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Kevin Santillan

Professor Granillo

English 103

18 May 2019

A Thing of the Past?

"Movies are always cultural texts, loaded with ideas about a particular culture, either

consciously or unintentionally expressed." (Silverman and Rader 223) For decades movies have

been a platform for people to talk about important issues, problems we as society have or simply

just to entertain the audience. Directors throughout movies uses sign and signifiers to send hints

to the audience so that they can interpret the message trying to be relayed. From the real story,

Remember the Titans takes the look at the start of integration in Alexandria, both the prejudice

and the friendships that lead from overcoming prejudice. The movie ​Remember the Titans​,

directed by Boaz Yakin mainly targets the African American community as well as the

Caucasian community to bring up the issue of racial discrimination; however there are those who

believe the issue needs to be to surfaced. By looking at the movie through a critical race theory

using internalized racism, institutionalized racism, racialism, white privilege, racial realism, and

semiotics one can see how the community in Alexandria had many flaws; however, we as a

community have many flaws and things to work on till we can fully come together as one. While

there are those who believe racial discrimination is a thing of the past there are many incidents

that have happened recently showing that racial discrimination is very much still a problem.

Some people appear to believe that there is only such an argument. It goes like that: If it

was mistaken for racist discrimination to consider whites around black people in the time, so it's
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mistaken for racist discrimination to consider black people over white people in the present. It

was, as a matter of fact, mistaken for racist discrimination to consider whites around black

people in the time, so it is, as a matter of fact, mistaken for racist discrimination to favor black

people over white people.​ ​People whether it was back in 1971 in Alexandria or now in today's

day in age believe that there is no racial discrimination happening and that it is a thing of the

past. Racial discrimination has be going on for years and years although it might seem to have

stopped for periods of time it has found a way to creep back into society quietly and discreetly.

Back in 1971 in Alexandria, Virginia racial discrimination was huge prior to the T.C. Williams

Titans it wasn't till after all the hate the young African players had to endure that it was put to

stop. Racial discrimination has crept back into today's society because we see it a lot nowadays

no matter the race whether you’re black, white, asian, latino. In today's society there is racial

discrimination whether one wants to acknowledge it or not for example “​8.2 million marijuana

arrests between 2001 and 2010, 88% were for simply having marijuana. Nationwide, the arrest

data revealed one consistent trend: significant racial bias. Despite roughly equal usage rates,

Blacks are 3.73 times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana.” (​War on Marijuana

in Black and White​) This analysis shows how our society is catered towards the caucasian

community because this study shows white privilege because there is a less percent chance of

getting arrested for marijuana being caucasian and shows that even the government officials

believe that “whites” are superior to all other races.

​ as released in 2000 but the movie took place in the

The ​movie ​Remember the Titans, w

year 1971 in Alexandria, Virginia. ​Remember the Titans ​is a movie about one coach that goes by

the name Herman Boone who has the task of bringing a racially divided team together. Many of
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the Caucasian families and players did not take liking to the schools new coaching choice which

brought up much racial discrimination and hate between the two communities affecting one

another, with coach Boone being named the head coach he had the whole team pack their bags

and get ready for a summer camp away from home. It was there where coach Boone first saw all

the racial tension between the two communities, but was not going to allow the tension to move

forward with them into the season, so Boone made all players learn about one another bringing

them close as a team. By the end of the summer camp the team was much closer but on the first

day of school it was almost like all that was thrown out the window as the Caucasian community

were waiting outside the school protesting the newly segregated school. The hostility between

the two communities started to simmer down as the football season goes on and the team keeps

winning meaning they stay undefeated and making it to the state championship game, but before

the state championship game the Titans captain Gerry was involved in a car accident that left him

paralyzed from the waist down which generated a lot of tension between the two coaches boone

and yoast. When the state championship finally arrives they are all out of sorts but find a way to

come together as a team and overcome the deficit making history being the first desegregated

football team to win a state championship game.

In Alexandria, Virginia in the year 1971 before T.C. Williams was the first desegregated

there were three high school in the area of Alexandria. None of the high schools in the area were

segregated by law, but were segregated by the communities. The three high schools were George

Washington which had a large population of African-American students, Hammond which was

predominantly Caucasian students no African-American students, and T.C. williams which was

located in the center of Alexandria which was 20 percent non Caucasian. With the desegregation
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of George Washington and Hammond came the decision of who would be the new head football

coach between Boone and Yoast. Most of the community believed that coach Yoast would be

named the new head coach of T.C. Williams. In 1971, education board members aroused conflict

in Alexandria, VA when they incorporated two predominantly segregated higher schools into

one, T.C. Williams. They also decided to call Herman Boone (Denzel Washington) , the African

American coach from North Carolina, the current head football coach. The movement angered

yet more people in the group, as T.C. Had been fortunate enough under head coach Bill Yoast

(will Patton) , who himself was led to the Virginia high school football coach Hall of Fame.

