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Remember The Titans: Prejudice And Racism

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Remember the Titans is a movie set in the 1970’s where two black and white segregated schools integrate to form T.C Williams High School, creating a new interracial football team. The film begins with a scene where blacks and whites are seen rioting and protesting over a black teenager who was killed by a white storeowner. There is evidently much disrespect and prejudice shown towards members of the African-American community in the film, which is generally fostered by the lack of understanding between the two Black and White cultures. The disrespect is displayed through the racist terms used in the movie, and the constant criticism and derogatory comments directed towards those of the opposite race, especially by Gerry, his mother, and his …show more content…
At the beginning of the film, players of both the black and white community were unhappy with the integration of the school. The black players were afraid that they would be discriminated against due to their skin colour, and the white players were afraid that they may lose their starting positions. This is evidently where tension aroused between the members of both communities, which resulted in aggression between the two races. This aggression can be seen through the fights between Julius and Gerry at the beginning of the movie, as well as the other black and white members of the team. However, they knew that this tension could not continue if they wanted to have a successful season. Eventually, the team is able to adapt to the new changes and create unity using teamwork in the game. This is shown through the progressing friendship of Julius and Gerry, as well as the other members of the team who create strong bonds with the opposite …show more content…
The players do not interact much with the opposite race at first, displaying they’re cognitive dissonance. However, after going through the phases of “preparation” and “maintenance”, they realize that they all need to accept each other in order to achieve a common goal. Over time they create a bond with each other, and their attitudes change, allowing them to overcome their cognitive dissonance. Another example of cognitive dissonance demonstrated in this movie is when Bertier kicks Ray off the team. Ray had strong negative opinions about the black players from the very beginning of the movie, and he refuses to accept the new change. On the field, Ray refused to block for Petey due to the fact that he is black. This demonstrated how Ray wanted to avoid conflict between what he thinks and what he does; he does not like black people, therefore he did not block for them. Gerry was also much like Ray in the beginning; he stuck to in-group bias, and he believed that whites had more power than blacks. However, as the captain, he had to overcome his cognitive dissonance for the benefit of the whole

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