Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crown (October 12, 1999)
Book Rating Review: https://tinyurl.com/343acy36
Photographed pages:  https://tinyurl.com/2p8jadjw
 
From a Utah parent:
 
"This is the book my 14 year old was exposed to at ______ High.
The Freedom Writers Diary—How a teacher and 150 teens used writing to change themselves and the world around them. Students from Wilson High School in Long Beach, CA wrote journal entries that were compiled into a 1997 New York Times best seller.
Erin Gruwell loved her students and refused to see them as stereotypes. Keeping these kids engaged in school by inspiring them to read and write was truly remarkable. Much more so is the fact that most of the kids graduated and many went on to college.
If the accounts are accurate, these kids survived horrific and disturbing experiences. Ms. Gruwell admits that some cynics (intolerant people) may object to the gritty language and (brutally honest) subject material. But we are to believe that the act of writing and sharing these stories this is precisely the “medicine” these diverse kids needed to better themselves and rid the world of intolerance and injustice.
Diary 5, p. 13 As I walked off the bus, they began calling me names…Fuck them niggas….this time I had a gun.
Diary 72, p. 150 As his penis twirled in my mouth, thoughts of the popcorn he promised me ran through my mind.
Diary 111, p. 214 Touch my balls, you slut…. Look at my fucking balls, you stupid bitch!
A book such as this may provide insight to teachers who find themselves in a similar teaching setting, but I feel that feeding my freshman son this “raw gritty” medicine, would be the equivalent of treating acne with chemotherapy.
This book is saturated and dripping with Critical Race Theory. Rather than the American Dream, it proclaims systemic injustice. God is absent. It preaches “tolerance” rather than the Golden Rule. There is an endless obsession with race. It replaces personal and parental responsibilities with “equity” and substitutes the Nuclear Family with Ms. G’s class.
The companion Freedom Writers Teachers Manual provides a consent form and suggests that parents sign it before their children are exposed to the violence, sex, drugs and language found in the book. I certainly would not have signed it had one been sent home with my son.
Most of the entries have a similar tone and structure, almost as if spoken with one voice. Aesop’s fables come to mind. Maybe this is a result of the peer editing or some unmentioned template that the students were all taught to follow.
This template could be boiled down to: Tell a sad story. Be sure to include explicit language, sexual or physical abuse, drugs and violence. Connect all that is wrong in your world to your skin color, ethnicity or white privilege. Don’t forget to tell us how crappy your parents are and how wonderful it is to now be part of the Freedom Writers “Family”. If your story is good enough, equity and restitution will follow. You can expect fancy formal dinners, trips to New York, Washington DC and Europe. You will be showered with numerous awards for unspecified accomplishments. You can tell your story over and over as you travel the country promoting your “book”, then receive a free degree at a prestigious university or college or your choice.
I am not a college graduate nor do I pretend to be well read. I wouldn’t even say that I enjoy reading, but I read this book, and here is what found:
A total of 152 entries from the 150 students and another 8 from Ms. G herself.
8 entries discuss Ditching School
30 of then detail White Privilege
32 contain Vile Language
22 cases of Gun Violence
3 ways/reasons to Bring a Gun to School
44 stories about Murder, Suicide and Revenge
99 of the entries contain Race Obsession, Race War and or Race Victimization
23 graphic stories of Sexual Assault, Rape, Incest, and Pedophilia
20 mentions of Teen Sex and even Aborted Teen Pregnancies
9 casual justifications for Teen Alcohol Use
21 examples of Gang Affiliation, Gang Violence and or Gang Promotion.
10 examples of Robbery, Destruction of Property and Tagging
41 entries about Doing, Selling and Enjoying Drugs
38 stories of Physical Abuse, Domestic Violence and Assault
55 mentions of Crappy Parents, Substitute and Surrogate Family
8 portrayals of Illegal immigrants as victims
8 promotions for additional books like “The Color Purple” containing, Rape, Incest, Pedophilia, Drugs and the like
12 instances of the idea that you must have a college degree to be happy and successful.
I know it would be impossible for any Principal or Vise Principal to read every book taught in every class. It appears to me, that dangerous CRT ideas are most likely to be smuggled into our schools via English, Literature, and SEL (social and emotional learning) classes. I have scanned a few pages of this book and will attach them as a pdf file.
Please read them and judge for yourself if this is the kind of material that should be used in our school or any school.