remember the titans racism essay

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Racism and Discrimination In “Remember the Titans” Analysis

Introduction It is apparent to the viewer from the start this movie is about Prejudice, Racism and Discrimination. Set in a traditionally white southern town in 1971, the effects of court ordered integration are coming down hard on the town’s people. The struggles of being black in a white society that is trying to manage the change that integration has forced on them and the struggle of being white in a time of radical change when they are being forced to alter their attitudes and beliefs about blacks are quite evident. Within this larger context however, there are many other social psychology principles and concepts going on (e. . , Self-Concept, False Consensus and Uniqueness Effect, Conformity, Obedience, Evaluation Apprehension, In and Out Groups, Proximity, Collectivism and Conflict). The interactions, experiences and relationships between individual people and groups demonstrate these principles and concepts clearly in many cases. Prejudice will be the first principle this paper will explore because it is front and center in a large part of the movie. Persuasion and Social Identity are the second and third principles present in the movie that will be explored.

The last principle to be examined, Superordinate Goals, however may be the most important one of the movie. It sets up the ‘good feeling ending’ and leaves movie goers with the idea that together we can really conquer what may seem to be insurmountable problems, especially since the movie is based on a true story. Principle #1: Prejudice The Scene: “The New Assistant”- Coach Yoast and Assistant Coach Tyrell are taking several of their white football players, who left practice to join in a race riot, back to their office so they can ‘cool down’.

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When the entire group arrives at the office, Coach Boone is inside waiting for a meeting that was scheduled for him and Coach Yoast. Gerry Bertier and Coach Tyrell are insulting black people while they are walking to the office and continue to disparage black Page 2 of 12Film Analysis Research Project_Nadler. docpeople in front of Coach Boone. Coach Yoast and Coach Boone state that neither of them want to be in this position and don’t like it. They are courteous to each other, but no more than that.

Coach Tyrell on the other hand, continues to insult black people including direct digs at Coach Boone while Coach Boone remains courteous and polite, but does get a few off hand remarks in. The Principle: Myers defines Prejudice as “a negative prejudgment of a group and its individual members” (Meyers, 2007). Prejudice is a general term that can encompass many areas such as race, gender or age. This paper will focus on racial prejudice only. An important distinction about prejudice is that prejudice is an attitude or belief and not an action or behavior.

Discrimination is the action or behavior that stems from prejudicial beliefs and attitudes. The attitude we form from a prejudgment will affect our beliefs, desires to act and feelings toward that person or group. The attitude formed can often result from the formation of stereotypes or can come from subconscious thoughts and it can originate for many different reasons. One reason is a person’s desire for social status and their need to maintain that status once it has been achieved. Research has shown by holding our perception of our social identity high, we feel better and more superior to others (Smith and Tyler, 1977).

Therefore, putting others down will make us feel better. An emotional source of prejudice is frustration in relation to competition. “Those who believe that they have lost wages or jobs because certain groups are willing to work more cheaply have sometimes expressed their frustration through prejudice. ” (“Prejudice and Discrimination”, 2009). If we see someone attain something we desire and have not attained it yet ourselves, we will most likely become frustrated and angry. Our anger may then reveal itself as a negative bias toward that person, a prejudice.

Lastly, prejudice can be learned. The Anti-Defamation League notes that prejudice is learned when children observe Page 3 of 12Film Analysis Research Project_Nadler. doc what the people around them think, do and say (Anti-Defamation League, 2001). This influence may come from the home and family but can also come from almost anywhere the child hears and see things. Application of the Principle: Coach Tyrell’s comments to Coach Boone reveal a deep set and ‘text book’ example of the prejudice Coach Tyrell has against blacks.

He notes several characteristics he associates with all blacks and attributes them to Coach Boone, a classic application of stereotyping. Coach Tyrell’s attitudes and beliefs are engrained in his mind and will continue to direct his actions and behavior most likely for the rest of his life. Research has shown that these attitudes and thoughts can stay with us for very long times (Macrae & others, 1994; Wegner & Erber, 1992). Even though Coach Yoast and Coach Boone are polite to each other, it is obvious they don’t like or trust each other. Here again, a ‘text book’ example of the attitude both of them are portraying on the other.

He is black or white and therefore, I don’t trust him and I don’t want to work with him. Because both of these men are more professional than Coach Tyrell and there are students in the room, they do not act on or voice their prejudice. Gerry is a high school student who has formed many of his opinions and beliefs at this point in his life and prejudice against blacks is an obvious one. His disparaging of blacks at the beginning of the scene, his interactions with Coach Boone and his desire to join a race riot against blacks are just a few examples.

Gerry has not had a lot of interactions with black people previously because of where and how he has grown up so far, so his beliefs and attitudes must have been learned. The FRONTLINE program “A Class Divided” is a wonderful example of how quickly kids can learn prejudice and how much it can affect their behavior as well (FRONTLINE, 1985). Other parts of the movie reveal that the two primary people he probably Page 4 of 12Film Analysis Research Project_Nadler. doc learned his prejudice from are his mother (home and family) and Coach Tyrell (outside the home and family).

Principle #2: Persuasion- The Peripheral Route The Scene: “Lesson from the Dead”- Coach Boone wakes the entire team up at 3 AM one night at training camp and makes them take a long distance back woods run. The run lasts until sunrise and the first hour of light. All the players are extremely tired, sore and out of breath when they finally stop at the edge of a field with gravestones in it. Coach Boone is out in front of the entire team and starts a short monologue by telling them they are standing at the edge of the field where the Battle of Gettysburg was fought.

He continues to tell the team how 50,000 men died right there in front of where the team was standing fighting the same fight they are fighting today. Coach Boone described the battle in detail, with descriptions and adjectives that no doubt formed vivid mental images in the student’s minds. Coach Boone told the team they needed to ban together or they would fail and that they have to like each other, but they have to respect each other and play football like men. The Principle: Persuasion is an attempt to change our existing behaviors, beliefs or attitudes.

