[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 27, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E222-E223]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ``REMEMBER THE TITANS'': EXTOLLING THE VIRTUES OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 27, 2001

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate Black 
History Month and to salute the millions of African-Americans who have 
made enormous contributions to our culture.
  We in the Eighth District of Virginia are particularly proud to 
celebrate Black History

[[Page E223]]

Month in 2001, for during the past few months Americans have become 
familiar with one of the greatest stories of racial reconciliation in 
our nation's history. I refer to ``Remember the Titans,'' which is the 
story of the integration of the T.C. Williams High School football 
team. ``Remember the Titans'' was released last fall by Disney Pictures 
and features actors Denzel Washington and Will Patton.
  In 1971, the Alexandria City Council voted to integrate T.C. Williams 
High School, a decision that was criticized by many in the community, 
as T.C. Williams was one of the first schools to be integrated in the 
Commonwealth of Virginia. We were still in the midst of the Vietnam 
War, and on the domestic front, relations between those of different 
races were strained and unstable.
  During the summer of 1971, Coach Herman Boone, an African-American 
who had been coaching in North Carolina, secured the Head Coach 
position at T.C. Williams High School, a decision that infuriated the 
white football players and coaching staff already in place at the 
school. Many of the football players threatened to leave the team and 
not play football, rather than play for a black coach. Mr. Bill Yoast 
had been the Assistant Coach at T.C. Williams High School and was next 
in line to be named Head Coach when Coach Boone arrived on the scene. 
Coach Yoast remained the Assistant Coach of the football team, and he 
too struggled with the decision that had been made, even contemplating 
retiring from coaching football.
  After a rocky beginning, Coach Boone and Coach Yoast focused on the 
same goal: to have the best football team in Virginia, and the country, 
a goal which they achieved. The Titans won every game that they played, 
and ended the season as the second best high school team in the nation.
  The 1971 T.C. Williams High School football team embodies the ideals 
we celebrate during Black History Month. In a sense, the football 
players along with Coaches Boone and Yoast became a family, one which 
united not only their divided school, but their community as well. 
Friendships were formed between black and white students that are 
sustained to this day. We should recall the lessons of the Titans 
today: to look beyond the outward appearance, and to look instead, as 
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us, at the content of character.
  The integration of T.C. Williams High School in 1971, and the 
peaceful transition that followed after the community as a whole 
gathered behind the team, paved the way for other schools in Northern 
Virginia to integrate. I am extremely proud to represent the City of 
Alexandria and especially T.C. Williams High School, which today 
remains one of the most culturally diverse high schools in Virginia, 
where 40 different languages are spoken daily by students from over 
sixty countries. The student body at T.C. Williams High School is very 
reflective of the diversity, and more importantly, of the unity, of our 
great nation.
  I am very proud, Mr. Speaker, that the story of Coach Herman Boone 
and this remarkable team will forever be a part of Black History Month.

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