Yoast’s participants from past ages feared their starting places were in danger with Boone work,

particularly because of his race. The board chos coach Boone because they had felt it was

necessary to give the African-American community something. When coach Boone was told he

didn't want to accept the job because back in North Carolina he was passed up on a job that was

rightfully his just like coach Yoast in this situation.

When watching ​Remember the Titans ​and looking at it through critical race theory one

can see that there is the presence of internalized racism. Internalized racism can be seen during

the scene where some of the players both white and black go to eat a restaurant that was whites

only but one of the white kids who was from California insisted that it was fine but they ended

up getting kicked out. One of the black players said “you don't know what it's like to be in this

skin because you have pale skin and straight hair.” (​Remember the Titans ​00:53:26 - 00:54:44)

This is a great example of internalized racism because the white restaurant worker or owner

kicks the black kids out making them feel inferior or less of human from them because the color

of their skin making them hate their own skin color.

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Remember the Titans l​ ooks to target the African American community along with the

caucasian community about bringing the issue of racial discrimination and institutionalized

racism to surface. When talking about racial discrimination one has to also take into

consideration the toll it takes on one's mental health. In today's world some people generally

believe that racial discrimination is a thing of the past and that it doesn't exist today as it did in

the past around the time this movie is to have taken place. “Institutionalized racism refers to the

incorporation of racist policies and practices in the institutions by which a society operates.”

(Tyson 322) An example of institutionalized racism in the movie would be the education or

school environment the young African American kids are exposed to. “Internalized racism

results from the psychological programming by which a racist society indoctrinates people of

color to believe in white superiority.” (Tyson 323) Internalized racism has a lot to do with one's

psychological or mental health in other words because it makes one believe that they are less of

human to others; while making them hate their own skin and uncomfortable in it. However,

internalized racism isn't the only critical race theory being used; the director also uses racialism.

Racialism is “the belief in racial superiority, inferiority, and purity based on the

conviction that moral and intellectual characteristics, just like physical characteristics, are

biological properties that differentiate the races.” (Tyson 322) In the movie ​Remember the Titans

coach Boone and his wife are moving into a predominantly Caucasian neighborhood and some of

the neighbors look out their windows and utter “are those the movers”. (​Remember the Titans

00:04:34 - 00:04:40) This scene is an example of racialism because the white neighbors believe

they are superior to coach Boone and his family while feeling they have the right to make such

comments about them. Racialism is also apparent in one of the opening scenes where the
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African-American community is protesting a white store owners store because he had shot and

killed a African-American teen. (​Remember the Titans ​00:01:31- 00:01:44) Racialism is shown

in this scene because if the roles were switched the gun would of never been shot but since the

man was Caucasian he knew he was or feels “superior” so he wouldn't get much of consequence.

Racialism is also used in the names they call the African - American players. Throughout the

movie the caucasian players call them “colored”, “boy”, and “animals.” In the movie there is a

scene where they are all in school and a fight happens between the African-American community

and the Caucasian community. Julius and Gerry break up the fight and the white kid utters to him

“....looks like you went to the zoo and made new friends.” (​Remember the Titans ​01:00:56 -

01:01:35) This scene depicts racialism because the Caucasian student is bashing the

African-American students and making them feel lesser of a human by calling them names such

as “animals” just because of their skin color. The concept of racialism also ties in with the idea

of white privilege.

According to Tyson white privilege is “can be defined as “the myriad of social race”

advantages, benefits, and courtesies that come with being a member of the dominant race”.

(Tyson 337) The scene where the African-American community is protesting the Caucasian

mans store is also a prime example of white privilege because he wasn't faced with any jail time,

but if the roles would have been reversed it would have easily been jail time or even worse.

Gerry Bertier was talking with his white teammates and with coach Yoast before they met coach

Boone and said “hell, why don't you just kick them all off the team? I don't want to play with any

of those black animal.” (​Remember the Titans ​00:03:17 - 00:03:21) This scene depicts white

privilege because Gerry tells coach Yoast to kick them all of the team because to him he believes
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that they shouldn't have fight for a position with the African community. By Gerry saying that

the white players should automatically play and keep their spots.