It is everywhere from commercials trying to get us to buy something to a friend wanting us to help them out. Meyers states there are two basic types of persuasion- The Central and Peripheral Routes (Meyers, 2007). The Central Route uses logic and objective means to convince someone. The Peripheral Route takes a more round about way by appealing to someone’s emotions and subjective side. If the person we are trying to convince is not a very logical thinker or is too busy to concentrate on a logical train of thought at the moment, the Peripheral Route will be most affective.

Peripheral Route techniques will often use images, stories or anything that may Page 5 of 12Film Analysis Research Project_Nadler. doc trigger a positive emotion in the subject. If we begin to associate a positive feeling with something, we are more likely to accept it, be involved with it or buy it. There are four ingredients that make something successful in persuading a person. They are the communicator, the message, how the message is communicated and what the person trying to be convinced is like. The better each of these are, the better the chances the persuasion will work.

The communicator should be credible and attractive or likeable. “A credible communicator can influence acceptance (persuasion), whereas a non-credible communicator can have the reverse effect, he can cause resistance to the contents of the message. ” (Jamieson, 1985). The message should elicit a positive response in the person being persuaded or point out a negative situation the person would want to avoid. When using fear, it is always good to also provide the solution or the way the person can avoid the situation.

This may prevent them from forming a mental block that this is terrible and there is no way to deal with it. Delivery of the message should be in an environment the person is comfortable in and one that is conducive to the message you are trying to present. Lastly, the message should match the person being persuaded as much as possible. For example, don’t use the Internet or a fancy computer presentation if you are working with an older person who is not tech savvy. Age can be a major factor when choosing what method and tools of persuasion are used.

Even when following the Peripheral Route, it is important to be aware of how the person’s thoughts will react to the message. Hopefully, there will be a favorable reaction, but if you can also get the person to think about the message, it will sink deeper and have a better chance of success. Application of the Principle: Coach Boone is trying to persuade the team to change by letting go of their prejudice, to begin acting like men and to work together as a solid team with a Peripheral Route approach. Coach Boone, as the communicator, has built up his credibility with Page 6 of 12Film Analysis Research Project_Nadler. oc the team. It can be seen that the team respects him as an authority figure because they are following his directions in training completely. The students look up to him because he is also physically fit and an adult. For the message, Coach Boone uses vivid language when describing the Battle of Gettysburg, which makes it easier for the team to create mental images of how gory and bad the battle must have been. He describes the people who lost their lives in the battle as just like members of the team creating an emotional and personal tie between the circumstances of the battle and their lives today.

Lastly, the message creates a fear in the team when they associate the lost lives of the battle with them losing and failing. The solution to the problem is also presented, giving the team a way to see where Coach Boone wants them to go- “If we don’t come together now on this hallowed ground, we will be destroyed too… you will respect each other and maybe play this game like men” (Remember the Titans, 2000). Coach Boone’s delivery of the message comes through in an almost story telling like sequence and setting which catches and keeps the attention of the entire team.

This is a good set up for an emotional/ peripheral appeal. The last element of the persuasion formula is the team. They are very tired and worn down from the long hard run and the entire sequence of events has been a complete surprise to them. These are both factors that make the team more susceptible to being persuaded. Principle #3: Social Identity The Scene: “Bertier and Big Ju”- One afternoon on their way back to the lockers after practice, Gerry Bertier runs into Julius Campbell. They have been instructed to get to know each other or the intensity of the practices will continue to be extremely hard.

Gerry stops and tells Julius he just wants to share the vital statistics about themselves, so they can get the task done and have easier practices. He tells Julius to state his facts, but Julius replies that Gerry doesn’t want to hear what Julius has to say because he is not interested in the truth. The two continue their Page 7 of 12Film Analysis Research Project_Nadler. doc conversation with Julius stating that he is not about to care about anyone but himself because it is apparent none of the white players cares about the black ones because ‘Rev’ never gets any blocking or protection.

Gerry responds by telling Julius he is a big waste of talent because he won’t listen to anyone, not ever the coaches and that his selfish behavior damages the team and hurts Gerry too. Lastly, Julius tells Gerry his leadership as captain is poor and Gerry tells Julius he has a bad attitude. The Principle: A person’s Social Identity comes from the groups they belong to. It is that aspect of a person’s character or self concept that is a result of who we relate to. In simple terms, if I belong to a soccer team, then I may reply when asked who I am, that I am a soccer player.

Social Identities typically make us feel safe and happy, which is why we pursue them. A person will have one self identity (normally) but may have several social identities if they relate, belong and have close ties to more than one social circle. “Different social contexts may trigger an individual to think, feel and act on basis of his personal, family or national level of self” (Turner et al, 1987). The groups a person is associated with and accepted by are known as their in- groups. Once a person has an in-group, they begin to assimilate attitudes, beliefs and behaviors from that group into themselves.

By gaining acceptance into a group, we also give our self esteem a boost. It always feels good to be included and accepted, a major consequence of in- group membership. In-groups will often compare themselves to other groups, out-groups, and gain a sense of gratification from what they perceive as their accomplishments and standing as compared to the out-groups. This quest for positive distinctiveness means that people’s sense of who they are is defined in terms of we rather than I. (Social Identity Theory, 2004) Page 8 of 12Film Analysis Research Project_Nadler. oc Application of the Principle: One of Julius’ social identities in the movie is that of a black kid who cannot trust white people. His in-group, young black students, have probably endured white people criticizing and ignoring them, so they view all white people as useless and all black people as having to do whatever it takes to get by and be successful. Julius finds that to be true here when none of the white players will block for another black player, Rev. He tells Gerry this and gets some comfort or feeling of security by being part of his in group.

