The movie Hidden Figures is set in the 1960s during an age in the United States (US) dominated by racism and racial segregation. The film reveals the struggles of three African-American women – Katherine Goble (a mathematician), Mary Jackson (an engineer), and Dorothy Vaughan (a technician) (Melfi & Shetterly, 2017). This time was during the Jim Crow era when segregation was still rampant, and people of color had no right to vote and were prohibited from attending schools or universities that were white only. They encounter hostilities in their quest to provide their knowledge and skills to the organization they work for – the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The film shows that when morals are out of the question, pigmentations become blurred. However, until proven, individual skills and talents are blinded by the color of one’s skin. Is it the false belief to some that racism no longer exists or that a person’s pigmentation will not make his or her qualifications blurred.
Color-blind racism is the art of the unoppressed group to minimize the struggles of the minority group and ignore the existence of any form of prejudice toward them. Bonilla-Silva’s perspectives encompasses four varied approaches, including liberalism, undermining of racism, naturalization, and cultural racism, for analyzing colorblindness for establishing a multiracial society (2006). Liberalism entails the majority of the group appearing non-racist in the abstract while declining positive changes to help reduce racism or oppression. Color-blind racism depicted through naturalization involves the majority claiming that the divide between races is a natural process resulting from each group’s identity.
Bonilla-Silva (2006) explains that cultural racism presents itself in cases where the dominant race claims that the suffering of the minority is their own doing or fault. It fails to recognize the systemic disadvantages that limit their progress. He also explains that minimization of racism presents itself as the majority claiming that race is a non-issue and failing to acknowledge existent problems. Numerous depictions of cultural racism as a blurred vision of others are all seen in the movie. Indeed, at the beginning, the NASA did not see these women as individuals while it was the fact of their belonging to an Afro-American race that determined their treatment. The predominant consideration of the racial factor led to the situation when all the women’s achievements were blacked out and blurred by the management of the company.
Notwithstanding the cultural racism they faced, these three women were brilliant at their work and had brains many could envy. Thus, their brilliant calculations made a groundbreaking contribution to Nasa’s space program and allowed the company to complete mission successfully.
However, despite brilliant work, Katherine’s, Mary’s, and Dorothy’s talents and skills remain unrecognized. Despite being equally qualified as their white counterparts, black women are put to work in a different section of the organization in a basement that is in a deplorable state. They are labeled “computers” – a demeaning label that divides them from other scientists (Melfi & Shetterly, 2017). These qualified Black scientists are seemingly given little to no regard until they all rise to the occasion and provide groundbreaking solutions that NASA had been seeking.
Multiple instances of minimization of racism against black people by multiple members of the crew at NASA are seen in the film. Bonilla-Silva (2006) portrays the manifestation of color-blind racism when Whites minimize the struggles of people of color by pointing out how things are not as bad as they suggest. When the women question why they are having it harder than their White peers, Vivian, their superior, responds by saying, “Everyone should be thankful they have jobs at all” (Melfi & Shetterly, 2017, 00:47:20). Saying this, Vivian demonstrates how little she cares about the struggles limiting their professional advancement. Katherine is also faced with a similar predicament when her department boss shows concern about where she takes off during office hours. She explains how as a Black person, she is subjected to a series of challenges, including walking for half a mile to use a ‘colored’ bathroom, unequal pay, unreasonable dress codes, and no access to the coffee everyone else has. None of the peers in the Department saw this as ill-treatment.
Undeterred by their indignities, these women proved their worth to the organization. At the start of her work at the Space Task Group, Katherine experiences prejudice, belittling, and racism. She displays her usefulness to the team with her mathematical skills and prowess. Katherine fights for her seat at the Pentagon meeting to enhance her analytical work (Melfi & Shetterly, 2017). Ultimately, she proves her worth to the team by producing the needed landing coordinates for the astronaut John Glenn. Dorothy fights for her team of ‘computers’ to be included on the team operating the IBM mainframe. The team learns the programming language to become resident experts.