With racialism and white privilege being present throughout Alexandria one could say

racial realism is very much present. Racial realism is “the conviction that racial equality will

never be achieved in the United States and that African Americans should, therefore, stop

believing that it will.” (Tyson 340) When the T.C. Williams football team leaves for camp there

is a scene where Gerry and Julius are talking about an incident that happened during practice and

Julius said “I’m supposed to wear myself out for the team? What team? No. No, what I’m gonna

do is, I’m gonna look out for myself, and I’m gonna get mine.” (​Remember the Titans 0​ 0:30:26 -

00:30:37)​ In this scene it's obvious that julius has no hope that both the African and Caucasian

community can come together to become one team. Along with some of the critical race theory

concepts one can see using semiotics how racial discrimination is a problem.

When talking about semiotics “the main idea is that everything is a “sign.”....because you

encounter them everywhere.” (Silverman and Rader 13) In ​Remember the Titans ​there are many

signs and signifiers used throughout the movie. When it was time for the first day school a lot of

the caucasian parents had felt it was right to protest the desegregation of T.C. Williams and held

signs that said “we hate busing”, “stop busing”, and “parent power”. (​Remember the Titans

00:44:05 - 00:44:15) The sign is all the protesting and posters the parents are doing and it is

signifying that they do not agree with what is happening at all and that the schools should go

back to being segregated. Another sign is when Gerry introduced his girlfriend to Julius he went

to shake her hand but she only looked at it then Gerry and scoffed while walking away from the

two. (​Remember the Titans 0​ 0:44:57 - 00:45:03) The director zooms in on Julius’s hand
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represents the black community and Gerry’s girlfriend represents the white community. By

Julius and Gerry’s girlfriend shaking eachothers hands it'll be like both communities are

accepting one another and moving forward to leave discrimination in the past. Other signs caught

while looking at the movie through a semiotics lens are the names the two communities call one

another throughout the movie. The names used in the movie that point towards racial

discrimination are “boy” as trying to make the opposite race feel smaller, “animal or animals”

picking on the dark skin tone of the African-American students, and “cracker” used to describe

the Caucasian players and students.

We as a community did not start the fire between races and start racial discrimination to

make one race feel superior to the other. However, with that being said it is very important for us

to try to make a change and start heading in the right direction just as the T.C. Williams Titans

did back in Alexandria, Virginia in 1971. Without being able to overcome our differences

between races and communities we can never reach peace amongst us all and we will

continuously being fueling the the flames with gasoline dividing this nation even more than it

already is. Ways to change this are electing officials that have the right motives that do not want

to divide but rather bring us together. We need to take a page out of coach Boone’s book and

learn one thing about all of the communities and feel what it's like to walk in their shoes so we

can better understand and be equipped to face this situation head on.

Although we are living in a generation where violence is at an all time low we have a

long way to go. Movies have taken a huge part in being a platform for ​people to talk about

important issues, problems we as society have or simply just to entertain the audience.

​ as a great platform to showcase the racial discrimination between

Remember the Titans w
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different communities and plays as sort of as a guideline for our generation to follow. If we as

people cannot come together as one nation we will never find peace let alone prosperity, so we

must find a way to leave all racial discrimination and racism in the past and turn over a new leaf.
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Works Cited

Aclu. “The War on Marijuana in Black and White.” ​American Civil Liberties Union,​ American

Civil Liberties Union,

www.aclu.org/issues/smart-justice/sentencing-reform/war-marijuana-black-and-white.

Carole. “Remember The Titans.” ​AwesomeStories.com​,

www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Remember-The-Titans/Summary.

Jenkins, Mark. “Remember the Facts.” ​Washington City Paper​,

www.washingtoncitypaper.com/arts/article/13020759/remember-the-facts.

“Remember the Titans.” ​IMDb​, IMDb.com, 29 Sept. 2000, www.imdb.com/title/tt0210945/.

Silverman, Jonathan, and Dean Rader. “The World Is a Text: Writing About Visual and Popular

Culture, Updated Compact Edition.” ​Google Play,​ Google,

play.google.com/books/reader?id=rmRCDwAAQBAJ&pg=GBS.PT15.

Tyson, Lois. “Critical Theory Today, A User-Friendly Guide.” ​Google Play,​ Google,

play.google.com/books/reader?id=OhDEBAAAQBAJ&pg=GBS.PT321.w.2.0.85.

“Watch Remember The Titans | Prime Video.” ​Amazon,​ Amazon,

www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B00HME4QLG/ref=atv_hm_hom_1_c_iEgOEZ_2_1.