At the same time, Gerry is taking comfort in his in group by telling Julius that he is worthless because he won’t be a team player. Gerry imagines all black people are self serving and worthless. This dance of putting each other down continues when Julius tells Gerry he is a lousy captain and Gerry tells Julius he has a bad attitude. This is exactly what we would expect to happen in a situation like this. Each person gains some self esteem and acknowledges his Social Identity by putting the other person down. People strive for positive individuality through their groups (Social Identity Theory, 2004).

Principle #4: Superordinate Goal The Scene: “Trusting the Soul”- At half time of the state championship game, TC Williams is loosing and Coach Boone gives the team his talk in the locker room. In a very sincere manner, he tells the team they have and are doing their very best and even if they loose, they should hold their heads high because they have become men, overcome their differences and worked together like a team should. Julius interrupts Coach Boone to remind Coach Boone that he told them he only wanted perfection.

Julius notes that no one person is perfect, but the team was perfect going into this game with their undefeated season. He tells Coach Boone the team has to and will provide the perfection Coach Boone asked for. Coach Yoast adds that he has learned a lot from the team and their time together about trusting people because of who they are and not what Page 9 of 12Film Analysis Research Project_Nadler. doc they look like. He then looks directly at Coach Boone and asks him for help because the opposing team is kicking his butt. The team goes back out on the field, reorganizes itself and wins the game.

The Principle: Meyers defines Superordinate Goal as “a shared goal that necessitates cooperative effort; a goal that overrides people’s differences from one another. ” (Meyers, 2007). Muzafer Sherif performed a study in 1966 that demonstrated this concept very clearly (Sherif, 1966). He made two groups of boys at a camp mad at each other and both groups then started showing typical hostilities to each other including name calling and fighting. Sherif then told both groups there was a problem with the camp’s water supply and a broken down food delivery truck and that both groups were needed to resolve the issues.

Soon, after working together to solve these problems, the boys became friendly and even decided to ride the same bus home together. A common or shared goal is often enough to break down barriers between people and it encourages them to see each other as just people and not as part of an out group they dislike. Once the common bond is formed the differences between the groups or people become less important and tend to fade away. Application of the Principle: The Superordinate goal that brings the students together is the prospect of wining football games and ultimately the state championship.

If they have a great season, there is more chance for them to succeed after the season and they have always been a great team but not a state champion team. To win the state championship would be an ultimate accomplishment for them. They realize during training camp and through out the season, the only way they will be good enough to win the state championship is to work together as a team and to put their differences aside. This parallels and duplicates the results Sherif had with his Page 10 of 12Film Analysis Research Project_Nadler. doc campers (Sherif, 1966).

A pair of Superordinate goals exist between Coach Boone and Coach Yoast. They don’t like each other and would prefer not to have to work together, but realize along the way, they can help each other get the two things they both want, the state championship as well as having the players mature into men and learn a lesson from their experience. Coach Boone reaches out to Coach Yoast in a couple of other scenes in the movie and in this scene, Coach Yoast crosses the gap by asking Coach Boone directly for his help winning the game in front of the entire team. Conclusion Remembering the Titans” is a very emotional and moving movie. The story, based on a true story, is fraught with psychological principles in almost every character, group and scene. At times, many of the principles are closely intertwined and almost inseparable. Two of the four principles discussed in this paper represent principles that are primary in the movie, Prejudice and Persuasion and two that are more subtle, Social Identity and Superordinate Goal. The movie depicts a scene that is common in the world today, in the past and will most likely be in future social settings- ifferent groups of people with different values and ideals faced with a common problem none of them want to address or may even recognize but have no choice but to solve. It is a breath of fresh air to see the positive results of when people can put their differences aside and become one in a shared goal for the good of all. References “A Class Divided. ” FRONTLINE. PBS. WGBH Educational Foundation, Boston, MA. March 26, 1985. Jamieson, G. Harry. Communication and Persuasion. New York: Routledge, 1985. Page 142 Macrae, C. N. , Bodenhause, G. V. , Milne, A. B. , and Jetten, J. Out of Mind but Back in Sight: Stereotypes on the Rebound”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67 (1994); 808-817. Myers, David G. Exploring Social Psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007. Several pages. “Prejudice and Discrimination. ” The Canadian Encyclopedia. 2009. Historica Foundation of Canada. May 10, 2009 . Remember the Titans. Gregory Allen Howard, Writer; Boaz Yakin, Director; Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Technical Black Productions; Denzel Washington, Will Paton, Wood Harris, Ryan Hurst. 2000. DVD. Walt Disney Pictures, 2000 Sherif, Musafer.

In Common Predicament: Social Psychology of Intergroup Conflict and Cooperation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1966. Smith, Heather J. and Tyler Tom R. “Choosing the Right Pond: The Impact of Group Membership on Self-Esteem and Group-Oriented Behavior”. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology Volume 33, Issue 2 (March 1997): Pages 146-170 “Social Identity Theory”. Interpersonal Communication and Relations. September 9, 2004. Universiteit Twente. May 11, 2009 http://www. cw. utwente. nl/theorieenoverzicht/ Theory%20clusters/Interpersonal%20Communication%20and%20Relations/Social_Ident ity_Theory. oc/ Turner, John C. , Michael A. Hogg, Penelope J. Oakes, Stephen D. Reicher and Margaret S. Wetherell. Rediscovering the Social Group: A Self-Categorization Theory. New York: Basil Blackwell, 1987. Wegner, D. M. , and Erber, R. “The Hyperaccessibility of Suppressed Thoughts”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63 (1992); 903-912. “What to Tell Your Child About Prejudice and Discrimination. ” Anti-Defamation League. 2001. Anti-Defamation League. May 12, 2009. < http://www. adl. org/what_to_tell/ whattotell_learning. asp>

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Theme of racism in “remember the titans”.

