia 189). They just brutally beat him mercilessly simply because he was black. Ethnicity and Racism exist nowadays where such occasions occur. Blacks are brutally beaten up by white police officers before arresting them. I have seen this happen to a black man who was pulled over for nothing, and when he asked the reason for being pulled over, the white officers beat him mercilessly and arrested him. Racism is illegal and should stop. Everyone should be equal regardless of the color.
During a lesson with students, Erin notices note being passed all over the class with cartoon of one of the black students. The ethnicity violence through Ms. Erin's teachings, the students realize that racism and ethnicity tensions have significant historical consequences in other places all around the earth. It is evident where Anne frank gets killed in Nazi since she was a Jew. It happened in Germany (Walton, Robert, and Sherri np). With this, the students learn that tolerance and peace are more inspiring the hatred and rivalry as well as Racism and ethnicity. Erin Gruwell goes on and explains to the students about a case that happened in class while at school. She explains that she intercepts a racist parody of a boy in class who was an African American. Erin becomes furious and tells her colleagues that such events of Racism resulted in incidents like the holocaust. She understands that her students have never heard of holocaust. She then devotes her teachings to the promotion of tolerance. Erin narrates two stories to her students Zlata Filipovic and Anne frank. During World War II, Anne Frank, who is an adolescent, gets threatened to hide for many years and is sent to a concentration camp where she dies.
It happened just because she was a Jew. Filipovic happens to be forced to hide from an ethnic war, which is tearing her country apart. Erin Gruwell's students note that the two stories are related to their lives. In our lives today, similar cases happen where teenagers are forced to hide from ethnic wars. It is evident that discrimination still happens based on differences in religion. It is apparent where Muslims and Christians become rivals due to their differences in religion. I have seen Muslims create groups that terrorist their enemies who, in this case, are the Christians, where they end up bombing and killing a lot of Christians. Most teenagers get forced to hide during these wars, where they end up dying in their hideouts. Erin Gruwell's teachings are related to the activities of Racism and ethnicity that happen nowadays.
The main lesson in the freedom writers book is understanding and tolerance. The students in her class hated each other for no reason, but just because they thought it was their role due to the histories of gangs and stereotypes. Most of the students had experienced violence. Erin taught them that they all had more in common. It is evident nowadays, and I have personally experienced teachers educating their students on the importance of treating each other equally without discriminating any regardless of color or religion (Perez 956). It turns out to be a success to the teachers where the students realize that Racism and ethnicity is a waste of time, and embracing harmony and tolerance is easier than discriminating and creating wars with one another.
Erin's students learn that historical memories bring about Racism and discrimination as well as ethnicity, so failing to embrace history would help them a lot in knowing what is best for them and how they should tolerate one another regardless OF color and religion. The students in the book are seen to be resistant and associate with one another simply because they are not used to associating with the other group of individuals (Nugroho np). The students are used to shoot at other individuals from a different race. The intolerance, according to Erin Gruwell, happens as a result of the students growing up in hostile surroundings, which teaches them to discriminate against other racial groups. I strongly support that Racism occurs as a result of the environment where one grows up.
On the other hand, Racism usually will not occur as result of an environment that one grows, but as a result of what taught in school and home. Most white parents end up educating their children on the importance of discriminating against individuals from a different race. Children end up doing what their parents are doing, for instance, during football matches, black players like Mario Balotelli gets discriminated where the whites sound like baboons to show that the black player looks like a monkey (Hardianti np). Children see their parents do this and redo it, and it creates Racism.
Conclusion
Ethnicity and Racism exist nowadays where occasions where Blacks are brutally beaten up by white police officers before arresting them. I have seen this happen to a black man who was pulled over for nothing, and when he asked the reason for being pulled over, the white officers beat him mercilessly and arrested him.
