“Remember the Titans” is a well-known movie throughout America. This movie presents a school in 1971 that integrates both black and whites for the first time. That summer a black teenager had been killed by a white store owner. Therefore, there was even more tension between these two races at this time. The rest of the movie focuses on the football team at this school and how the whites and the blacks have to work through their own discriminations in order to play football and work as a team.

I think this movie is excellent at displaying what integration looked like during this time. This movie displays many key concepts we have discussed throughout this course, such as power, single stories, and othering are just a few. The movie displays the concept of power many times. For example, the former white head coach of the football team is removed from his position by the school board to allow for a black coach instead. However, the white coach remains as an assistant coach for the team. This demonstrates a change in power for the way the football team will be run. The white football players are nervous and upset because they are assuming that they will not get playing time this season due to the change in head coaches. However, among multiple discussions between the two coaches it is clear that the black coach only wants to play the best players and that color will not matter.

Othering is displayed in the movie multiple times. One example that stuck out to me the most was when all the players got on the buses to go to football camp. All of the black players got on one bus and all of the white players got on another bus. This is an example of othering (by both races) because neither side wanted to integrate and combine among each other due to their differences. This is also seen among the player’s parents because they express that they don’t want their kids mixing with blacks.

This movie also illustrates the concept of the single-story we discussed. One example, in particular, would be when the coach enforces the players to get to know their roommates while at camp. While two teammates were “trying” to get to know each other the white teammate assumed that the black player didn’t have a dad or if he did have a dad his dad didn’t have a job. All of the assumptions that this white player made was based on a single story that black people tended to, unfortunately, have during this time.

Overall, “Remember the Titans” is a very good movie that represents many of the concepts that we have discussed as a class. It illustrates single stories, power, and othering. I think this movie is good at demonstrating what life was like during this time. This movie is also an excellent example of how these individuals worked through discrimination and injustice.

The diary of systemic injustice that I am going to share in this blog post displays the concept of the master-slave dialectic that was covered at the beginning of the course. I would like to believe and say that I am someone who stands up for the rights of all citizens and would give a helping hand to those in need. In Columbus, there are a decent amount of homeless people throughout the city. I am realizing that as I am coming up and about to pass a homeless person on the sidewalk, I immediately put up a guard and try to act like I don’t notice them. This is systemic injustice because I claim to be someone who is willing to help those in need but instead, I do not when I see a homeless person on the side of the street. I believe the reason I do this is that I am assuming, they are going to ask me for money, and I believe that if I give them money that they will use that donation towards drugs. Unfortunately, the way society is, I believe many people view homeless people as potential drug abusers. The homeless people represent the slave in this concept because they do not hold power within society; they have little to nothing. There are often negative biases toward homeless individuals.

The other day when I was walking home from the gym, I passed a homeless guy sitting outside of a CVS. As stated earlier, I put up a guard and didn’t want to engage with him. As I was walking by, he says something to me, and I just say “sorry” and keep walking. As I get a few steps past him my mind is replaying what he said. “Can I have your water?” is what he asked me. I stopped and turned around and asked him “did you want my water bottle?” and he nodded from the ground where he was sitting. I gave it to him because that’s something I can do and that I know he needs. I have the power and the choice to help those in need. Unfortunately, those who have power (masters) do not usually provide the help that these people usually need. I am happy that I turned around and gave that to him. However, I really need to break the stereotype that I hold in my beliefs that all homeless people are looking for money to use on drugs. That’s not fair to them.

The video attached to this blog explains some of the main reasons why the homeless rate is so high today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7SdWyH4afE&feature=emb_logo¹

Picture displaying the living conditions of many homeless people.¹

References:

Homelessness – NCCJ. https://www.nccj.org/homelessness. Accessed 22 Oct. 2020.

Marjane Satrapi wrote the autobiographical comic, Persepolis. This novel describes Marjane’s childhood and how the events in her life led to the person she is today. Marjane spent her childhood years growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Before this book, I had heard about the Islamic Revolution but never knew the details of this revolution and the effects it had on the people of Iran.

To have a good understanding of the Islamic Revolution we have to look back to the year 1921. This was the year that Reza Khan overthrew the government because of the fact the Shah had just signed the Anglo-Persian Agreement (School History). This agreement ultimately gave Britain the ability to come into Iran as they pleased to obtain oil and other resources, and this upset many during this time. Khan eventually became the next Shah and was the first ruler of the Pahlavi Dynasty. The natural resources of Iran had a huge impact on the political engagement this Iran had with other countries. Mohammad Mosaddegh was elected as the prime minister in 1951 (School History). Mosaddegh promised to take the oil industry back from foreign control. Mosaddegh was not a communist but he was supported by the communist party. This caused some concern to other countries, the United States specifically, and led him to be put under house arrest by the Shah.

In the 1970s the oil boom resulted in the Shah family becoming extremely wealthy, but the economic benefits did not reach much of the population within the community. During this same time, many Muslims did not like the Shah’s modernization and lack of tradition and culture. The Cinema Rex which is located in Abadan, Iran was set on fire on August 19^th in 1978. Some refer to the fire of the Cinema Rex as the start of the Islamic Revolution. The Islamic Revolution lasted for 1 year, 1 month, and 4 days (Wikipedia).

Please take a look at the video I have attached below. It really helps tie the Islamic Revolution together. This was a huge event that took place in history and still has effects in today’s society.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNLrsWjOqWM

Resources:

“Iranian Revolution Facts, History, Chronology, Outcome.” School History, https://schoolhistory.co.uk/notes/iranian-revolution/. Accessed 24 Sept. 2020.

“Iranian Revolution.” Wikipedia, 24 Sept. 2020. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Iranian_Revolution&oldid=980065962.