The Great Debaters

Based on a true story, The Great Debaters is an award winning 2007 drama film. Directed by Denzel Washington, it stars Forest Whitaker, Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett, and Denzel Washington himself. The plot revolves around an African American college, Wiley College, debate team that develops a strong effort to debate among whites, which was uncommon during the 1930s in the American South. The Wiley team eventually succeeds going on to debate Harvard University, the nation’s top debate team. One of the story's themes is that confidence allows one to do the impossible. All three debaters in the movie, Samantha Booke, Henry Lowe, and James Farmer Jr. struggled with some type of confidence issue. Once they, the debaters, built their confidence up they were capable of debating any college.

The students at Orange High School need to gain confidence and make a difference in their schools poor sanitation. Like the debaters in The Great Debaters they need to stand up for their rights and demand their voices to be heard. The debaters worked as a team, not individually; that’s what we need. One student alone cannot change the school’s poor sanitation, neither can a handful.  The student body needs to come together, as a team, to solve this school’s poor sanitation.