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The Great Debaters By Melvin B. Tolson

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“The Great Debaters” is a film based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College in Texas, set in the 1930s. It centered on Tolson and his debate team's fight against racial discrimination and their struggle to achieve equality with whites.

In a world where men and women of color were subjected to persecution and discriminated against, achieving recognition in any field seemed impossible. This is why the film attracts viewers in the first place - to demonstrate how to create large ripples from small stones. Mr. Tolson trained and honed the three main characters of the film, James Farmer Jr., Samantha Booke, and Henry Lowe. However, conflict between the protagonists was unavoidable due to their opposing personalities and ways. Nonetheless, their values, propaganda, goals, and friendship triumphed over these adversities. These students, along with their families and other black men, embodied the film's most important themes: empowerment, equality, and education. …show more content…

Scenes of African-Americans being discriminated against and treated unfairly are shown throughout the film. The Great Debaters demonstrate that they can be on equal footing even with this "handicap," even with the entire White America looking down on them, through their debates. Booke, as the first female debater at Wiley University, exemplifies and represents gender empowerment. Another obvious theme in the film is equality. The never-ending mistreatment of Blacks was emphasized, including unfairly demanding payment from Mr. Farmer, arresting Mr. Tolson, and even burning a man for being Black, or the pressing issue of lynching which was used to depict blacks' struggle for human dignity. Wherein lynching is an extrajudicial murder committed by hanging the Negros. The film depicts the black debate team's ongoing struggle to gain recognition throughout the United

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