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Movie Analysis Remember The Titans

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Remember The Titans

“Remember the Titans” is a parable about racial harmony, yoked to the formula of a sports movie. Victories over racism and victories over opposing teams alternate so quickly that sometimes we’re not sure if we’re cheering for tolerance or touchdowns. Real life is never this simple, but then that’s what the movies are for–to improve on life, and give it the illusion of form and purpose.

Denzel Washington and Will Patton are the stars, two football coaches, one black, one white, whose lives are linked for a season, even though neither wants it that way. In 1971, a high school in Alexandria, Va., is integrated, and the board brings in Coach Boone (Washington) as the new head coach, replacing Coach Yoast (Patton), who is expected to become his assistant. Yoast understandably does not want to be demoted in the name of affirmative action. Boone doesn’t like it, either: He lost his own job in North Carolina, and “I can’t do that to this man.” But Alexandria’s black residents gather on Boone’s lawn to cheer for the first black coach at the newly integrated high school, and Boone realizes he has a responsibility. So does Yoast: His white players say they won’t play for a black coach, but Yoast doesn’t want them to lose college scholarships, so he swallows his pride and agrees to be Boone’s assistant, leading the whites back to practice.

All of this is said to be based on life, and no doubt largely is, but life was perhaps harder and more wounding than the film. “Remember the Titans” is not an activist 1970s picture, but more conciliatory in tone. It is more about football than race relations, and it wants us to leave the theater feeling not angry or motivated, but good.

We do. There are true and touching moments in the film, on top of its undeniable entertainment value. I was moved by a scene near the end where an injured white player, who once said he would not play with blacks, now only wants his black “brother” in the hospital room. And there is a delicate series of scenes in which the same white player breaks up with his girlfriend rather than break the bonds he has formed with teammates during an August training camp.

Those training camp scenes include the usual identifiable types (the fat kid, the long-haired Californian, the “Rev”) who first clash, then bond. It’s been seen before, but the director, Boaz Yakin (“ Fresh “), brings old situations to new life and carries us along in the current of a skilled popular entertainment. I like the way he shows Boone forcing the blacks and whites to get to know one another.

I admired the way the screenplay, by Gregory Allen Howard , doesn’t make Boone noble and Yoast a racist, but shows them both as ambitious and skilled professionals. There are times when Boone treats his players more like Marines than high school kids, and Yoast tells him so. And times when Yoast tries to comfort black players who Boone has chewed out, and Boone accuses him of coddling blacks as he would never coddle his fellow whites.

These scenes are tricky, and Washington and Patton find just the right notes to negotiate them. Washington is gifted at delivering big speeches without sounding portentous or seeming to strain. There’s an early morning training run that leads the players to the Gettysburg battlefield, and his remarks there place their experiences in a larger context.

Still, the story sweeps certain obvious questions under the rug: (1) We see that the whites don’t want to play with the blacks, and are afraid of losing their starting positions. But what about the blacks? Weren’t they in a black high school last year? Aren’t they losing their team, too? Aren’t some of them going to be replaced by white starters? The movie shows the whites as resentful and possessive but assumes the black players are grateful for the chance to leave their old school and integrate the other team. Maybe they are, and maybe they aren’t. The movie doesn’t say.

(2) Since there was certainly an all-black high school in town until this year, there must have been a black coach at that school. What happened to him? Did Coach Boone put him out of work, too? That crowd of cheering blacks on Boone’s front lawn–have they so quickly forgotten the team and coach they used to cheer? In the real world, such questions would be what the story was all about. But then we would have an entirely different kind of film. “Remember the Titans” has the outer form of a brave statement about the races in America, but the soul of a sports movie in which everything is settled by the obligatory last play in the last seconds of the championship game. Whether the Titans win or lose has nothing to do with the season they have played and what they were trying to prove. But it has everything to do with the movie’s sleight of hand, in which we cheer the closing touchdown as if it is a victory over racism.

The movie is heartfelt, yes, and I was moved by it, but it plays safe. On the soundtrack we hear lyrics like “I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain” and “Ain’t no mountain high enough,” but not other lyrics that must also have been heard in Alexandria in 1971, like “We shall overcome.”

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

• Wood Harris as Big Ju
• Ryan Hurst as Bertier
• Craig Kirkwood as Rev
• Will Patton as Coach Yoast
• Denzel Washington as Coach Boone
• Donald Faison as Petey

Directed by

• Gregory Allen Howard

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A Racial Discrimination in Remember the Titans

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Introduction

Remember the titans: on racism.

The Societal Preconceptions in Remember the Titans

The social acceptance in remember the titans.

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“Remember the Titans:" Can Football Reduce Racism?

Football season can be more than just football..

Posted November 2, 2012 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

There are a lot of movies about racism, and there are a bazillion movies about sports. There are even several that combine both topics, but by far my favorite of these combo-packs is the classic movie, Remember the Titans .

Based on a true story, we see a high school football team forced to deal with the racial integration of a Black school with a White school in 1971 Virginia. Each team is led by a dynamic and likable coach, played in the movie by Denzel Washington (Coach Boone) and Will Patton (Coach Yoast).

While I don’t think the writer/director of this really excellent film read a bunch of psychology theory on prejudice before crafting the screenplay, the film almost eerily follows the steps put forth by classic studies on how to get two groups of people to overcome stereotypes and prejudice.

What Doesn’t Work: The Contact Hypothesis

When psychologists were first trying to figure out how to reduce prejudice between two groups, the most popular idea was called the Contact Hypothesis (originated by a guy named Williams in 1947). The idea is that the reason we don’t like other groups (other races, religions, sexual orientations, or whatever) is because we simply don’t spend a lot of time with people who are different. So, all we need to do is hang out with those people more, and poof! Our prejudices will go away. So, “contact” is the key.

While this sounds pretty great, it’s unfortunately not reality. It turns out that simply hanging around people who are different might lead to friendships and overcoming obstacles—but more often, it backfires. We end up just noticing behaviors that confirm our stereotypes, we end up in terrible arguments, and we often just hate each other even more.

