WHAT I REMEMBER ABOUT THE TITANS
I watched the movie, "Remember the Titans," last week. It was the quintessential Disney flick: I laughed, I cried, and I made gagging sounds. Oh sure, it is an inspirational storyline: black coach wins over a skeptical and bigoted community, unites his black and white players, and captures the state championship on a last-second touchdown.
In the lead role, Denzel Washington is mighty compelling as Coach Boone. But I am left wondering if the moral of the story is that winning covers over a multitude of sins: the former coach turned assistant, the white All-Americans, and even the prejudiced white girlfriend of one of the players are won over to Boone because the team is winning. Hey, everybody loves a champion.
Is this our best hope for racial progress? To be sure, white and black working together does make for a better team, whether it is on the football field, in an urban congregation, or in the corporate boardroom. But what about the noble people who seek harmony and understanding, and get a 7-4 season for it, or a moderately successfully church, or a barely profitable small business? If such efforts to cross and respect cultures don't lead to undefeated seasons or explosive church growth or trendy technological innovation, will they galvanize the kind of momentum and feel-good spirit our fictional Titans were able to manufacture?
We saw how much the general public harpooned the New York Times over the Jayson Blair incident. (I wonder who in the movie would've jumped off the "feel-good bandwagon" if the Titans had lost a game.) Race-related initiatives must be judged by their inherit rightness, not by their short-term results. I personally support affirmative action not just because of the positive and productive benefits it accrues to campuses and companies, but also because racial discrimination did exist and does exist, and must be countered.
The recent split decision by the Supreme Court represents for me a victory of sorts. But I cringe at the thought that most Americans are conditioned to think about race as it is presented in movies like "Remember the Titans." Support racially enlightened policy and relations to the extent that leads to winning. Abandon such efforts the second it stops inspiring or benefiting me. Get off the team's bandwagon the second it starts losing. Is this what we have to look forward to the minute something bad related to affirmative action happens?
I watched the movie, "Remember the Titans," last week. It was the quintessential Disney flick: I laughed, I cried, and I made gagging sounds. Oh sure, it is an inspirational storyline: black coach wins over a skeptical and bigoted community, unites his black and white players, and captures the state championship on a last-second touchdown.
In the lead role, Denzel Washington is mighty compelling as Coach Boone. But I am left wondering if the moral of the story is that winning covers over a multitude of sins: the former coach turned assistant, the white All-Americans, and even the prejudiced white girlfriend of one of the players are won over to Boone because the team is winning. Hey, everybody loves a champion.
Is this our best hope for racial progress? To be sure, white and black working together does make for a better team, whether it is on the football field, in an urban congregation, or in the corporate boardroom. But what about the noble people who seek harmony and understanding, and get a 7-4 season for it, or a moderately successfully church, or a barely profitable small business? If such efforts to cross and respect cultures don't lead to undefeated seasons or explosive church growth or trendy technological innovation, will they galvanize the kind of momentum and feel-good spirit our fictional Titans were able to manufacture?
We saw how much the general public harpooned the New York Times over the Jayson Blair incident. (I wonder who in the movie would've jumped off the "feel-good bandwagon" if the Titans had lost a game.) Race-related initiatives must be judged by their inherit rightness, not by their short-term results. I personally support affirmative action not just because of the positive and productive benefits it accrues to campuses and companies, but also because racial discrimination did exist and does exist, and must be countered.
The recent split decision by the Supreme Court represents for me a victory of sorts. But I cringe at the thought that most Americans are conditioned to think about race as it is presented in movies like "Remember the Titans." Support racially enlightened policy and relations to the extent that leads to winning. Abandon such efforts the second it stops inspiring or benefiting me. Get off the team's bandwagon the second it starts losing. Is this what we have to look forward to the minute something bad related to affirmative action happens?
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