Wiley College, a historically black college, was known for its successful debate team. During the period of racial segregation in the United States, the college was only allowed to participate in the debate competitions with other black colleges. Eventually, Wiley became so successful that they were invited to participate first interracial debate ever allowed. The Great Debaters depicts the racial inequality of the 1930s by including instances of racial terror and examples of Jim Crow laws and practices. Students interested in writing about racial inequality in the film should consult the sources listed on the bibliography.
Daniel, Pete. Dispossession: Discrimination Against African American Farmers in the Age of Civil Rights. The University of North Carolina Press, 2013. EBSCOhost
In the film The Great Debaters, Melvin Tolson meets with a group of farmers looking to form a union in the face of economic hardship caused by the depression. Pete Daniel's novel examines racial inequality experienced by African American farmers from the 1940's to 1974. It details how many African-American farmers were discriminated against by government agencies operating under the guise of investing in new technology and chemical use on farms, all the while only investing in wealthy and white farms.
Hild, Matthew, and Keri Leigh Merritt. Reconsidering Southern Labor History: Race, Class, and Power. University Press of Florida, 2018. EBSCOhost.
Related to the last citation, the great debaters has an emphasis on securing not only civil rights, but labor rights as well. Hild and Merritt's novel examines some of the labor issues in the modern day and finds that those issues have roots in previous issues of labor in the south throughout history such as slavery, disruption of union formation, and low wages. Their novel has received an award from the United Association for Labor Education.
Horne, Gerald. Black Revolutionary: William Patterson and the Globalization of the African American Freedom Struggle. University of Illinois Press, 2013. EBSCOhost
In The Great Debaters, Melvin Tolson is accused of being a communist and arrested after meeting with a group of farmers in attempt to unionize them. Gerald Horne's novel examines the life of William Patterson, an African-American communist and a leader of the Communist Party of the United States. Of specific importance is William Patterson's contribution towards repealing Jim Crow laws in the united states during the 1930's.
Halyard, Helen. “The Great Debaters: An Enlightened Struggle against Racial Oppression during the Depression.” The Great Debaters: An Enlightened Struggle against Racial Oppression during the Depression, World Socialist Web Site Wsws.org Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), 29 Nov. 2012, https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2008/02/deba-f13.html.
Maddox Jr., Alton H. “‘The Great Debaters’ and Malcolm X.” New York Amsterdam News, vol. 99, no. 2, 3 Jan. 2008, pp. 12–13. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.augusta.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=28334652&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Ritterhouse, Jennifer Lynn. Discovering the South : One Man’s Travels Through a Changing America in the 1930s. The University of North Carolina Press, 2017. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.augusta.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1465705&site=eds-live&scope=site.