Prejudice and Discrimination
Hidden figures.
According to Scott Plous in his book, Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination Prejudice refers to the inflexible and unsound attitude and the opinion held by a particular group of people about another team. Discrimination is a behavior which is directed against a specific group of individuals. Being prejudiced means that one has biased opinions and beliefs about the specific group of people. Prejudice can either be good or bad, but it remains bias. The prejudice that is negative often leads to discrimination although there is a possibility of being prejudice and not act on the attitudes. People who practice discrimination have the intention of protecting and retaining opportunities for themselves by denying access to those whom they perceive as less deserving of the same treatment as everyone.
According to Margot Lee Shetterly ‘Hidden figures' narrate the true story of ‘Katherine G .Johnson,' ‘Dorothy Vaughan, and ‘Mary Jackson.' They are black women who worked at NASA's ‘Langley Research’ located in Hampton. The ladies mentioned above served an important role in the casting of the late astronaut John Glenn into space. The movie context is set in 1961, In Virginia where NASA center is located. The movie shows the discriminatory laws and policies that were practiced at the time. The abuses and disrespect both blacks living in Virginia and employees of NASA faced is well elaborated in the film. Segregation rules and formalities and the white Americans' attitudes towards blacks unfold with clarity in the movie.
According to the movie, ‘Hidden figures’ at the beginning of the film, the trio's car breaks down as they go to work. Dorothy encourages Mary and Kathrine not to panic because none of them has committed a crime, but Mary is worried because they are black. When the police officer asks for identifications, he is surprised by the fact that NASA hires women and black women for that matter. The white officer does not like the manner in which they answer his questions and wonders aloud whether it is a show of disrespect. This scene demonstrated the effects of prejudice and discrimination and the gender role of women in the society. The simple fact that one can be scared of a police officer just because of a car breakdown goes to show the extent of the prejudice. They were so used to the discrimination they equated a car breakdown with a crime.
Gifted women most of the times considered themselves lucky to get jobs as computers. As ‘hidden figures' illustrate, their jobs were not as secure as men's. The males still dictated to computers what to do and which problem they were to solve. The computers were paid less than their male counterparts even though they provided solutions to every mathematical problem. When the IBM computers were installed, most women would have lost their jobs as most of them worked as computers. Dorothy Vaughan predicts this looming danger and teaches herself FORTRAN, a programming language of the time. The book she uses to learn this programming language is from the ‘white section' of the library. She also teaches her team so that they can remain indispensable. The black women were discriminated against by men, and their skills were seen as obsolete when the new computer technology arrives. The prejudice is portrayed as they would lose their jobs while their male counterparts retained their positions even though they were had no other source of income.
According to Margot Lee Shetterly ‘Hidden figures,' there existed two kinds of women working at ‘Langley.' They were divided based on race. Black women contributed to the organization while sitting at segregated offices and going to colored bathrooms. They worked without any health insurance and for salaries which were lowered by their sex, race, and gender. Discrimination affected all female workers in NASA.
That is one of the leading reason as to why Dorothy Vaughan took a long time to be promoted to a supervisor. Men could supervise men and women whereas white women white and black women. Black women were only allowed to manage black women. Therefore, Dorothy could not be promoted to the level of a supervisor even though she qualified. As an experienced supervisor and programmer she supervised both black and white women. Black women were prejudiced and discriminated as they were in a building which was reserved for them only and other facilities they used were marked ‘colored.'
Another incident that shows discrimination and prejudice are portrayed when the NASA astronauts arrive at the center .the black women are separated from the rest of the scientists. It is only ‘John Glenn' who not only goes over to greet them but also stops to converse before being hurried along. The black women were sidelined and given the least priory in spite of being part of the NASA personnel. This is according to the movie, ‘hidden figures.'
According to ‘Hidden Figures' Paul Stafford, an engineer at ‘Space Task Group,' blocks Kathrine's request to attend an editorial meeting. He informs her that there is no protocol for her to attend. She responds by assuring him that there is no protocol for the man to go around the earth either and seeks official permission. To be present at the meeting was vital for Kathrine as it would make her computing work easier. Kathrine needed to be up to date with the changing decisions that were relevant to her mathematical calculations. Kathrine was not only looked down upon as a woman but as a black woman and personnel. She is denied critical information that would have made her work easier and she has to ask for permission for entry into the meeting. Discrimination and prejudice was the focus of the men of her department, but for Harrison trying to beat a deadline to put the man into orbit, realized he could depend on the Kathrine as she is brilliant at what she did and would assist in any way possible.
