In the heart of West Texas, football is what people look forward to.  "Friday nights under a full moon that filled the black satin sky with a light as soft and delicate as the flickering of a candle (Bissinger 319).  The story of Friday Night Lights is something everyone knows of, and almost every person has been affected by.  In Odessa, Texas, High School football is the glue that holds the town together, and gives them a sense of pride.  In the book Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger, Odessa is described as they prepare for The Watermelon Feed, honoring their last season and the start of their upcoming season.  In this text you can feel the passion that this town has.  Friday Night Lights was written because of issues with racism in Texas, and how a town deals with that in the midst of sports.  And through this text you can see how the story of Friday Night Lights changed America's view of sports and a team.  Friday Night Lights also lead to a movie and a TV series, touching every generation, and fueling a nation-wide love for football.  Bissinger takes the reader into a boondocks town and an exciting event to see how football brings about pride and happiness to all of those who occupy it.

Racism was very apparent in Texas before Friday Night Lights was written.  Issues were happening every day that led to law suits between blacks and whites, and segregation was still present throughout the south and especially Texas.  In the early 1980's there was a lawsuit in Texas against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, alleging that blacks were being denied public housing because of there race (Pam Easton).  This was a big issue, and relates to Friday Night Lights because the story revolves around community.  After something happens like blacks being rejected housing,  Bissinger then tells the story about a community where black and whites come together as a community.  Another huge issue that happened right before Friday Night Lights was the rape and murderer of a 16 year old white girl, Cheryl Fergeson.  On August 23, 1990 at Conroe High School, the girl was murdered, and at the time, two janitors had been working.  One janitor was white, and one was black, and the murder was automatically pinned on the black janitor.  The black janitor, one week later was arrested at 29, he had not done anything.  Friday Night Lights was written just after this incident, and racism was still a huge issue.  In the book, there is Tension between a confident African American running back named Bobbie, and a white player.  Although the two would bicker, on the field they became a family.  With racism being prevalent in the 1980's, Bissinger wanted to examine how sports was greater than judgement.  

Permian high school for the past 40 years has revolved around this game.  They made history like having an undefeated season in 1970, and having the Football Coach of the year in 1972 (Gil Bartosh).  The high schools chant word "MOJO" was tacked across the school in the late 70's bringing pride to anyone who walked by.  A lot of people in this town went to Permian, and then went on to raise their families there, so there are generations of pride, leading to the involvement in the football community.  "When somebody talks about West Texas, they talk about football.  There is nothing to replace it.  It's an integral part of what made the community strong.  You take it away and it's almost like you strip the identity of the people" (Bissinger 320).  By the time it was 1988, rounding into a new season, the stands were full of fans young and old, who had this team and its traditions in their hearts.  One tradition the text addressed, was the schools "spirit squad", which are now the cheerleaders.  "As part of tradition, each Pepette brought one type of sweet for her player every week before the game" (Bissinger 322).  This is now something a lot of high school football teams do today (pair each cheerleader up with a player), and people say it stemmed from Odessa.  Every boy wanted to be a Permian football player, and every parent wanted to raise a Permian football player, it was the way the community worked, and the generations of tradition will not change.

Football has seniority over pretty much every other issue in the town.  Academics were less important than football, "the one on top read YOU MUST HAVE A STUDENT I.D. TO BE ADMITTED TO FOOTBALL GAMES WITH STUDENT TICKETS.  The one underneath it read YOU MUST HAVE A STUDENT I.D. CARD TO CHECK OUT A LIBRARY BOOK (Bissinger 318).  It's not coincidence that football comes as a priority to academics, it came as a priority to everything.  This quote shows just how important even attending a game was, and it is one of the elements in the text that gets across how much football can run a high school.  Politics is another thing that didn't stand in the way of football.  You can bet that a town in Texas around 1990 definitely supports the republican president, George H. W. Bush who is from Texas!  This is also a southern town, and racism in the 90's is still prevalent.  As much as players like Bobbie Miles, were judged by the color of their skin, they were judged more by their talent on the field.  It really started to break a mold for American racism, and the text wanted to advertise that.  

The most important thing about this text is how it continued to effect society after being written, and how it still does today.  The impact of the book Friday Night Lights (known as the best football book ever), has stretched way past literature.  In 2004, Friday Night Lights became a tear-jerker movie about racism, and community, and how sport can bring everyone together.  It addressed a player who was Handicap and how his community had to grow around this tragedy.  This still brings inspiration to anyone with disabilities today.  To this day it is known as hands down one of the best sports films, if not one of the best films in general.  The story was then made into a TV show, which teenagers are obsessed with, appreciating the relationships, the excitement, and the family.  In a blog by Hannah Gerson, she explains how she "began to look back on my childhood in a different way, to think less about how I lived and more about how other people lived" after watching the TV show.  Friday Night Lights also has the famous quote "Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose", which people use as inspiration every day, and was part of President Obama's campaign slogan (Adam Offitzer).    The story of Friday Night Lights continues to effect people of all ages, just like the way Bissinger explains how football effects people of all ages in Odessa.

Overall, this text has made a huge impact on society.  Everyone knew that football was a big deal in Texas, but no one knew exactly how much.  No one knew that Friday nights gave a dad a couple stress free hours after a long day of work, or that every kid strived to be a football player, not for the fame, but because it was their dream.  "Mojo football, it helps you survive all this sand, the wind, the heat.  I wouldn't live any other place" (Bissinger 319).  Though there was massive amounts of racism going on in Texas, Bissinger writes Friday Night Lights to explain that it is possible for people to put their differences aside, if you can find one common goal.  It advertised that no matter what color someone's skin is, they are just as talented and capable as the next person.  And, the impact of Friday Night Lights is still seen today in movies and TV shows that effect everyone who watch them.  The story is loved nation wide, and effected history because athletes and communities use it for inspiration every day.  This book left made people think about the bigger picture of a town and team, and how sport brings people together almost more than anything else.  

