Topic > Gender and Racial Discrimination on an Example of “Hidden Figures” and “The Hate U Give”

IndexRepresentation of Race and Gender Inequality in “Hidden Figures”ConclusionWorks CitedHidden Figures tells the story of 3 working African American women at NASA and how they worked as “human computers” to challenge racial and gender stereotypes and help America get back into the space race. Their work played a critical role in launching and going on to inspire generations of women as American heroes. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Representation of Race and Gender Inequality in “Hidden Figures” The Hate U Give, a YA novel by Angie Thomas in 2017, focuses on Starr Carter a 16-year-old African American girl and how her life changes she witnesses of the fatal shooting of his innocent friend by a white police officer. The novel brings to light the African American communities suffering from police brutality and explains how Starr stands up for what is right. In The Right to Count, race is portrayed as one of the few things that make a person who they are. It is the most important characteristic of a person, which defines the opportunities he gets. There is strong segregation in society due to race and many stereotypes. The Hate U Give, similarly to Hidden Figures, shows that race is also an important part of a person's identity, defining how they speak and act. The Hate U Give shows how everyday life is affected by race and even though the novel is set in the present, race is still shown as the cause why many African Americans are victims of police violence and brutality. SWAT codes of audio and narrative conventions such as setting and characterization are all used to show a representation of race to viewers. First, through the SWAT use of audio, in Hidden Figures, we are shown the representation of race. In The Right to Count there's a scene where it's raining and Katherine has to run from her room to the bathrooms on the other side of campus. In the background, there is an upbeat song that can be heard singing "no more running" which contrasts with how Katherine has to run from one building to another. Then, when he returns, Mr. Harris asks Katherine why she was absent so often. There is silence in the background which emphasizes Katherine's ideas as she goes on to say, “There's no bathroom. There are no colored bathrooms in this building or any other building off of West Campus, which is a half mile away. Did you know? I have to walk to Timbuktu just to relax and can't use one of the comfortable bicycles. Imagine it, Mr. Harrison. My uniform, skirt below the knees, heels and a simple string of pearls. Well, I don't have any pearls. God knows you don't pay colored people enough to afford pearls! And I work like a dog, day and night, living on coffee from a coffee pot that none of you want to touch! So excuse me if I have to go to the bathroom a couple of times a day." This shows us how much race affected Katherine's life. Because she was black, she had to use a colored bathroom, only there wasn't a colored bathroom, forcing her to use the only one available to her, which was half a mile away. Race is portrayed as the cause of segregation and not equal opportunities, not even equal pay, as Katherine states that people of color are not paid enough to afford pearls. Through the use of dialogue and setting, we are also shown how race affected Starr's daily life, which is one of the waysrace was represented. Starr and her family live in Garden Heights, where the novel is predominantly set. The city is small and poor, its citizens often witness violence, both from the police and the "gang lords" who "rule" the city. In Starr's world, police brutality is such a reality that her parents have to tell her and her siblings how to deal with the police. “My parents didn't raise me to fear the police, just to be smart with them. They told me it's not smart to move while a cop has his back to you. …Dad's instructions ring in my head: look closely at the policeman's face. If you can remember his badge number, that's even better." In Starr's world, young African Americans are all seen as troublemakers and dangerous due to stereotypes of people. As Starr herself says, "a black person gets killed just because she's black and all hell breaks loose." Because of Starr's race, she is pretty much constantly threatened with being killed by the police. Race also affects Starr because of the way her friend Khalil was killed for being black. Starr's entire world changes after this, which once again shows how race was portrayed as an important part in someone's life. To summarize, in The Right to Count, race is portrayed as the cause of stereotypes and hatred , as Katherine explains to us, race is also shown as the cause of many stereotypes and although in Hidden Figures the stereotypes were not deadly, however, in The Hate U Give they were, killing Khalil and being the reason. so Starr's parents had taught her what to do when the police suspected her. Viewers respond to this: The use of the narrative conventions of the setting shows the representation of race in the film The Right to Count. Towards the beginning of the film, we are shown how there was a lot of segregation in the NASA buildings. First, there was the West Computing group of all black women, who had to work separately from other white women. And although sometimes the segregation is not so obvious, when all the men present in a board meeting are white, as well as in the evening classes that Mary attends. Through the use of narrative conventions of characterization, particularly dialogue, we are further shown the representation of race. As previously mentioned, race is portrayed as the primary characteristic that defines a person's actions and dialogue. This can be seen as Starr Carter must have almost 2 different identities. Starr attends a predominantly white private school in Williamson and often struggles because she believes she must keep her Williamson identity different from that of Garden Heights. “That's when I realized that Williamson is one world and Garden Heights is another, and I have to keep them separate.” Starr has to act a certain way because if she doesn't, she will be known as "the angry black girl" and a "ghetto". Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now .Get a custom essayConclusionTo summarize, the way race has been portrayed in both these texts is similar since in both texts race is one of the most distinctive characteristics of people. Race can define a person's opportunities, as seen in Hidden Figures, where girls are not given many opportunities due to race and even gender. This can also be seen indirectly in The Hate U Give where because there are no good schools in Garden Heights, blacks are not prepared for life, meaning they don't get many good jobs. In both of these texts, race influences, 4(3), 8-16.