Remember the Titans depicts a story which takes place in the early 1970s in Virginia; two schools of different races (one white and the other black) merge into one (T. C. Williams School) and Herman Boone, who is African-American, is hired to coach the football team. He replaces Coach Bill Yoast who is white. Consequently, this causes a lot of friction and racial tension among the players, and the school. Herman Boone, played by Denzel Washington, must beat all odds to unify the already divided team and deliver a perfect season record or else lose his job.
Throughout the entire movie, Coach Boone shows exemplary leadership skills as he strives to change segregation in schools in Virginia along racial lines. He takes up the role of teaching the students to play better football and to be a team and embrace their racial differences and become a symbol of unity for the whole community. Coach Boone, realised that dividing the teams during training created unhealthy competition between the black and white sides. He resolved this by making the two racial groups eat together and share rooms. Additionally, the players are required to know each other personally. This tactic is a good illustration of the contact hypothesis where individuals, especially teenagers, are put together to know each other better (Travers, 2000). This approach is successful between two boys in the team, Julius and Gerry. The two young men are made to interact in their room and during training and later they realise that their clichéd thoughts and discriminations against each other hinder the team to perform at its best. Coach Boone's leadership prowess is clearly illustrated in the story of these two teenagers whom, under normal circumstances, would hardly get along (Travers, 2000). One of the two boys is a typical white boy who attains his goals by using his wealthy parents' influence while the other is a hostile black boy who does not do well as a team player. Despite their backgrounds, the two boys get along well and remain lifelong friends. Summarily, Coach Boone uses football to unite a highly segregated Virginia community and amid many challenges he manages to achieve this seemingly impossible fete. Such an achievement is proof of quality leadership from the coach who was racially discriminated against by the White community.
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The movie has a powerful message about racial discrimination and superbly portrays this vice. Racism is still a serious issue in the society hundreds of years after slavery was abolished. It is deeply deep-seated in the minds of the majority of the people due to the old and traditional beliefs of racial groups (Travers, 2000). The only contrast between the era of slavery and the present is that nowadays racial attitudes are not so distinct and discrimination is at a low level. Some centuries ago, blacks worked for the wealthy whites, chained and whipped like animals; in the present times, they are perceived to be in figurative chains of poverty, disease, and inequality (Travers, 2000).
One of the strengths of Remember the Titans is portraying real-life conflicts and effectively offering strategies for managing these conflicts. As an illustration, Coach Boone requires each White student to meet up with a Black student and get to know each other at a personal level. This strategy enables the students to embrace their racial differences and consequently play as one united team. On the negative side, the movie can be accused of depictions of gender inequality. As an example, Sheryl Yoast is passionate about football, but the coaches always disregard her views and opinions. In one scene, Coach Boone tells her she is better off playing with dolls than on the football pitch. The film portrays the issue of gender inequality very well, but disappointingly it does not provide ways to resolve this vice (Travers, 2000).
Conclusion
This film is about racism and the role of leadership in managing racial differences and conflicts. The leadership styles of Herman Boone and Bill Yoast positively influenced the performance of the team. Racism is present in our society and should be addressed to avoid severe racial conflicts in the future. Competent and sound leadership is one of the main factors that can significantly aid in eliminating racism.
Reference
Travers, P. (2000, September, 29). Remember the Titans . Rollingstone . Retrieved from https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/remember-the-titans-120555/ .
