College Debate

Media via Salon.com

Fall 2014 will see me return to the community college classroom as a Communication Studies instructor. It is possible that I will be making a contribution to the very new Hartnell College Speech and Debate team as a coach so it was with some interest that I read this article. I had goosebumps by the end of it: How White Elite Racism Invaded a College Debate Championship, and was reminded Junot Diaz' recent excellent MFA VS. POC post at The New Yorker where he wrote, among other gems: "In my workshop we never explored our racial identities or how they impacted our writing—at all. Never got any kind of instruction in that area—at all."



The author of How White Elite Racism Invaded a College Debate Championship, Brittney Cooper, is one I read regularly at Salon although I must say, this is by far the best thing I've read of hers thus far. Her connection to the competitive speaking community is one I share. She writes:

"I shared news of Ameena’s and Korey’s championship in my social networks with special pride because this coming fall will mark my 20th anniversary as part of the policy debate community. I made the debate team as a precocious 13 year-old high school student, and have remained a part of that community in one form or another as debater, coach, debate camp instructor and tournament judge, for the last two decades.

Other than the influence of my fourth grade teacher, I give no other academic experience more credit for informing how I think, write, research and communicate."

The article is an excellent argument that speaks to how our institutions should begin to reflect their constituents sooner rather than later; a constituency that will not be predominantly white or male.