Analysis Of The Movie Walkout

716 Words2 Pages

The movie “Walkout” is about the school system in East Los Angeles in the late 1960’s. During this time Mexican Americans were treated unfairly and were seen as second class citizens. The story goes through the different aspects that Mexican American/ Chicano students had to put up with within their own schools. They wanted and deserved equal education, but were constantly shut down by the city. This movie contains the four characteristics of Mexican American Art, which is what gives this movies such a strong and meaningful message. The title “Walkout” refers to the school walkouts that the students of four major high schools in East L.A were subjected to in order to make their demands and needs heard. In order for this movie to show the …show more content…

In the beginning of the movie the students have a day camp where the main teacher and supporter, Mr. Sal Castro motivates them to raise the Mexican American graduate rate. He reads the poem “I am Joaquin”, a poem that reflects the hardship that Mexican Americans and Chicanos have lived throughout the years. This poem was a very important part of the Chicano movement. It is a very strong and empowering poem and makes you proud to be Mexican American. Also another scene that truly shows Chicano power is in the third walkout. The students walk out of the school, but are blocked by policemen and are not allowed pass them. However, you then see the student’s family, mothers, fathers, siblings, grandparents. All united together holding the Mexican flag as well as the American flag. This is a very touching scene that I believe shows the unity of Mexican Americans, and how there is a lot of pride in being Mexican …show more content…

This movie is based on changing the lives of Mexican Americans by making a stand and challenging the authority. Even when the cops were against them the whole time and even with the brutal beatings they received within one of the walk out, they held on. They stuck to their guns and they proved their point. The main character was threatened by the school administrators, she was told if she went through with the walkout she would be expelled. While they wanted everyone who was going to graduate to simply look the other way, the students risked it all and gave it their all to make their voices

Show More
Related

  • Movie Analysis: Cesar Chavez

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    Before reading or watching the film, I knew little about Cesar Chavez. I only knew that he fought for the rights of farm workers, but had no idea of how he achieved it. I was surprised to learn about some of his innovations that later lead to his success. Especially since some were already used by other strong leaders previously from him. The two innovations that stood out to me the most were the use of nonviolence and boycotting. Both innovations helped Cesar Chavez in achieving fair rights for other farm workers. These innovations are still used and seen today since they have been effective in accomplishing change.

    Read More

  • Cheech Marin: Why I Want To Be Chicano

    344 Words  | 1 Pages

    Cinco de Mayo is usually confused with Mexican Independence day but that day is when Mexico fought French invaders. During 1910, Mexico revolted against its repressive rulers and adapted its new constitution. They came up with the term for those who were told in Mexico they weren’t Mexican and in America who weren’t American. They wanted to belong to both. While the Civil Rights movement is mostly known to give African-American rights but, Chicanos also fought for their rights. The term Chicano first became accepted during the Chicano Movement. Thus, Chicanos have many things to be proud of. Their Aztec ancestors were intelligent people who built a city on water and made all Chicanos royalty. Along with their Mexican ancestors won two revolutions and won against the huge French army. Trinidad Sanchez Jr., a poet, wrote about Chicano pride in his poem, “Why Am I so Brown?” Sanchez wrote the poem in order to call attention to that all should be proud of their skin color. His poem talks about Chicanos having honor in their skin color by using imagery, metaphors, and

    Read More

  • Bettie's Analysis Of Mexican-American And White Girls

    1267 Words  | 3 Pages

    Their style and actions were deemed inappropriate because it did not adhere to the school standard of conduct. Thus, they were left on their own, without support or comprehension from the school staff. Because of this belief held by the school personnel, las chicas would be placed on a vocational tracking system. Once placed on this track, las chicas were essentially denied any chance of escaping their current socio-economic class. Las chicas and other hard-living girls were often told that college courses would be too difficult for them. Many of las chicas actually had high grades in their classes, but the grades didn’t matter because the courses they took wouldn’t qualify them for a four-year college. For many, the prospect of college dwindled, and with it, any hope for escaping their class in the future. They would head either to community college or straight to work in low-wage jobs. They were systematically excluded from any chance of improving their

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis of the Film, Waiting for Superman

    1238 Words  | 3 Pages

    This film is one that has faults, but is also very credible and a major wake-up call for those currently in power to make a change and help improve the schools of America, securing a better future for all.

    Read More

  • Walkout Movie Themes

    500 Words  | 1 Pages

    The movie “Walkout” is about young Chicano/a activists who demand educational equality. In 1968, students living in East L.A were treated unequally. Since, most of these students were Chicanos they were given few resources. One example was presented when Paula visited the Palisades library. In East Los Angeles, bathrooms were close during lunch breaks and students were forced to janitorial labor as forms of punishment. Throughout, the movie some themes that arose were regarding identity (What is a Chicano?), walkouts as forms of protest for equality, and gender expectations. After Salvador Castro read the poem “I am Joaquin” by Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzalez, the Chicano/a activist’s had a hard time understanding who they were. Many Chicano/a’s identified

    Read More

  • Gloria Anzaldúa Chcano Culture Analysis

    984 Words  | 2 Pages

    When comparing Charles Tatum’s and Gloria Anzaldúa’s narrations of Chicano discriminated history, they both have viewpoints that are essential for the audience to know and possess different viewpoints that need to be understood. Tatum narrates Chicanos inequities in his viewpoint in 3rd person while Anzaldúa experienced the cruel treatment in first person point of view. After analyzing both texts, I found some important topics that need to be shared with the audience and why it’s currently not taught in U.S. schools as history.

