A Critical Look at the White Savior Character in Urban Education
INTRODUCTION:
In Freedom Writers (2007), new teacher Erin Gruwell takes a job at a school with a recently implemented voluntary integration program. This puts White Gruwell in charge of classes full of minority students performing poorly academically and involved in gangs.
As seen in the film clip above, tension exists between Gruwell and the students but she provides them the opportunity to open up through journals and, when they do, they bond (LaGravenese et al., 2007) as seen in the image below.
Her identity as a White, middle class woman in authority though creates a film centered on the “White Savior”. Though just a film, this kind of image impacts real-life race relations in education. Reynolds (2014) said that “Films, TV, best-selling novels, and other media are not merely entertainment but texts that teach viewers about things they are not familiar with, lead viewers to expect certain experiences in particular situations, and suggest ways to behave” (p. 1). Consequently, we’ll argue how this image of a “White Savior” in the media maintains racism in two ways: 1. Those who identify with Gruwell end up desiring the outcomes of her behavior and learn to implement such practices in their own teaching, and 2. It oversimplifies minorities in a way that upholds institutional racism.
CLAIM 1: Identification with film characters carries into classrooms and perpetuates institutional racism.
There are many ways to identify with teachers in media. The following meme from Frabz is just one example.
When you identify with a film character, it’s easy to imagine yourself in that role. According to Derman (2009), we should “Keep in mind the power of books” (p. 3) because they influence children’s interpretation of the world. The same rule applies to adults and media. Wright (2013) explained how learning for adults is reinforced through popular culture. Films like Freedom Writers (2007) then educate future teachers, especially White, young female teachers, in what role they should play.
As seen below, many teachers express wanting to inspire their students.
When a film is centered around that, it speaks to this demographic. The portrayal of Gruwell’s ‘successes’ in the film makes those viewers who identify with her want to replicate such results; after all, it’s easy to watch a teacher change students’ lives and dream of accomplishing the same thing, but, ultimately, we must be aware of the social constructs that influence those dreams. Harro (2010) noted how society builds and reinforces biased messages. These reinforced messages impact our desire to inspire as well as cause racism.
When hopeful teachers go into teaching to ‘change lives’, this assumes that there are good and bad lives with the bad lives needing to be changed. Images of the good life demonstrated in media can perpetuate racism, even with the best intentions. Crystal Paul (2016) expressed in her blog post that, as a Black student, her experiences differed from her White teachers. In some cases, she was considered bad for behaving culturally, but that doesn’t make her wrong. She further explained in her post what teachers need to do to avoid racism:
While teachers may have good intentions, Gorski (2008) and Sensoy and Ali-Khan (2016) acknowledged that good intentions are not enough because, despite well-meaning intentions, practices in place perpetuate social hierarchies.
Thus, when viewers see themselves in the characters on screen, especially what they consider to be positive characters compared to negative ones like some in the Frabz meme (Perception vs. fact), it’s easy to desire similarities. If someone is mimicking behaviors like Gruwell’s though, they may actually be fighting students’ cultures and perpetuating racist hierarchies. Consequently, when real-life teachers mimic characters from the media, media plays a part in perpetuating racism.
CLAIM 2: The “White Savior” uses stereotypes and oversimplification of minorities to perpetuate social hierarchies.
The “White Savior” is a role seen in many films. It is so common, in fact, that MADtv created a parody of the character-type (Klaustrophobic, 2007).
The White Savior role is when a White teacher enters a classroom with a false sense of saving minority kids.
Rolf Straubhaar (2015) explained that the White Savior Complex is “The idea that socially privileged individuals possess, simply by virtue of their position, some unique ability or power to help less-privileged people in ways they’re unable to help themselves.” Ultimately, those teachers end up disappointed when they discover that there is a low success rate with students successfully adapting to forced assimilation (Downs, 2016).
In Freedom Writers (2007), for Gruwell to be shown as a savior, the writer plays into stereotypical behaviors of the minority characters. For example, nearly all her students are shown facing challenges like beatings, shootings, and jail time (LaGravenese et al., 2007; Movieclips, 2011).
This way, Gruwell can be portrayed as having to sacrifice so much of her “good” life to “save” the kids she teaches. She takes on more jobs to afford supplies, spends time putting together field trips, and even ends up losing her marriage as seen in the clip below (keith dent, 2013).
By stereotyping the students and making it easy to sympathize with the White authority figure, the film supports many people’s cultural maps. Hall and Jhally (2002) said, “The capacity to classify is a basic genetic feature of human beings but the particular system of classification used in society is learnt.” One way we learn it is through media (Wright, 2013) and then we apply this learning to institutions. Sensoy and DiAngelo (2017) defined institution as a large-scale set of laws and practices that govern the political or social life of people. Because viewers perceive Gruwell’s ‘changing the kids around’ as a good thing, society’s expectations of ‘bettering’ minorities continue, upholding racism through the positive image of Gruwell’s success. Furthermore, when people involved in institutions take in messages that affirm stereotypes, the film with a White Savior helps uphold social hierarchies in institutions.
CONCLUSION:
In this presentation, we exposed the danger of the “White Savior” character. Though positively depicted in the media, we have found that the actions taken by Erin Gruwell can perpetuate institutionalized racism as well as negatively depict minority students. Serving as current K-12 educators in Detroit, we chose to investigate two claims that are part of our own socialization. In reflecting on our course learnings this semester, we were able to interrogate our own conceptual maps in order to ensure that our actions in our own classrooms were not perpetuating institutional racism found in both claims (Hall, 2002). Through a multicultural education lens, we can learn a great deal by analyzing the actions of Gruwell. Good intentions aren’t enough because despite well-meaning intentions, practices in place perpetuate social and political hierarchies (Gorski, 2008; Sensoy and Ali-Khan, 2016). Thus, as educators, it is our responsibility to reflect on our own biases to provide an equitable education for all students.
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