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Many may have gone to the theater to see The Great Debaters, the major motion picture from Denzel Washington and Oprah Winfrey. The movie tells the extraordinary story of the 1935 Wiley College debate team, and its legendary coach Melvin B. Tolson and his most famous student, Dr. James L. Farmer Jr. One of the four leaders of the Civil Rights Movement.
Most of the attention on the movie was focused on how it helps audiences reflect on the ways in which racism destroys society. But the film also creates an opportunity for and poses a challenge to colleges and universities to provide all students with a fundamental academic experience that is debate. Offering audiences opportunities to reflect on the ways in which racism messes up human society, the film challenges colleges and universities to provide all students with the fundamental academic experience that is debate. During the movie they showed how farmers treated James L Farmer Sr. like a piece of trash as he ran over their pig and made him give up his monthly check that he gets from the college to pay for it. Later in the movie the son James farmer Jr saw the farmer and told him “that pig wasn’t worth 25$, I think you owe my father some money.” For him to say that to the farmers back in those times was very brave because blacks didn’t have power over anything and it could have ended his life. There were many debates in the movie and the debate between Harvard University on Nonviolent Civil Disobedience. During the film James says “ I have the right to resist with violence or civil disobedience, and the you should pray I chose the ladder” Wiley college said that you can use non violent civil disobedience, but Harvard said civil disobedience is bad anyways. James said that you have to obey the laws but when the laws turn unjust you can use civil disobedience and protest against it.


Washington, who both directs and stars in the film, has taken the lead by donating $1 million to...