“White-Side, Strong-Side”: A Critical Examination of Race and Leadership in Remember the Titans

Abstract

Media has long been regarded as influential in shaping and altering individuals’ perceptions of race and interracial interactions. The following article examines Remember the Titans (Bruckheimer & Yakin, 2000) as a communicative text using critical race theory as an interpretive lens. This framework facilitated the examination of pervasive stereotypes and systematic oppression that privileges Whites. In particular, this article considers issues of leadership and interracial interactions within the context of sport. The authors’ findings contribute to the heuristic nature of critical race theory by identifying a visual text that is reflective of a time in U.S. history where racial tensions were high and a Black male in a leadership role in sport was anomaly; thus, we offer further evidence that film can function as an educational tool designed to improve media literacy and raise awareness of social injustices, with the goal of improving the social realities of people of color.