However, she is soon confronted to the reality of racial tensions when one of her students produces a racist caricature of Sharaud, an African-American student, depicting him with large, protruding lips. While the school itself is not in a dangerous neighborhood, many of the students who attend it come from environments marked by gang violence and drug trafficking.ĭuring her first year as a student teacher, Erin attempts to create a color- and ethnicity-blind environment in the classroom.
She hopes to help young people deal with their pent-up anger in non-violent ways and thus chooses to teach at a school known for its ethnic and socio-economic diversity. These riots shook the entire region, heightening racial tensions in the area and convincing a young woman, Erin Gruwell, to devote herself to teaching. In 1992, officers from the Los Angeles Police Department were acquitted after brutally beating Rodney King, an unarmed black man, and the court’s decision was soon followed by six days of violent rioting, as members of the African-American community expressed their long-standing frustration with the discrimination and abuse they suffer at the hands of the police. During this period, racial tensions are at an all-time high. In 1994, Erin Gruwell begins her journey as an English teacher at Wilson High School in Long Beach, California.
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