Remember The Titans

As America tried to make her peace with the wounds of Vietnam and the scars of segregation, schools implemented plans for racial diversity. Swann v Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education had long been a closed case when new events in North Carolina caused it to be reopened.

This time white plaintiffs allege that race-based integration plans discriminate against children who are not black. Three decades after the Supreme Court declared it would

eliminate from the public schools all vestiges of state-imposed segregation...

a new set of white plaintiffs assert race-conscious admission policies are discriminatory. In other words, they allege the Swann case has become unconstitutional.

But the climate of America is much different as the Swann case returns to the Supreme Court. The turbulent days of 1971 are completely unknown by an entire generation. Even for people who lived through gut-wrenching days of political unrest, student protest and seemingly endless war in Vietnam, those times are becoming a distant memory.

It seems fitting, then, to Remember the Titans as they and their coaches confronted not only the internal pressures of integration, but also the external pressures of political unrest. To have become champions despite formidable odds against them is a tribute to the character of T. C. Williams High, its football team, and their coaches. It is also a testament to the power of the human spirit in overcoming the most extraordinary obstacles imaginable.

NOTE:

AwesomeStories gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the Original Titans and Gerry Bertier's sister, Becky Britt.