On her first day, Erin was greeted with a middle finger. The second day, a spitball. The third, a full-blown race war in her classroom. She learned that the only thing uniting her students was their contempt for authority.
But the school administration was not supportive. The English department head told Erin she was “coddling” the students and refused to give her new textbooks. The principal was annoyed by her after-hours tutoring and her habit of taking kids to the opera or to see Schindler’s List . To pay for books and field trips, Erin worked three jobs: teaching by day, selling hotel switchboard equipment by night, and braiding rugs on weekends. the freedom writers
The final lesson of the Freedom Writers is this: No one is unteachable. Everyone has a story. And sometimes, the pen truly is mightier than the sword. On her first day, Erin was greeted with a middle finger
The turning point came one afternoon when she intercepted a racist caricature of a Black student being passed around the room. The drawing had grotesque, exaggerated lips. Furious, Erin stood up and shouted, “This is the exact type of propaganda the Nazis used to dehumanize the Jews during the Holocaust.” She learned that the only thing uniting her
At first, nothing. Then, a trickle. Soon, a flood.
Erin Gruwell’s contract was not renewed after her fourth year—the administration said she was “too intense.” But by then, she had already won. The students she was never supposed to save had saved themselves.