In Remember the Titans , this unfortunate tendency is displayed early on as the two teams are forced to integrate. They become competitive for positions on the new team, they refuse to acknowledge each other’s perspective, and they simply become more ingrained in their prior beliefs. So the Contact Hypothesis has a huge caveat, which is that what matters is the type of contact between groups.

This is where we can learn from both psychological theory and from the real-life football team. How did they eventually overcome their racism and work together to win the state championship?

Step 1 in Reducing Racism: Equal Status

The psychologist who first really offered an update to the Contact Hypothesis was Gordon Allport, who proposed four criteria for successful contact and reduction of prejudice between two disparate groups. The first criterion is that the group members must have equal status; one group can’t have more power, more members, more money, or more anything else than the other group.

We see this equality in the Titans, when head Coach Boone makes it clear that the best players will get the starting positions, regardless of their race. Each individual must work hard to earn his place, and the amount of effort required is equal, no matter what color his skin might be. Only with this equal status can any resentment be erased from either side.

Step 2: Common Goals

Allport’s next criterion for successful intergroup contact was that the group should have a common, or superordinate, goal. The goal must be difficult enough that neither sub-group could achieve it alone, but also achievable (not just a pipe dream that will inevitably lead to disappointment).

This example is obvious when the Titans must work together to win each football game and, even more importantly, grow as a team to achieve the championship. We see specific examples of how the team members must work together as the offense and defense point out weaknesses in players of the other race; what’s important in this process is that each “side” of the divide had reciprocal strengths and weaknesses, again bringing about a sense of equality.

One important part of the “common goal” ideology is that the two original groups (here, the Black students and White students) must bond together to form a new, mutual group membership. “Us” versus “Them” must become “We.” This new, integrated group becomes easier to form when there’s a common enemy; in our example, it’s the other football teams from other schools.

Step 3: See Individuals, Not Just Group Members

One of the more esoteric criteria that Allport pointed out is that for stereotypes to really be eliminated, each group must see members of the opposite group as separate individuals and not simply as a representative of the entire group. If an alien from Planet X appears and I get to know him as Blark the Alien, that’s great. But, if Blark really loves hotdogs, even if we’re friends, I still might just assume that all people from Planet X equally love hotdogs. Again, even if this is a relatively positive or even benign belief, I’m still assuming something about every citizen of Planet X. That’s still a stereotype. To overcome my stereotypes, I have to realize that Blark is an individual being who might not have the same preferences as everyone else from Planet X.

This particular aspect of the theory is highlighted at the beginning of the football training camp when Coach Boone requires each Black student to meet with each White student, individually, and both students must learn personal details about his counterpart. By learning to see the individual differences among members of the out-group, they are forced to recognize that “those people” (for both races) are not all the same. Thus, stereotypes about “those people” become meaningless.

Step 4: Supportive Authority

Allport’s final criterion for ending intergroup hostility was that any authorities present must be supportive of change and integration. For these young men, their role models are their parents and coaches. If they see bad examples, they will follow suit. This hugely important step in the process is seen in Remember the Titans as the parents from the community see their children befriending another race, and they are forced to face their own prejudices.

Even more importantly to the football players, however, is the interaction between Coach Boone and Coach Yoast. Just like the players, the two coaches are competitive, suspicious, and stubborn. However, due to Steps 1-3 outlined above, they too learn to see the good in each other and eventually become friends.

Admittedly, racial harmony is not as easy as a two-hour Disney movie. Remember the Titans simplifies thousands, if not millions, of years of intergroup hostility from when humans were first fighting over space in a cave. But it is based on a true story. Thousands of people have truly gone through such transformative experiences and learned to open their hearts to people who might appear different on the outside, but share the same dreams and spirit on the inside. And can’t we make the end of “Titans” a goal for ourselves? Team sports can, sometimes, lead to more victories than just the ones on the field.

Copyright Wind Goodfriend, Ph.D.

Wind Goodfriend, Ph.D. is a social psychologist at Buena Vista University, with research expertise on stereotypes and on romantic relationships.

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Racism in Sports. ‘Remember the Titans’ Movie Essay

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Introduction

Directed by Boaz Yakin and written by Gregory Allen Howard, and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman, the movie “Remember the Titans” was released under the banner of Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films. The movie revolves around the theme of racism in American sports. It is based on the true story of the integration of a high school foot ball team – T.C. Williams High School Titans – in Alexandria, Virginia – in 1971.

The main characters are Coach Herman Boone played by Denzel Washington and Gerry Bertier, a white football player who at the beginning of the film is a racist. Bertier holds a hostile attitude towards the black football player who join the team as part of the integration of his Virginia high school in 1971. Hover, forced contact with the black players and under the influence of Coach Boone, Bertier quickly changes and sheds his previous racist attitude. However, it is much more difficult to induce change in other players who are more resistant and one of them even finds the path to racial acceptance impossible.

With his perseverance and innovative methods of persuasion Coach Boone is able to channel the fear of the boys into the game instead of racism and transforms their anger into a positive motivating force. Within a few months, the team becomes closely knit despite the diversity and they are able to carry the message of unity, tolerance and hope into society. In a nutshell, Remember the Titans is a story of hope, transformation and friendship revolving around the community and the power of change.

Coach Boone is the black head coach of the football team and Coach Yoast is the white assistant coach who had been the head coach till Coach Boone replaced him. The high school football team now has both white American and African American boys. Coach Boone has a dictatorial approach towards coaching. Right from the beginning, Coach Yoast is protective about the white players in the high school team.

When Coach Boone takes over, he becomes concerned whether Boone will treat the white players well. He says “ I’m worried about my boys”. Boone replies “Well, I ain’t gonna cook ’em and eat ’em. The best player will play. Color won’t matter”. Even during training, Coach Boone makes it clear that he is impartial and the best player will get into the team. He says that he has no democratic leadership style but a dictatorship. “I am the law. If you survive camp, you will be on the team”. When setting the seating on the bus, he puts all his defensive players on one side and players going out for offense on another side and does not allow them to be separated based on color of their skin.

