Journal Entry #2

    In the film The Great Debaters, the educational accomplishments of Dr. James L. Farmer, Sr. are contrasted with the racist realities of 1935. The 1930’s in Jim Crow’s South was a time of hatred, injustice, and extreme division between African Americans and Anglo-Saxons (blacks and whites). Dr. Farmer is a character that I have seen/read about one too many times in black history/ literature. The black man who in the midst of many others who could not afford it, acquired an education, credentials, a steady life and family. Dr. Farmer was a PhD graduate from Boston University, a father, and a man of God. Just like I have heard his story many times, I have also heard/read about the racist realities in the 1930’s, and the dehumanization that it entailed. It’s so unfortunate that I am familiar with the scene: a deserving/educated person treated like trash because of his skin color. Unfortunate, however the harsh reality of the Jim Crow era – where the sole thing that mattered was skin color.

            In the film, there’s a scene where Dr. Farmer mistakenly hits a pig with his car. He doesn’t see it, and the pig belongs to a white man. Dr. Farmer, with his family in the car attempts to apologize and the white men demand for him to “pay up”. When he offers what he has, a lesser amount, the white men pull out a gun. Dr. Farmer is forced to give the men his only check, all the while being taunted and insulted. This is the scene I have seen many times. Minorities, educated minorities, subjugated to verbal abuse from people who think they are better based on skin color. And yes, subjugated, because backtalk from a Black person would be liable for death in this era. If the man wanted to make it back to his family, he had to endure whatever embarrassment and humiliation he was subject to. That was just the reality of it. Although to his family he was the voice that shook the room, a leader, and strong man – racist realities stripped him of all his valid accomplishments and just saw his skin. This is evident when the white man purposely drops the check and demands Dr. Farmer to pick it up. He ridicules the man in front of his family.

 Otherwise, no one would speak to Dr. James L. Farmer, Sr. like that. In his community, a respected man such as himself would be most likely a figure that most would look too. His education, as black man in Jim Crow’s south, would be considered highly today and especially in his day. I keep putting emphasis on Jim Crow’s south and the Jim Crow era because context is everything, and the social norm there and then, while not at all the social norm today – still has vestiges in our interactions and reserves. So, apart from the scene with the pig, I assume that Dr. Farmer is a beloved member of his community, using his higher education to be a voice for him and his neighbors. His education betters his life. He has an education, and therefore instills education in his children, which creates a cycle and eventually generations of educated black men and women. For example, his values and lessons are passed down to his son, James Farmer, Jr. whom we see emerge as a powerful, intelligent, young man, and who would later go on to actively fight for civil rights alongside Martin Luther King, Jr.. As said early in the movie, “Education is the only way out. The only way out of ignorance”. The affect that education could have on Dr. Farmers life is immeasurable. In the face of racism, education means nothing. Otherwise, education is everything.

I think that because interactions like the pig scene were so common, it’s hard to forget about that treatment and who it came from. It was so common in the 1930’s south for a white person to disrespect, belittle, humiliate a black person. So common in fact, that it was basically a White person’s word over a Blacks’. Refer to the case of Emmett Till, a young black boy horrifically killed for allegedly whistling at a women – who later, years after his murder, admitted she had lied. Or Ossian Sweet, the doctor who was imprisoned for protecting his family from a White mob attacking his home. Cases like this are part of the reason why there is still some discomfort in certain situations/ interactions between educated Blacks and Whites. I definitely think that both races are conscious of the past and the way interactions were, which is why sometimes higher educated blacks may feel insecure or not confident about their credibility or their worth in general! Or why whites may sometimes try extra hard to be race-conscious and “colorblind” (which actually does more harm than good).  It’s common for minorities to not feel qualified even when we are, and I think this is largely in part due to our long histories of being belittled by “superior” races. I think that my generation will be the one to stray far from these biases though, as my generation is braver, bolder, and more confident than any generation before us. Vestiges of the racist realities of the 1930’s remain in 2020. However, Blacks have come a long way and will continue to go further. Education will be the way. Education holds values worth more than skin color.