The Great Debaters (2007)
The Great Debaters (2007), an American historical drama film directed by Denzel Washington, tells the story of debate coach Melvin B. Tolson’s efforts to overcome racial barriers in the Jim Crow-era American South. Based on a true story and inspired by a 1997 article for American Legacy by Tony Scherman, the film follows Tolson as he leads his team at Wiley College, a historically black institution affiliated with The United Methodist Church. Despite facing discrimination and violence, the Wiley debaters defy expectations and eventually earn the opportunity to challenge Harvard University in a debate competition. (In 1935, they even defeated the reigning national debate champion, depicted as Harvard University in the film).
The film delves into the social norms of Texas during the Great Depression, including everyday discrimination faced by African Americans and instances of lynching. The character of James Farmer, who joined Wiley’s debate team at 14 years old after graduating high school, is based on a real person who went on to co-found the Congress of Racial Equality. Another member of the team, Samantha Booke, is modeled after Henrietta Bell Wells, a renowned poet and the sole female participant in Wiley’s first racially integrated collegiate debate. Throughout the movie, a memorable line from theologian St. Augustine of Hippo is repeated multiple times: ‘An unjust law is no law at all’. This statement would later become the central theme of Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail’.
Date of download: 2015-11-11T17:22:34+00:00
Cast:  Denzel WashingtonMelvin B. Tolson  Denzel WhitakerJames Farmer Jr.  Forest WhitakerDr. James Farmer Sr.  Nate ParkerHenry Lowe  Jurnee SmollettSamantha Booke  Jermaine WilliamsHamilton Burgess  Gina RaveraRuth Tolson  John HeardSheriff Dozier  Kimberly ElisePearl Farmer |
The Great Debaters (2007), an American historical drama film directed by Denzel Washington, tells the story of debate coach Melvin B. Tolson’s efforts to overcome racial barriers in the Jim Crow-era American South. Based on a true story and inspired by a 1997 article for American Legacy by Tony Scherman, the film follows Tolson as he leads his team at Wiley College, a historically black institution affiliated with The United Methodist Church. Despite facing discrimination and violence, the Wiley debaters defy expectations and eventually earn the opportunity to challenge Harvard University in a debate competition. (In 1935, they even defeated the reigning national debate champion, depicted as Harvard University in the film).
The film delves into the social norms of Texas during the Great Depression, including everyday discrimination faced by African Americans and instances of lynching. The character of James Farmer, who joined Wiley’s debate team at 14 years old after graduating high school, is based on a real person who went on to co-found the Congress of Racial Equality. Another member of the team, Samantha Booke, is modeled after Henrietta Bell Wells, a renowned poet and the sole female participant in Wiley’s first racially integrated collegiate debate. Throughout the movie, a memorable line from theologian St. Augustine of Hippo is repeated multiple times: ‘An unjust law is no law at all’. This statement would later become the central theme of Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail’.
