Final answer:
The teacher in 'Stand and Deliver' is making a point about challenging social expectations and prejudices that tend to confine people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds to menial jobs, reflecting conflict theory's stance on education reinforcing social hierarchies.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the film Stand and Deliver, the teacher's warning to the students that 'no one wants to hear excuses' and urging them to 'deep fry chicken' is a sociological reference to the expectations society places on individuals from different socioeconomic backgrounds. This statement underlines a sociological concept known as the conflict theory, which posits that schools potentially enforce social hierarchy by training working-class students to accept and retain positions at the lower end of society, often due to disparities in resources and testing based on neighborhood wealth.
Additionally, the film reference resonates with historical movements for civil rights, such as the Double-V campaign and the Woolworth sit-ins where young African Americans actively resisted subjugation. Such actions opposed the idea embedded in discriminatory attitudes that non-white or economically disadvantaged groups are destined for menial labor, effectively challenging societal frontiers and seeking to dismantle the self-fulfilling prophecies of lesser expectations. This mirrors broader concerns about education systems that may inadvertently support existing social structures that impede true equality of opportunity.
Hence, the teacher in the movie is making a broader sociological point about rejecting mediocrity and the importance of students striving for excellence irrespective of societal expectations, which can often be biased due to prevailing prejudices and economic disparities.