    Read More

  • I Learn America Movie Analysis

    1141 Words  | 3 Pages

    When you look at someone, you see a person, but sometimes, you forget that that person has a story. I learned that when I watched the film, I Learn America. When I first watched the movie, I saw students that have come to America. They have come to an international school in New York to learn English. As the film goes on, you see that each of the students that they focus on have struggles that they have/had to overcome to come or stay in America. Before, I did not realize how much they had to go through in order to come to the United States. As educators, we have to get to know our students. We have to understand their lives and their backgrounds and create a good teacher-student relationship and help students build a “home away from home”.

    Read More

  • The Chicano Movement in the LA School System

    861 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imagine seeing 10,000 of your classmates walking out of your school because they wanted a better education - a better way of life. In the 1960s’ Chicano students were being “pushed out”(Esparza) of school or being pushed towards vocational programs. East L.A was home to schools were “one out of every four Chicano’s completed high school”(Esparza). Instructors and the school board alike did not have an interest in helping Chicanos finish school to become someone other than a laborer and was expected of them to keep being a laborer. In “Taking Back the Schools”, Sal Castro a high school counselor claims, “I think the bottom line is the lack of concern of the teachers towards the kids and whether the kids were really getting an education or not...the reality set in that the teachers weren’t really concern for the kids.”(Esparza).

    Read More

  • Essay On Precious Knowledge

    813 Words  | 2 Pages

    The improvement in their education that these Mexican American students with the Raza Studies is very similar to the affect that Afterschool programs had for the students in “Pass or Fail in Cambodia Town”. When students from both films were taught about their culture/ history they did better in school. The main point of “Precious Knowledge” is that students thrive when learning about multicultural education, especially students who are underrepresented by mainstream Eurocentric education. However, due to a history of systemic racism and a general lack of knowledge or understanding, many leaders choose to suppress the voices of underrepresented communities.

    Read More

  • The Chicano Movement: Struggles, Goals, and Accomplishments

    1527 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Chicano Movement, like many other civil rights movements, gained motivation from the everyday struggles that the people had to endure in the United States due to society. Mexican-Americans, like many other ethnicities, were viewed as an inferior group compared to white Americans. Mexican-Americans sought to make a change with the Chicano Movement and “the energy generated by the movement focused national attention on the needs of Mexican-Americans” (Bloom 65). The Mexican-American Movement had four main issues that it aimed to resolve and they ranged from “restoration of la...

    Read More

  • Sociological Issues In Freedom Writers, By Erin Gruwell

    816 Words  | 2 Pages

    Erin Gruwell began her teaching career at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California where the school is integrated but it’s not working. Mrs. Gruwell is teaching a class fill with at-risk teenagers that are not interested in learning. But she makes not give up, instead she inspires her students to take an interest in their education and planning for their future as she assigned materials that can relate to their lives. This film has observed many social issues and connected to one of the sociological perspective, conflict theory. Freedom Writers have been constructed in a way that it promotes an idea of how the community where the student lives, represented as a racially acceptable society. The film upholds strong stereotypes of

    Read More

  • Blowout ! Sal Castro And The Chicano Struggle For Educational Justice: Article Analysis

    1423 Words  | 3 Pages

    This source really focused on all the different types of struggles the Chicano people went through for their education. Such as being excluded from enrolling in public school institutions and special school programs. The source uses pathos by describing that at some schools they would only speak English, something the Chicano people didn't know, and sharing their struggles with going to school not knowing the language, the author really grabs the audience attention with this because it makes you think about the Chicano's people's emotions about going to schools not being able to understand anything when they are there to get an education and shows the suppression of Spanish in the schools by being

    Read More

  • Mexicana Identity Examples

    2644 Words  | 6 Pages

    ... States. I argued that Chicana/o identity could be defined as multi-dimensional through the representations of gender, race, citizenship, and class to demonstrate that Chicana/o identity is a self-identity. Through the examples of Chicana Movement, Cherrie Moraga’s choice of identity, Chicano Teatros, Muralism, and the concepts of performing politics and social sublime, Chicana/o identity is self-choice and a political ideology identity that relates to all the historic struggles that deal with intersectionalities. However, the misrepresentation of Chicana/o identity through Anglo Americans also took part in defining the Chicana/o identity because it set a stereotype that was not true about Mexican-Americans. Furthermore, through historical struggles, Chicana/o identity has became a self-identify identity, being politically aware and conscious of intersectionalities.

    Read More

  • What Are Chicanos: Oppression To Success?

    2738 Words  | 6 Pages

    During the 1930s, Chicano parents, who suffered from Mexican revolution and hard labor, had hope for their America-born children to get the best education possible only to be obstructed by anti-Mexican Anglos that wanted a separate school for children of indigenous background. This issue was addressed in southern California within the Lemon Grove community. The Lemon Grove School District’s reason was that almost half of the students enrolled were Mexican descendant became a threat and claims that Chicano students were handicaps for Anglo students. A secretary of the Lemon Grove parent teacher association, Ms. Mandy claimed, “Overcrowding in the present classrooms, Mexican children are deficient in knowledge of the English Language, causing their classmates to learn at a much slower rate and a separate school would improve morals” (Espinosa)...

    Read More

  • Reflection Paper On Waiting For Superman

    1013 Words  | 3 Pages

    This is also about power, because a common theme in this documentary is poverty. All 5 of the children featured live in communities that lack the basic commodities. With run down schools that in most cases are over packed and under staffed it’s only a matter of when the children in its walls will fail instead of why. When Francisco’s mother brings him to school and is first met with a security desk it’s only a wonder why these communities prosper with crime. When the learning gap between children is determined on whether their rich or poor it’s only a matter of how didn’t our system fail.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of The Movie Walkout

Open Document