This movie is based on a true story about the struggles of a debate coach, Melvin Tolson ,(Denzel Washington) of a black college to place his debate team on an equal footing with the white school's.These attempts put him in direct confrontation with some influential white people including the local sheriff. The black debate team managed to scale this hurdle by sheer tenacity. They won debate after debate until they eventually came face to face with the Harvard Debate team on their own grounds, Harvard University.
