The Great Debaters - an Even Greater Inspiration
Eileen Mills
CA 305- A
The Great Debaters- An Even Greater Inspiration
“Never Quit” is the message I take from the 2007 film The Great Debaters, a biographical drama about the Wiley Debate team in the 1930s. The Wiley Debate team that this movie is based on consisted of four African-American college students. One of which is a woman. They were met with opposition but they worked hard to overcome these obstacles so that people would see past their race and see them for who they were, brilliant human beings worthy of being acknowledged.
Their success wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for Tolson, their debate coach. This truly resonated with me because I have felt like the underdog many times in my life, even in academics. I know students who are better students than me, who are far smarter than I but I have passion, I have driven and for a professor to take a chance on me, means the world. An example of this is with writing. I’m not the best at grammar and there are some things in my writing that I can improve upon but I’m passionate about writing, yet I’ve had a few teachers tell me that they love my writing and that I should consider writing as a career. These moments have stayed with me all these years and they are memories that I will cherish even when I have achieved my dreams. I cannot wait until I’ve published my first novel. I will be sending these teachers copies to let them know how much it means to me that they believed in me and pushed me to continue.
Last semester when I got my writing published in Notre Dame’s literary magazine, it was like Samantha, finally having her moment on stage. Samantha’s speech was far more moving and inspirational than what I wrote but I believe that my piece of writing was important in its own way and I know that if I keep practicing and pushing myself just as the debaters did, I will continue to improve.
I would love to write as eloquently as the debaters speak, and move an audience to feel emotions. I feel like I can do anything after watching The Great Debaters. This movie was incredibly moving and inspirational. It made me want to jump out of my seat and do something. I wanted to go out and protest for equality, I wanted to go read a book, have a debate and philosophical conversations. This movie made me want to go intelligently tell somebody off. It made me appreciate everything that I have and how far I have come. I’d be curious if this movie moved my peers as it has moved me. I can imagine that it did since this movie is a call to action, to be our greatest selves.
This movie proves that a small group of people can change minds with determination and strength. A very pivotal point in the film was the moment that the audience stood for James Farmer Jr. at the end of his speech. A large number of people who previously wouldn’t even debate a group of African-Americans were now standing and applauding them.
James stood there and told them about how black people are tortured by white people and they listened. He was not met with opposition or hate but was able to convince the audience that they needed to hear what he had to say and they did.
Students, including myself so strive to be both James Farmer Jr. and the audience. We must stay calm even if we do not agree with what the other person is saying. We don’t have to applaud others but we should strive to appreciate opinions that are different from our own. To be on the other side of this requires one to be well spoken. Concise and direct as well as persuasive.
I am thankful that I have chosen to attend Notre Dame College because there is such an emphasis on this. In philosophy classes, English courses and communications courses I have been pushed to think and speak rhetorically to analyze speech and arguments. Before I came to Notre Dame I had no clue what a fallacy is, now I am able to recognize them in speech and allows me to effectively ddress arguments.