Despite his repeated demonstration of impartiality, Coach Yoast challenges his authority in front of the entire football team and Coach Boone is forced to complain about his interference. “Now, you think you are doing these boys a favor taking them aside every time I come down on them, protecting them from big bad Boone”. Explaining his role, Coach Yoast says to Coach Boone that he might have been a little too hard on the boys. He elaborates that some boys do not like to be criticized in public.

Coach Boone, understanding Yoast’s concern for the white players asks “Which boys are you talking about?” and to this Yoast indirectly answers “Which ones you talking about?” Here the focus is on the white boys in the team. Ironically in the latter part of the movie when star player Gerry Bertier is hurt in an accident and lying in hospital, Coach Boone wonders if he might have really driven the boys hard.

Gerry Bertier is a white star player in the team and Julius Campbell is a black star player in the same team. Initially, there are conflicts between them. But later on, under the experience of playing together and the influence of Coach Boone, they forge a special bond and become friends. In the hospital scene where Bertier is bedridden, paralyzed from his waist downward due to an automotive accident, he asks to meet Julius Campbell.

The nurse tries to shoo Julius away saying that only relatives were allowed to visit the patients. Bertier says to the nurse “Can’t you see he is my brother?” He then confesses to Julius that he had been afraid of him earlier because he had assumed that Julius was invincible as superman “You can’t be hurt like this. You–you’re Superman”. His fear could also have been due to the aggressive attitude of Julius when he talks to Bertier earlier on in the movie.

Bertier at one point tells Julius that he is nothing but a waste of god given talent and accuses him of not listening to anyone. Julius counters him aggressively and asks why he should ever bother about him. Now, Bertier, after knowing Julius, realizes that his fears were misplaced and that he was only building hatred towards his brother by being afraid of him.

During the conclusion of the film, Coach Yoast states, “I know football, but what you did with those boys…you were the right man at the right time.” Coach Boone was able to achieve success by uniting the team against racial barriers. He was able to persuade them towards giving their best by creating a passion for the game and for the team among the football players. Sports in general can break down racial barriers. The creation of the Olympic games was based on the belief that these games might form the nucleus of modern secular faith based on good sportsmanship and fair play” (Guttmann, 3).

This belief has not gone wrong as people of every religion and every country have participated in the Olympics. In sports, especially in team sports, people of all races come together and work towards the common goal of winning. Working towards a common goal unites the team members in a unique sort of fashion irrespective of color, religion or race. Moreover, when sportspeople represent their country in the global arena, local racial differences disappear and the national identity alone remains, dissolving any racial differences that may be present.

The movie “Remember the Titans” brings many noble aspects of sports to the fore. It shows sports as a place for male bonding, development of male identities, achieving success, discipline, value based education, friendship, overcoming racial barriers and caring.

Coach Boone and Coach Yoast, Bertier and Campbell and the team players are all initially divided by racial barriers. But under the persuasive efforts of Coach Boone all racial boundaries dissipate, and the two coaches become friends and the two star players of different races become friends and the team tastes success by playing together with unity. The movie thus carries the moral that unity is strength and a lot of great things can be achieved in the world if only people can reach out to each other across racial boundaries and work together.

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IvyPanda. (2021, November 2). Racism in Sports. ‘Remember the Titans’ Movie. https://ivypanda.com/essays/racism-in-sports-remember-the-titans-movie/

"Racism in Sports. ‘Remember the Titans’ Movie." IvyPanda , 2 Nov. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/racism-in-sports-remember-the-titans-movie/.

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IvyPanda . 2021. "Racism in Sports. ‘Remember the Titans’ Movie." November 2, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/racism-in-sports-remember-the-titans-movie/.

1. IvyPanda . "Racism in Sports. ‘Remember the Titans’ Movie." November 2, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/racism-in-sports-remember-the-titans-movie/.

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IvyPanda . "Racism in Sports. ‘Remember the Titans’ Movie." November 2, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/racism-in-sports-remember-the-titans-movie/.