The film shows that there are many issues the people of color face in the workplace. Thus, Dorothy and Katherine are not offered the opportunities to gain better positions within the organizations. It indicates cultural racism, whereby they are considered inferior because of their race. In the case of Dorothy, she supervises a group of 30 “computers” who are all mathematicians. Upon requesting to be given a promotion, she is dismissed by her superior Vivian responds, “Well, the official word is no. They’re not assigning a permanent supervisor to the colored group” (Melfi & Shetterly, 2017, 00:12:14 – 00:12:19). A clear indication of how undermined the group of Black women was. Katherine faces the same fate when she joins the Space Task Group as a “computer” to handle analytical geometry. Her supervisor Mr. Stafford belittles her work and contribution to the team. He states, “Computers don’t author reports” (Melfi & Shetterly, 2017, 01:14:56) despite her best efforts to draft the work. The women experience racial prejudice, with their skills and talents going unrecognized or diminished.
Cultural racism is showcased by the assumption that the minority group is biologically inferior. Mary, a qualified engineer, is offered the chance to work with the NASA Engineering Training program. She is informed that the organization required the proper educational requirements despite having a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physical Science which a more significant part of the engineers possessed. Vivian mentions, “We now require advanced extension courses…” (Melfi & Shetterly, 2017, 00:47:00). The extension course was only offered at white-only schools. It shows that they deemed her education insufficient and wanted to exclude her from the team because of her skin color. Mary filed a petition in court to allow her to attend the segregated school, which the judge ruled in her favor.
Further, their work environment is coupled with a myriad of challenges. Within the organization, there are segregated facilities, including the bathrooms for colored and White-only and white people working in the main building in an impeccable state and Blacks working at the West Computing Group – a facility in a disgraceful state (Melfi & Shetterly, 2017). Additionally, during a visit by NASA astronauts to the research center, the Black women stood at a perceivable distance from the rest of the White crew. Clear evidence of the state of the prevalent racism. When Katherine joined the task force, a kettle was labeled ‘colored’ so that she did not drink from the same source as the White scientists. Dorothy requests a promotion to supervisor, but the offer is declined since it is not a position for women of color. Throughout the film, it is showcased how many White employees openly showed discrimination against the Black employees, who proved themselves worthy of respect.
Not only did Kathy, Dorothy, and Mary face discrimination, their contributions were downplayed and diminished. When the Department Head requested Katherine to cross-check the numbers that Mr. Stafford had calculated, he posited that the confirmation was unnecessary as they had already been confirmed by two other White engineers in the Department. He viewed her input as insignificant. In addition, when she drafts a report on launching numbers, Mr. Stafford asks her to take her name off the report (Melfi & Shetterly, 2017). He deemed her unworthy of receiving recognition for her efforts. Additionally, Dorothy figures out how to program the IBM mainframe, but she receives no credit for it. These are all demonstrations by the women of how valuable they were to the organization.
In her pursuit to be included in the Pentagon meeting, Kathy finds her way through the board room, which, previously, was no place for women. Without her relentless efforts to be included, Mr. Stafford would continually take credit for her work during these meetings. Despite her proficiency in analytical geometry, Mr. Stafford gets a seat at the table while she does not. Similarly, she delivered when required to deliver landing coordinates promptly when there was an error with the IBM coordinates printed (Melfi & Shetterly, 2017). Upon delivering the work to her superiors at the Air Force Base control room, she isn’t allowed inside while a white male engineer is let inside. She had proven herself over time and had outshined many engineers in the room, but that barely mattered.
Overall, the film Hidden Figures demonstrates how difficult it was for a person of color to prove his or her skills and talent. In those times, until proven, one’s skills and talents were blinded by the color of one’s skin. A person of color faced a host of impediments to promotion despite being equally qualified (McClure and Cherise, 2021). Nowadays, cases of racial discrimination can still be seen at workplace. Racism exists despite the fact that skin color should not determine whether one is qualified for a position. Ignoring the existence of racism is in itself color blindness.
However, in the film, the women effectively challenged workplace discrimination, demonstrating their desire for empowerment and inclusivity. All the women took a stand to defend themselves against discrimination at the workplace. Their actions, though presented a significant risk for their careers, defied the existing norms. They acted heroically and set a precedent for many Black women who wished to work as scientists or engineers at NASA. As seen, these women were the epitome of patience, resilience, and bravado in the face of a challenge.
References
Bonilla-Silva, E. (2006). Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in the United States. In Racism without Racists (pp. 25–52). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Melfi, T., & Shetterly, M. L. (2017). Hidden figures. Twentieth Century Fox Home.
McClure, S. M. and Cherise A. H. (2021). Getting real about race: Hoodies, mascots, model minorities, and other conversations. (3 rd edition) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.