The Freedom Writers Diary - Erin Gruwell [19]
Dear Diary,
I can’t believe what happened in Oklahoma City. 168 innocent men, women, and children had their lives cut short by one man who was angry with the government. Out of anger, Timothy McVeigh decided he would take his frustration out on others to give the country a wake-up call. Unfortunately, it was a deadly one.
Ms. Gruwell made us write a report about what occurred in Oklahoma. Writing about it made me realize how susceptible we are to violence. Unfortunately, not all the students at Wilson got this message. Fights still break out at lunch, during passing periods, and in other classes for stupid reasons like somebody walked through a group of people who were different than them. Fights based on race or the way someone dresses are just ignorant. Fights don’t solve matters, they just make things worse.
There are many Timothy McVeighs around us every day, and it is very surprising to find out that it is the person you least expect. They are just like walking time bombs waiting to go off, and when they do, the consequences can be deadly. The ticking often begins with a derogatory comment, which can spark an explosion.
No matter what race we are, what ethnic background, sexual orientation, or what views we may have, we are all human. Unfortunately, not all humans see it that way.
Diary 20
Dear Diary,
I went on a field trip to the Museum of Tolerance, for a private screening of a movie called Higher Learning. The movie was about hypocrisy in our society and people’s prejudice. Ms. Gruwell thought it would tie in to what we had been learning in class. After the movie, we listened to a panel of successful people who had overcome adversities.
The panelist that stood out to me the most was a Japanese man named Mas Okui. His family came to America to follow the American dream, but when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, they were forced into internment camps. Suddenly, as a teenage boy, he and his family became the “enemy.” Mas was sent to a camp called Manzanar, the same camp we had read about in the book Farewell to Manzanar.
Mas lived in a barrack that was close to the author of that book, Jeanne Wakatski, so he was able to answer all our questions about it. Even though they were interned, the Japanese created a community in the camp, so Mas was able to bring everything Jeanne had written to life.
I was so excited because this was the first time I had read a book that actually related to my life, since I’m Asian and was forced to go to a camp during the war in Cambodia.
Like Jeanne Wakatski, my family was also stripped of everything we owned and placed in an internment camp. Although our camps were really different, there were a lot of similarities. For example, Jeanne lived in a small cabin in the middle of the desert, while I lived in a small hut built of straws and pine tree leaves. Besides the living conditions being really bad, health tended to be a big problem. We both got sick from the food. Jeanne described how everyone had the “Manzanar runs.” Unlike me, she didn’t have to worry if she would go a day without food. Even though the food may not have tasted very good, at least they were fed. Unfortunately, we constantly had to worry about how our family would survive because there was never enough. Often-times we would go a day without food. It seemed like we were always in search of food.
In both cases, war tore our fathers apart as well as our families. The camps stripped away our fathers’ dignity, and our once loving parents were suddenly in a rage over the littlest things. Both our fathers were separated from their families, and when they came back, they had physically, emotionally, and mentally changed. They became abusive and didn’t care if they hurt their family
The war brought so much damage to us. It killed our souls and tried to take away our lives. That’s the result of prejudice and war; it creates enemies. But like Mas said, “I was only ten years old. How could I be an enemy?”
Diary 21
Dear Diary,
I’m still swallowing the facts and information from our panel on diversity. All