Freedom Writers Page #3

the subject inside the classroom.

- Thank you very much.

- Thank you.

Hey, Tiny, check this out.

Hey. Hey!

Yes?

All right.

Gloria?

Please read the first sentence

on the board.

Why me?

Because I know

how much you love to read.

Close the magazine.

"Odysseus had no sense of direction. "

Now, none of these sentences

are correct.

I'd like you to rewrite these sentences

using the proper tenses

and spelling on page four

of your workbooks.

I don't have a page four. It got torn out.

Okay, why don't you just use

the next blank page?

What's going on?

What is that? Give it to me.

- What is this?

- Just leave it alone.

You think this is funny?

Tito?

Would this be funny

if it were a picture of you?

It ain't.

Close the workbooks.

Maybe we should talk about art.

Tito's got real talent, don't you think?

- Yeah, yeah.

- Go, Tito.

You know something?

I saw a picture just like this once

in a museum.

Only it wasn't a black man,

it was a Jewish man.

And instead of the big lips,

he had a really big nose,

like a rat's nose.

But he wasn't

just one particular Jewish man,

this was a drawing of all Jews.

And these drawings

were put in the newspapers

by the most famous gang in history.

That's us, dawg.

You think you know all about gangs?

You're amateurs.

This gang would put you all to shame.

And they started out poor and angry,

and everybody looked down on them.

Until one man decided

to give them some pride,

an identity and somebody to blame.

You take over neighborhoods?

That's nothing compared to them.

They took over countries.

And you wanna know how?

They just wiped out everybody else.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

Yeah, they wiped out

everybody they didn't like,

and everybody they blamed

for their life being hard.

And one of the ways they did it

was by doing this.

See, they'd print pictures like this

in the newspapers.

Jewish people with big, long noses.

Blacks with big, fat lips.

They'd also publish scientific evidence

that proved Jews and blacks

were the lowest form of human species.

Jews and blacks

were more like animals.

And because they were just like animals

it didn't really matter

whether they lived or died.

In fact, life would be a whole lot better

if they were all dead.

That's how a holocaust happens.

And that's what you all think

of each other.

You don't know nothing, homegirl.

No, I don't, Marcus!

So why don't you explain it to me?

I ain't explaining sh*t to you!

Do you even know how we live?

We was here first, man.

Just shut that sh*t up, homeboy.

All right! All right! All right!

So what you're saying is,

if the Latinos weren't here,

or the Cambodians or the blacks

or the whites or whoever they are,

if they weren't here, everything

would be better for you, isn't that right?

Of course it'd be better!

Lt'd be better if you weren't here.

Right. Right.

It starts with a drawing like this,

and then some kid dies in a drive-by,

never even knowing what hit him.

You don't know nothing!

You don't know the pain we feel.

You don't know what we got to do.

You got no respect for how we living.

You got us in here,

teaching us this grammar sh*t,

and then we got to go out there again.

And what are you telling me

about that, huh?

What are you doing in here that makes

a goddamn difference to my life?

You don't feel respected.

Is that what you're saying, Eva?

Well, maybe you're not.

But to get respect, you have to give it.

That's bullshit.

What?

Why should I give my respect to you?

'Cause you're a teacher?

I don't know you.

How do I know

you're not a liar standing up there?

How do I know you're not

a bad person standing up there?

I'm not just gonna give you my respect

because you're called a teacher.

White people always wanting their

respect like they deserve it for free.

I'm a teacher.

It doesn't matter what color I am.

It's all about color.

It's about people deciding

what you deserve,

about people wanting

what they don't deserve,

about whites thinking

they run this world no matter what.

You see, I hate white people.

- You hate me?

- Yeah.

- You don't know me.

- I know what you can do.

I saw white cops shoot my friend

in the back for reaching into his pocket!

His pocket.

I saw white cops break into my house

and take my father for no reason

except because they feel like it!

Except because they can.

And they can because they're white.

So I hate white people on sight!

Ben, do you have anything to say?

Can I please get out of here?

Lady, stop acting like you're trying

to understand our situation

and just do your little babysitting

up there.

- That's all you think this is?

- It ain't nothing else.

When I look out in the world,

I don't see nobody that looks like me

with their pockets full,

unless they're rapping a lyric

or dribbling a ball.

So what else you got in here for me?

And what if you can't rap a lyric

or dribble a ball?

- It ain't this. I know that much.

- Damn right.

And you all think you're gonna make it

to graduation like this?

I made it to high school.

Ain't nobody stopped me.

Lady, I'm lucky if I make it to 18.

We in a war.

We're graduating every day we live,

because we ain't afraid to die

protecting our own.

At least when you die for your own,

you die with respect, you die a warrior.

That's right.

So when you're dead, you'll get respect?

Is that what you think?

- That's right.

- That's right.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

You know what's gonna happen

when you die?

You're gonna rot in the ground.

And people are gonna go on living,

and they're gonna forget all about you.

And when you rot,

do you think it's gonna matter

whether you were an original gangster?

You're dead.

And nobody,

nobody is gonna wanna remember you,

because all you left behind

in this world is this.

You're raising your hand?

That thing that you said before,

the Holocause?

- Holocaust, yes.

- What is that?

Raise your hand if you know

what the Holocaust is.

Raise your hand

if anyone in this classroom

has ever been shot at.

What about this?

We were discussing the Holocaust.

No, they won't be able to read that.

We can try.

The books are just sitting here.

Look at their reading scores.

And if I give your kids these books,

I'll never see them again.

If I do, they'll be damaged.

What about these? Romeo and Juliet.

That's a great gang story.

No, not the books.

This is what we give them.

It is Romeo and Juliet,

but it's a condensed version.

But even these,

look how they treat them.

See how torn up they are?

They draw on them.

Ms. Campbell?

They know they get these

because no one thinks

they're smart enough for real books.

Well, I don't have the budget

to buy new books every semester

when these kids don't return them.

So, what do I do?

Buy their books myself?

Well, that's up to you,

but you'd be wasting your money.

Is there someone else

I can speak to about this?

- Excuse me?

- I'm sorry, but

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