The Great Debaters ( CRR )

Today in class Ms. Hegeman assigned groups and debate topics. My group was given the topic of Phillis Wheatley writing her poems for the money and not for authenticity. To me this topic is very hard to prove, and it is certainly hard to argue. Many things can go wrong with our argument. We could be contradicting, not as passionate due to our personal feelings, and just lost within the topic. Now that we are stuck with this topic we have to make decisions. No one wants to lose the debate, but the only way to come out on top is to find text, facts, and details that will support our claim.

This topic makes me think about how debates are argued around emotional topics. It especially makes me think how debates on the most controversial topic such as racism were debated during the times of the segregation. A movie by the name of "The Great Debaters" explains and demonstrates exactly my thoughts. This movie is based on a trues story about a man named Melvin B. Tolson, who was a professor at Wiley College in Texas. In 1935 he was inspired to create a debate team which will be the first debate team of the school and soon they would be the first all black debate team to challenge harvard in a national debate. This movie elaborates on the struggles and accomplishments of these young adults to prove themselves that they were good enough to debate despite the color of their skin.