Remember the Titans - Racial Barriers

I recently watched the movie Remember the Titans. The movies is about a football team that is integrated to black and whites at their high school. It was based in 1971 where the team went undefeated. The story talks about all the racial controversy that they had and the struggles they went through to eventually win the state championship.

I wanted to look more into the racial side of the movie. I wanted to know if it was really as harsh and racially controversial on the team as depicted in the movie. From the articles I read the racial tensions were not as high as depicted in the movie. The school was actually integrated in 1963 and by 1971 a a lot those tensions were diminished. There were actually other schools that were integrated as well that they played against. The team really did not have the racial tensions as depicted in the movie. The only tensions were due to the competition to gain a spot on the team. Although the racial barriers were not completely broken down by 1971, when the team won the championship it brought the team closer together. It says there were no protestors outside the school on the first day like it was depicted in the movie. Kids adjusted well to the integrated school system and did so a lot better than adults.

After looking at the true story of the TC Williams team, there was a lot that was changed for Hollywood. Although it was a good movie and told a good story, much of it was wrong and did not depict the team and what went on accurately.

http://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/rememberthetitans.php
http://espn.go.com/page2/s/closer/020808.html
http://ww2.odu.edu/ao/honors/our_journal/Vol_1/Amy_S_Tate.pdf