As an African American woman, Johnson experiences differing layers of discrimination and marginalization. From a notably early age she showed great mathematical abilities. More specifically, the very first scene of the movie shows a sixth grade Johnson solving complex math problems in a high school classroom, illustrating exactly how great her skills are. These talents eventually led her to begin working as a human “computer” for the West Area Computers division of the Langely Research Center. Although, the work space at this center was divided into race and sex, where African American women like Johnson were to complete trajectory calculations for NASA. Because this is still the early days of NASA, their International Business Machine, which can efficiently complete calculations, had not yet arrived, leaving the Space Task Group in need of a human computer. Being a talented mathematician, Johnson is given the assignment. Consisting of only white males and one female receptionist, the Space Task Group and their director Al Harrison are less than welcoming to Johnson because of her racial and gender statuses. As an African American woman, Johnson experiences differing layers of discrimination and marginalization.
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Hidden Figures: Race and Gender Roles 