Racial Tension In Remember The Titans

Based on a true story, the award winning movie, Remember the titans, released in 2000, stars Denzel Washington as African American coach Herman Boone and Will Patton as Caucasian coach Bill Yoast. Remember the Titans takes place in the early 1970’s in Alexandria, VA. The movie is based on the integration of a black school with a white school known as T.C. Williams High. Racial tension is raised within the community when the first African American, Coach Herman Boone, is hired. Coach Boone takes the head coach position from coach Yoast, which did not come as a welcome change. The two coaches set aside their differences in the best interest of their newly integrated football team. The team constantly fights throughout the duration of football

Conflict theory proposes that members with in two different groups of society will compete over the same limited resources. In terms of Remember the Titans the two groups within the society, which can be referenced as the football team, are the two different races on the team, the whites and the blacks. This theory plays out when the two races fight and compete over their playing times and starting positions. The white players, just like the black players, for a lack of a better word, played dirty to ensure a starting position for themselves or a teammate of the same

As football camp ended and the team returned back to their community, the race-conflict was not over. The community itself still did not want to integrate. Just a couple examples of the community not willing to integrate was showed by the diner not allowing one of the black football players into the diner along with his fellow white teammates. It’s just like when the girlfriend of Gerry Bertier did not even want to shake the hand of Julius Campbell. Race-conflict can also be seen thru racial profiling. Racial profiling is typically defined as the police use of race to enact law enforcement activity. When Julius was on his way to Gerry’s house, a cop stopped him. Julius was very nervous because he knew police officers liked to racially profile, but fortunately, the officer was just stopping him to congratulate him and the football