Remarks Following the Premiere of "Remember the Titans" - Brief Article

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Oct 2, 2000

September 26, 2000

Folks, come on. Give them a hand. [Applause] I just want to say two things, besides thanks to Jerry and the director and the stars, for giving us a gift. First thing is, I've actually had the honor, as President, of going to T.C. Williams High School. And you might be interested to know that that school district is now the most racially, ethnically, religiously diverse school district in the whole United States of America. That high school now has students whose families come from more than 80 countries and speak more than 50 languages.

And after some of the troubles at schools around America, I went out there because they are a model for the whole country and how different people relate to each other and work together and solve their problems. And it all started here with them, 30 years ago.

The second thing is, I was watching t is movie, and you know I grew up in the South, where football was next to religion, except for people who were really serious about football. And I was watching this, and I was thinking back over the last 8 years and all the times I spent trying to get people in other countries to quit fighting each other because they were different and trying to get people in America to get over their differences. And I was just thinking, if only we could learn over again every day the lesson these young men, when they were young--and they're still young to me--[laughter]--learned from each other.

The reason that's so powerful is, they won a victory of the human heart. And I hope that all of us will remember the gift they gave us and keep on winning.

Thank you, and God bless you.

NOTE: The President spoke at approximately 10 p.m. at the Uptown Theater. In his remarks, he referred to the film's producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, and director, Boaz Yakin. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.