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Remember the Titans

• In 1971 Virginia high school football was everything to the people of Alexandria. But when the school board was forced to integrate an all-black school with an all-white one, the very foundation of football's tradition was put to the test.
• A high school football team is forced to integrate, bringing together players from different racial backgrounds. Coach Boone, played by Denzel Washington, takes charge and helps the team overcome their differences and work together. Amidst challenges and resistance, the players learn to respect and support each other. Through hard work and determination, they become a united team, overcoming prejudice and achieving success on the field. The movie shows how sports can bring people together and promote understanding, even in the face of adversity. — Evan Almindo
• Suburban Virginia schools have been segregated for generations. One Black and one White high school are closed and the students sent to T.C. Williams High School under federal mandate to integrate. The year is seen through the eyes of the football team where the man hired to coach the Black school is made head coach over the highly successful white coach. Based on the actual events of 1971, the team becomes the unifying symbol for the community as the boys and the adults learn to depend on and trust each other. — LMN13
• In the early 1970s, two schools in Alexandria, Virginia integrate forming T.C. Williams High School. The European American head coach of the Titans is replaced by an African American coach from North Carolina. Tensions arise when players of different races are forced together on the same football team. Many of these tensions are eased during the two-week training camp in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. When players returned to Alexandria the players found the city in turmoil due to the forced desegregation of the high school. As the season progresses the team's success caused the community to accept the changes. After the Titans' perfect season, the team and the city were closer than ever. — WSU Honors ENG 102-13
• Denzel Washington plays Herman Boone , who is hired as the T.C. Williams High football coach over a white coach in Alexandria, Virginia in the early 1970's during a time when the school has just been integrated to allow blacks into the school. — Anonymous
• In 1971 in Alexandria, Virginia, at the desegregated T. C. Williams High School, African American head coach Herman Boone (Denzel Washington) is hired to lead the school's football team. The schools for the whites and the African Americans have been recently brought together under a single roof. The city was the verge of exploding when an African American teenager was killed by a white store owner. Coach Boone takes the coaching position from current head coach Bill Yoast (Will Patton), who has been nominated for the Virginia High School Hall of Fame (with 15 winning seasons under his belt), and who also later decides to move on to other coaching opportunities. Sheryl is Yoast's daughter and is very passionate about the game. She stays with Yoast at every training session and every game. Sheryl is dismayed at Boone being appointed head coach over Yoast. The board explains to Yoast that every other coach in the high school system in the state is white. So, they had to give something to the African Americans. Boone's family includes his wife Carol (Nicole Ari Parker), and 2 daughters Nicky and Karen. In a show of respect and in an attempt to ease racial tension, Boone offers an assistant coaching position to Yoast. Yoast at first refuses Boone's offer but is then tempted to join after the white players pledge to boycott the team if he doesn't participate. The white team was already worried that many of their mates would lose their starting positions under the new coach. Dismayed at the prospect of the students losing their chances at scholarships, Yoast changes his mind and takes up the position of defensive coordinator. Boone holds his first team meeting with mostly African American students in the school gymnasium but is interrupted by the arrival of Yoast and several white students. Yoast accepts Boone's offer to work under him, but Boone warns Yoast that it is his team, and he will not tolerate Yoast undermining him. Camp is in Gettysburg college and the bus leaves on Aug 15th 7:29 AM. The African American and white athletes of the football team frequently clash in racially motivated conflicts at their football camp, including those between captain Gerry Bertier (Ryan Hurst) and Julius Campbell (Wood Harris). Other players include Alan Bosley (Ryan Gosling), Ray Budds (Burgess Jenkins), Petey Jones (Donald Faison), Jerry Harris (Craig Kirkwood), Louie Lastik (Ethan Suplee), Darryl "Blue" Stanton (Earl C. Poitier), Ronnie "Sunshine" Bass (Kip Pardue) and so on. However, after forceful coaxing and rigorous athletic training by Boone, the team achieves both racial harmony and triumph. He makes the team to work together ignoring their racial identity. He makes them learn everything about all the players not from their own race, by spending time with them. In one scene, Coach Boone wakes the team up around 3:00 AM and takes them to a cemetery where Battle of Gettysburg was fought and delivers a speech about hatred. Ray is a blocker who decides not to block properly to make the quarterback Petey look bad. Gerry tells Julius that he has a lot of talent, but he is not playing for the team. Julius hits back pointing out that Ray is not blocking to protect Petey and yet Gerry has done nothing about it. Gerry confronts Ray on the field for not doing his job, and the team starts to come together. Ronnie and Petey team together to make a great quarterback and catcher pair. After returning from football camp, Boone is told by a member of the school board that if he loses even a single game, he will be fired. Gerry introduces Julius to his girlfriend Emma (Kate Bosworth). Emma is not willing to mingle with the African Americans. Subsequently, the Titans go through the season undefeated while battling racial prejudice, before slowly gaining support from the community. Petey is not working out on the offense and Boone benches him. But Yoast takes Petey on the defense as he is fast and works as a blocker for the runners on the other team. Boone and Yoast start trusting each other to the extent that Sheryl starts spending time with Nicky at her place. Gerry and Julius team up to control their respective crowds at school to prevent any racial flareups. When Jerry breaks his wrist in a game, Boone puts Ronnie in as the Quarterback. The move works perfectly. Gerry asks Boone to get Ray off the team. Gerry says Ray missed the block on purpose, which led to Jerry's injury. Just before the state semi-finals, Yoast is told by a member of the school board that he will be inducted into the Hall of Fame after the Titans lose their game, implying that the game has been fixed to ensure Boone gets fired over his race. During the game, when it becomes apparent that the referees are engaging in biased officiating against the Titans, Yoast warns the head official that he will go to the press and expose the scandal unless the game is called fairly. The referees yield and the Titans ultimately win the game, but Yoast is told afterward that his actions have resulted in his loss of candidacy for the Hall of Fame. Later, while celebrating after the victorious game, Bertier is paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident, when he is hit by a truck while accelerating into an intersection. Despite the fact that Bertier is no longer able to play, the team goes on to win the championship. Ten years later, the coaches and athletes from the team reunite to attend Bertier's funeral, as Sheryl (Hayden Panettiere) reiterates the message of racial equality taught by the Titans. In the epilogue, it reveals what many of the Titans are doing, ranging from getting married to going to college.

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10 Best Sports Movies Based On Real-Life Events

Netflix's 2024 comedy with 30% rotten tomatoes score becomes global hit, how did luke skywalker get yoda's lightsaber to offer to grogu.

• Remember the Titans is an inspiring Disney sports film based on a true story with some inaccuracies.
• The T.C. Williams High School football team in real life was dominant, winning games by large margins.
• The racial tension between the players portrayed in the film was exaggerated, but racism was still prevalent during that time period.

Remember the Titans is a classic Disney sports film and while the movie is based on a true story, some of the facts, including the specifics of the injury to Gerry Bertier, are not completely accurate. Released in 2000, Remember the Titans is the inspirational tale of a football team who puts aside prejudices to play together on the field and become friends off it. In Alexandria, Virginia in 1971, T.C. Williams High School, and subsequently its football team, are integrated for the first time. Led by coach Herman Boone (Denzel Washington), the Titans become a symbol of unity that the entire community rallies around .

