Ramon Menendez's Film Stand and Deliver: an Academic Transposition of Hispanic-americans

Stand and Deliver

The film Stand and Deliver discussed the journey a group of Hispanic-americans take as they learn calculus and take the AP exam. They are lead by their charismatic and idealistic Mr. Escalante. However, throughout their learning they are met with intense opposition and obstacles, including the school and AP CollegeBoard itself. Escalante believes that their scores were “singled out because of their racial origins” and they were unjustly accused of cheating. In the end, it is found out that the students received their scores based upon their own merit.

The issues of race and class that are addressed in the movie focus on the education of the students, as many of them are not native americans or native speakers. Due to this, they struggle in school, especially when it comes to math. The teachers even believe that they are not able to handle calculus, but Escalante believes in them and proves them wrong. This feels extremely prejudiced as there is no reason that they cannot excel at the same level despite their ethnic background. In my opinion, the only thing limited people of different groups from excelling is outside forces making them believe they cannot.

Even today, similar prejudices exist between different races. Especially in math, Asians and Indians are regarded as being exceptional while every other race is inferior. This is because of the intense expectations many Asian and Indian parents place upon their children, but it is not a result of their race nor does it does apply to every student of that race. To address these stereotypes, more effort should be given to place the same expectations on students of all races. In addition, people must realize the amount of diversity that exists in all levels of education such as what Stand and Deliver highlights.