Gender And Racial Discrimination On Example Of ‘Hidden Figures’ & ‘The Hate U Give’

Hidden Figures is the story of three African-American women who worked at NASA. They were “human computers”, and they defied racial stereotypes. They played an important role in the launch. And they have inspired many generations of American women.

Angie Thomas wrote The Hate U, a YA Novel in 2017. It focuses Starr Carter a sixteen-year-old African American Girl and her change of life after witnessing the fatal shooting by a police officer. The novel highlights how African American community suffers from police abuse and how Starr fights for what’s fair.

Hidden Figures presents race as the sole thing that defines a human being. It is a major characteristic, which determines a person’s chances. In society there is much segregation based on race and stereotypes.

Like Hidden Figures the Hate U Give shows how race affects a person’s personality, including their speech and actions. The Hate U Go shows the effects of race in everyday life.

SWAT codes for audio and story conventions are used, including setting and characterisation to convey a message about race.

Firstly, the representations are made through the audio SWAT in Hidden Figures. There’s a scene from Hidden Figures where it’s raining, and Katherine is running to the bathroom on the opposite side of campus. The song “no longer running” is played in the background. This contrasts with how Katherine has run from one building and building to another. When she returns to the building, Mr Harris asks Katherine why she has been so absent. Katherine says, “There’s no bathroom. There aren’t any colored bathrooms outside the West Campus. It is a half mile away. Did you realize that? I need to walk all the way to Timbuktu in order to urinate, I cannot use my handy bike. Imagine this, Mr. Harrison. Imagine that, Mr. Harrison. I don’t have any pearls. You don’t even pay coloreds enough for pearls, you know! And I live off coffee, which none of you will touch, and work all day, every night. Please excuse me for having to use the bathroom a few time a day.”

It is clear how race affected Katherine. The only coloured toilet was a quarter mile away. Because Katherine was black, it was her responsibility to use one. Race is used to justify segregation. Katherine says that blacks don’t have the same chances, or the same pay.

In the novel, Starr and her family live in Garden Heights, where the majority of the novel is set. Starr’s family lives in Garden Heights. The novel is primarily set there. The town’s residents are poor and often witness violence from either the police or “gang lords”, which “rule” their town. Starr’s family has to teach her how to react around the police because police brutality in her world is a fact. “My parents did not raise me to fear police officers, but to be aware of them. They said it was not smart to turn your back on a cop. I hear my father’s voice saying, “Look at the face of the officer.” Starr lives in a world where stereotypes lead people to believe that young African Americans pose a danger and are troublemakers. Starr states that “when a black person dies just because they’re black, all hell breaks free.” Starr has to live in constant fear of death by police, due to her ethnicity. Starr is also affected in her view of race by the fact that Khalil, a friend, was murdered for being Black. Starr’s world changed after this, which again shows that race played a major role in someone’s lives.

Katherine tells us that in Hidden Figures racism and stereotyping are the result of race. The Hate U Give has the same theme of race being responsible for stereotyping. Although in Hidden Figures stereotypes did not kill, in The Hate U Give it was the case. This is how viewers respond.

Hidden Figures uses the conventions of narrative setting to show how race is represented. The segregation of NASA’s buildings is shown at the very beginning of the film. West Computing, a group of black women working separately from white women, was the first example. Segregation occurs in many places, but it’s not as obvious as when all men attend a meeting of the board or take night classes.

By using the conventions of narration, particularly dialogue, we can see how race is portrayed. Race is portrayed as the primary characteristic that determines a person’s dialogue and actions. Starr Carter must have two identities. Starr Carter attends an all-white, private school and struggles to separate her Williamson from her Garden Height’s identity. Starr was told to separate her Williamson identity from that of Garden Heights.

Race is a character that is present in both texts. In Hidden Figures the race of a person can affect their opportunities. In The Hate U Give, black people don’t have the best education in Garden Heights and therefore aren’t prepared for their future, which is why they aren’t able to get good jobs. Both texts show how race impacts everyday life.