Although
the Supreme Court ruled that school segregation was unconstitutional
in 1954, some 500 of the 1,500 school districts in the United
States had done nothing to integrate enrollment by 1968, when
the Supreme Court ruled that immediate integration was required.
In 1971, Alexandria, Virginia, finally desegregated schools,
and children formerly attending two other high schools were
bused to formerly all-white T. C. Williams High School. All
the football coaches for the white high schools had been white,
yet another barrier to be overcome by blacks. In Remember
the Titans, directed by Boaz Yakin, we view a remarkable
true story about reconciliation between the races in Alexandria.
During the film we see how initially hostile attitudes by
whites toward blacks became transformed into a joyous appreciation
of the virtues of having the races cooperate and learn from
each other. Before the first year began at that school, Herman
Boone (played by Denzel Washington) was named head football
coach. Genteel Bill Yoast (played by Will Patton), a coach
whose winning career made him eligible for the Virginia Hall
of Fame, was thus passed over for reasons of affirmative action.
At first angered at his replacement, Yoast was looking for
another job when he realized that a boycott of the team by
white players would jeopardize their chances for college,
so he accepted Boone’s offer to stay on as defensive coach.
Perhaps another reason for his decision was that he realized
that there was something special about Boone. At the summer
training camp, where black and white football players practiced
together, a similar transformation gradually occurred among
the 99 players, especially when they went to the battlefield
at Gettysburg and heard a stirring speech by Boone. Called
"Coach Coon" by his detractors, Boone encountered verbal brickbats
and even a rock thrown through his front window. Meanwhile,
the white players had to endure the wrath of rednecks, first
in Alexandria and then at other schools in the football league,
because they were playing on an integrated team. Clearly,
whites learned more from blacks about perseverance in the
face of prejudice, and the group spirit that developed is
credited with inspiring a string of victories at every football
game played by the T. C. Williams team with only one exception—the
national championships. At the end of the film, titles tell
us what happened to every prominent character in the movie,
and we leave the film impressed that they enjoyed happy and
successful lives because they were making history in 1971
for a town which, even today, is a model for racial integration
in housing as well as schooling. For many filmviewers, Remember
the Titans may seem a feel-good movie to be enjoyed
primarily because teenagers overcame great odds to win football
victories with the help of compassionate adults. But Remember
the Titans, possibly the best film ever made on the
positive results of racial integration, comes at a time when
the Supreme Court has been issuing rulings that appear close
to ending school integration as a goal for public education
in the United States. Supreme Court justices might want to
watch this film before legalizing a new American apartheid.
For this reason, the Political Film Society has nominated
Remember the Titans for best film of 2000 in
promoting human rights and best film exposé for bringing to
light facts not generally known. MH
I
want to comment on this film
