Beau Belcher
Benton High School
Abstract
Hidden Figures is the topic researched within the following essay. The movie breaks bonds long accepted within the American society, even using a tool nearly every american understands: mathematics. The movie could be used to explain the troubles of many African Americans during the pre-Civil Rights Movement, but it could also be used to shows the simple ways that they could change their place within society. Historians could use this movie as a place to look for African American influence on a national project, which the United State eventually won. Further research on African Americans help with the Space Race project could show that they helped in many areas, beyond just the return trajectory of the spacecraft. The question …show more content…
Because the movie includes math as a tool for breaking the separation within NASA, it identifies math as a universal concept that does not require a certain type of person. “[N]umbers, when they can be freed of their human freight, are leveling. They do not care about one’s gender. They do not care about one’s creed. They do not care about the color of one’s skin” (Garber, 2017). This also shows the nature of humans to complete goals set by themselves, no matter what stands in their way. The fact, that before the Civil Rights Movement, people could set aside their differences to accomplish a goal, “ is a symbol of the power of education, but it is also, more broadly, a metaphor for a world that could be so much better if we would just let everyone, equally, have a say in its improvement” (Garber, 2017). Johnson opened the door for more colored people or women to show their abilities. You do not have to be a genius to help the brightest people; it is all about how you use your education, not the amount of education you