Hugely celebrated, Remember the Titans is an uplifting, funny, and poignant tale about how sports and empathy can transform a small-minded town into a true community. Remember the Titans is based on real-life events , and T.C. Williams High School, Coach Boone, Coach Bill Yoast (Will Patton), their incredible football streak, and the accident that paralyzed Gerry Bertier are all true to life. However, Remember the Titans also took some major liberties with the truth in its attempts to tell a compelling story.

These truth-based sports movies understand how the struggles, victories, and rivalries of great athletes can be woven into compelling drama.

Gerry Bertier Really Was Paralyzed In A Car Accident

In Remember the Titans , after the Titans' state semi-final win, Gerry Bertier is involved in a car crash that paralyzes him from the waist down. It's a huge loss for the team and a tragic incident for Gerry, his family, and his friends. However, the Titans manage to succeed without their All-American linebacker and defeat George C. Marshall High School for the state title.

In real life, Gerry Bertier was injured in a motor vehicle accident and was paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life. However, the accident came after the state championship , in which Gerry Bertier played, rather than before (via ESPN ). Unfortunately, Gerry Bertier's fate in the film matches what happened in real life, and he did pass away in 1981 after another car accident.

T.C. Williams High School Did Not Have Any Close Games

Nearly every game in Remember the Titans , at least the ones shown in the film, is close, always coming down to the last few seconds or requiring an inspiring speech from Boone or Yoast to ensure victory. In reality, the T.C. Williams Titans were a juggernaut of high school football . Charles Mitchell, a running back for the Titans, said, " There were more than a few times that I felt genuinely sorry for the teams we played ," via ESPN . The Titans ran up the score on many teams, going 13-0, outscoring opponents 265-31, and being named the second-best high school team in the nation (via Northern Virginia Magazine ).

The Racial Tension Between The Players In Remember The Titans Was Worse Than In Real Life

A major theme of Remember the Titans is how football was able to bring together a town stricken with racism, prejudice, and hate. To showcase this, the movie offers plenty of examples of the Black players and coaches being treated horribly by white residents of Alexandria. The first scene has Gerry Bertier and his friends running to yell at Black students entering T.C. Williams along with a crowd of angry citizens. The fact is that T.C. Williams High School was desegregated in 1965 , six years before the Titans won state. By that point, racial tensions were still high, but they were not as violent as depicted in the movie.

According to Joann Patton, who dated Yoast and taught English at T.C. Williams, " The kids behaved a whole lot better than most of the adults ," In the film, Boone tells the Titans that every team they will be facing is completely white, which is patently untrue. Every other team in the league was integrated at that point.

While Remember the Titans embellished some storylines for dramatic purposes doesn't mean the racial tension as a whole was exaggerated. Brown v. Board of Education had only occurred 20 years prior to the start of the film in 1951, Rosa Parks refused to get off a bus 16 years prior, the Black Panther Party had been formed five years earlier, and Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated only three years before the beginning of Remember the Titans . The real-life Titans may not have faced the same overt racism as depicted in the film, but across the U.S., Black people were facing prejudice and hate at every turn.

Sheryl Yoast Passed Away Due To A Heart Condition

Sheryl Yoast (Hayden Panettiere) is Coach Yoast's precocious daughter who cares more about games like football than dolls. In real life, Yoast had four daughters, and none of them, including Sheryl, were particularly interested in football beyond showing up to games with their father. While Yoast was frustrated with the decision to only portray one of his daughters in the film, it was his other three daughters who gave their blessing for the choice. It may have been a way to honor their sister who passed away from an undetected heart defect in 1996 at the age of 34.

Gerry Bertier's Girlfriend Emma And His Best Friend Ray Are Fictional

Many characters in Remember the Titans are based on real-life people, but two major ones are completely fictional. Emma Hoyt (Kate Bosworth), Gerry Bertier's girlfriend, and Ray Budds (Burgess Jenkins), Gerry's prejudiced best friend, are not actual people. Gerry's real girlfriend was named Becky, and she was Yoast's neighbor. Though these aren't real characters, they are both important to the fictional Gerry's arc in the story. It's one thing for Gerry to stand up for the Black players on his team against other schools, but it means a lot more when Gerry stands up to his friends .

Ryan Hurst who portrays Gerry Bertier also voices Thor in God of War: Ragnarök and plays Beta in The Walking Dead .

The Gettysburg Trip Was Fictionalized For Remember The Titans

The real Titans team did take their summer training trip to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, but what happens from there in Remember the Titans is complete fiction. In the film, a number of major moments happen at the historic battlefield. But in fact, there were no 3 AM runs, no forced cuts from the team for those unable to "survive" camp, and there was no inspirational speech from Coach Boone at the Gettysburg cemetery explaining how the white and Black players had to come together. It's a shame considering it's one of the scenes that make Remember the Titans one of Denzel Washington's best performances .

After the speech in the movie, the players on the team come together on this training trip, at first hating each other, only to bond on the field. In reality, while many players admitted there were fights on the field and in the locker room, they say this was a symptom of hyper-competition rather than racism. With two schools merging, only a few players would be able to keep their starting spots, so there was plenty of jealousy and anger.

A Brick Wasn't Thrown Through Coach Boone's Window, A Toilet Was

In one scene of Remember the Titans , Sheryl Yoast is visiting Coach Boone, another event that never happened, when a brick crashes through his window, frightening his family. It's a startling scene that shows just how high the tension in Alexandria is with Boone being head coach of the football team. But the real story is even more shocking. It wasn't a brick that was thrown through Boone's window but an entire toilet.

Boone talks about this in the DVD commentary, saying,

" I guess Disney, being the family movie production company that it is, felt that to depict a toilet stool coming through your window was a bit much ... I've never gotten over that incident that particular night, because I could never understand how anybody could feel so bad about another human being as to throw a toilet commode through a window."

As much as Remember the Titans takes creative liberties, this incident is a heavy reminder that even if the racism presented in the film wasn't exactly true to their exact history, the danger and daily hate Boone and other people of color faced (and still face) in America was very real.

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