The Great Debater

The Great Debater is a fascinating movie that teaches people about confidence and courage. It is based on a true story during the 1930s where one English professor inspired students to build the first debate team. The plot revolves around the debate coach Melvin Tolson who put all his efforts in hopes of putting the debate team of Wiley College at the same status as the whites in Texas. At this point in history, the Negros were considered to be at the bottom of the social hierarchy while the whites graced the top. There was no equality at this time which drove this particular debate team of Wiley College into a state of determination to win. The financial status of the African Americans continued to worsen. The plot mainly centers the team’s

After the Wily College Debate team went through many hardships to reach the championships against Harvard, they also witnessed a scene. In 1930s many African Americans in the United States were treated unfairly in society even after the great depression when slavery was put an end to. The team witnessed white farmers surrounding an African American who was hung up by the neck and was burned at the extent that he was unrecognizable. After a great endeavor, Melvin Tolson managed to get a debate in which Wiley College debated against Harvard. Unfortunately Tolson being involved in the southern tenant farmers union that helped farmers who could no longer keep their farmland, Tolson was treated like a criminal and did not want to jeopardize the debate by coming along leaving Henry Lowe in charge. Later on in the story, one of the debaters who entered the debate in place of Henry Lowe, on Henry’s orders, James Farmer Jr, used his past experience, of the Negro being illegally executed, against Harvard that resulted in their victory regarding a debate on the subject of racism thus claiming Wiley College the National

Melvin Tolson who was played by Denzel Washington and was the school’s English professor who formed and helped lead the debate team. The debate team consisted of 4 people. The first was Jermaine Williams, played by Hamilton Burgess, who was one of the starting debaters who helped win many debates but later on quit over the fear of going against white colleges; Henry Lowe, played by Nate Park, was an excellent debater who also started off as the starting debaters and helped win most of the debates; James Farmer Jr, played by Denzel Whitaker, was the genius behind the debates and found important research for the given topics. He had a very strong urge to prove to his highly-known and demanding father his intellectual worth; and lastly, Samantha Booke, played by Jurnee Smollett, who was a very strong and independent lady that didn’t let her gender stop her from achieving things men were taught to