Freedom through Race

Each and every person has their own reason for becoming immigrants. It can be because they are being threatened by the authorities in their country, or simply because they need work. The word immigrant applies both to people becoming new citizens in a new country and people already in the country for generations, trying to become a part of society without getting killed.

In the novel Honour, we get introduced to a nameplate. The nameplate is presented through many lines, and it shows us that the protagonists sister would want all the family member's names on it. The protagonist on the other hand, would want nothing on it, because his opinion was that they didn't really live there, they were only passers-by in the wrong end of London. He also mentions his nationality; half Kurdish | half Turkish. And also were they live; London. This should give us enough hints that they are immigrants.

In the movie Freedom Writers, the setting are a little bit different. We are introduced to a class of college students. These college students have many different nationalities; Black, Latino, Asian, Cambodian etc. With so many nationalities, there's bound to be some sort of fight, for example casual racism or whatnot. This is much worse though. gangs has been created, and their are in a war, with guns and all. Casualties are nothing new, almost every one of them have seen one or more of their friends die. In other words, it's a conflict between a generation of immigrants, or rather, it's a conflict between the tribes which were made of the late immigrants. They fight each other for territory, pride but most of all respect. One look into the movie, and we need no more explanation that this is about immigration, but not in the same way as in Honour. It's about immigration into their own society.

In the novel Honour, there are clear signs that the theme is immigration. As I mentioned before, the nameplate and their location. The sister wants the names of everyone in the family, her brother clearly does not. He's older, and it seems that he knows more about reality. We get an explanation of their breakfast, and it isn't much to brag about, another clear signs that they might be immigrants.

Later on in the movie Freedom Writers, it is shown that the theme isn't immigration, but more so war, war in the street. But that can also be a form of immigration. One example is Ben, the only white kid in the class. One can say that he's an immigrant in the social
network in that class. Another example is the tribes, When a black man walks through the Latino's territory, he immediately becomes an immigrant into their own social network. An outsider wouldn't see it, but they can, and they react.

The conclusion for both Honour and Freedom Writers is that they both show a viewpoint of what immigration is. One of them are regular immigrants, that doesn't quit fit in in London, while the others are kids, more or less forced to become street soldiers, to fight for their survival in the social network built around what colour your skin is and which tribe you belong to.