In 1956, the Texas Collegiate Debate Championship will be held, with the winner receiving the Governor's Trophy. Forty teams will compete, and for the first time, a team of African American students, Barbara Jordan and Otis King, from Houston's Texas Southern University, will compete against white colleges in the tournament.
One of the white colleges competing is Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene. Two twenty-year-old girls, Maridell Fisher and Wretha Whittle, are the highest-ranked girls' team in Texas.
Texas Governor Allan Shivers is not happy. The Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. The Governor is determined to ignore the Supreme Court ruling and eliminate Texas Southern University from competition.
During a time of racial strife, when conversations focus on social justice, equality, and freedom, can four twenty-year-old college debate students defeat the years of racial bigotry led by a three-term sitting Governor?
