The Freedom Writers Diary - Erin Gruwell [80]
Diary 94
Dear Diary,
Today I heard the news; along with the news, I heard the rumors. Jeremy and David killed a girl in Las Vegas. No, wait: It was just Jeremy, while David stood by and watched. Or was it that Jeremy murdered her without his best friend knowing about it?
Once school ended I decided to sort this whole thing out. I watched the news, and finally learned the supposed truth. David watched Jeremy drag the girl into the bathroom stall and he left before Jeremy killed her.
What a case of tragic irony. One hundred and fifty students travel to Washington, D.C., to actively acknowledge the violence in Long Beach; two travel to Las Vegas, where one eventually murders a young girl, and the other leaves while she is struggling.
How could David walk away without helping her?
This is a question that I can’t answer. Although I’ve never been in that type of situation, I do know that what he did isn’t right. It should never be solved with the “just look the other way,” normal approach to solving trials.
In any and every situation, nonaction is never a sane and rational approach. To illustrate this point, picture living in a small town filled with normal people, just like you. Every day loaded trains come in, make their deliveries, and leave. Factories constantly bellow smoke. Then one day you notice the trains aren’t making simple deliveries anymore. And the factories aren’t bellowing mere smoke. Would you rock the boat and speak out, or would you remain silent, as the people of Auschwitz did?
The saying is true, “If you’re not for it than you’re against it.” David Cash wasn’t for saving the life of that young girl, in the same way many Poles weren’t for saving the Jews. They watched the trains and smelled the ashes, ignoring tragedy. David had a chance to be a hero, to both Jeremy and that little girl.
Diary 95
Dear Diary,
I was late to school this morning because we had just come home from Washington, D.C., very late at night and I wanted to tell my mom everything we had done. When I got to school I had to go through the front door instead of my usual route. Guess what I saw? Swarms of news cameras! I was so excited! I thought they were all here because the Freedom Writers had just come back from our trip! I guess I was wrong! I found out they were really here because of a kid at our school named Jeremy Strohmeyer, who had gone to Las Vegas and raped and murdered a seven-year-old girl while we were in Washington.
I walked into school and there were mixed reactions throughout the campus. Some people were even crying. By this time, I was in shock. With news cameras surrounding the campus and students crying, I didn’t know what to think. Not a person on campus could concentrate on their schoolwork with all the chaos and confusion. There was gossip circulating the halls about what “really” happened. People were saying it was because of drugs, specifically speed, that led Jeremy to murder a seven-year-old girl. Bullshit! I used to be a “tweeker,” but not even at my lowest point would I ever murder anyone. The only person I was murdering was myself. How can they even factor that in? He may have been strung out, but don’t blame the drug, blame him.
When I finally got to Ms. G’s class, everyone was furious. The Freedom Writers decided to have a peace march similar to the one we had in D.C. where we circled the Washington Monument and prayed for all the victims that had died on account of violence. We thought we should do it again, this time in front of the school, and in front of the cameras. We wanted to show that we can all unite and stand together for a positive cause and think about the person who really deserves some attention, the seven-year-old child who lost her life. Why wasn’t anyone talking about her? She’s the