Glory Road (2006)

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Glory Road was released on January 13, 2006, in the USA. The American Drama film was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Films. The movie storyline was written by Cristopher Cleveland, Bettina Gilois, and directed by James Gartner. The movie was based on the true story of Don Haskins and his basketball team in winning the national championship of college basketball[1].

Plot

Coach Haskins and Bobby Joe Hill in Glory Road [2]

In the 1960s, Coach Don Haskins is hired by the Texas Western University to be the lead coach of its basketball team, Texas Western Miners. As the team lacks the budget, Coach Don Haskins recruits seven talented African American players to be on the team. He created a team composed of seven African American players and five Caucasian players. Throughout the journey, the team is threatened, roasted, and mocked for having African American players on the team. However, Coach Haskins prove them wrong by creating the Miners as the winner of the basketball college national championship against the goliath Kentucky, who does not believe in the African American athletes like basketball players[3].

Black Empowerment

Coach Don Haskins wants to prove that winning a basketball does rely on race status. He believes that everyone should have a chance to be successful no matter what skin they have, as long as they have the grit to obtain it. In one of the scene during the basketball competition, he says to all his basketball members "It's not about talent, it's about the heart. It's about who can go out there and play the hardest. They're not going to give us anything, so you've got to go out there and you've got to take it". In the end, the scene shows that Coach Don Haskins proves his statement by winning the finale of the basketball competition by using only all his African American players[4].

Controversy

The movie depicts how skin color affects the acceptance of people. For instance, the university and its alumni are shocked when Coach Don Haskins recruits seven African American athletes like basketball players. Most of the people in the university are skeptical about the basketball team as they are composed of African Americans. There is also a scene where the basketball announcers state that African American athletes are not sharp enough and emotionally unstable as they can't handle the pressure. Another scene that shows how racism is still common was when one African American member of the Texan West University basketball team is beaten up in a bathroom by the white people. The members also receive many death threats and incidents throughout the basketball competition[5].

References