Proceedings
of the
First
Diversity Recruitment and
Retention
in Debate Ideafest
Edited by Gordon R.
Mitchell
University of Pittsburgh
Published by Office of
the Dean
University of Pittsburgh
Ideafest convened at
Emory University
Atlanta, GA
June 10-11, 1997
Therrell
High School Debate Video
Rasheed Moss, Krsna
Tibbs, Larry Moss, Eric Girault
Editor's
note: After
Melissa's introduction, Ideafest participants were next treated to a
presentation of a videotape featuring Larry Moss, debate coach at Therrell HS
(Atlanta), asking questions to three Therrell debaters, Eric Girault, Rasheed
Moss, and Krsna Tibbs. Larry asked
a series of wide-ranging questions about the debaters' experiences in learning
the art of debate, how debate changed their perspectives on the world of school
and beyond, the image of debate at Therrell, reflections on the past season,
and future goals. Eric, Rasheed
and Krsna fielded all questions with style and aplomb, providing vivid
descriptions of the debate experience at Therrell. The video opens with Eric, Rasheed and Krsna facing the
camera standing, while taking turns delivering snippets of debate speeches.
Eric
Girault: [Simulating
a policy debate speech at approx. 200 words per minute] OK, judge, this was an
extremely close round, but I'm going to make it extremely easy because the
negative has to win because of inherency. The baby boom population is causing an influx of people into
prisons and jails.
Rasheed
Moss: [Simulated
speech] All
right judge, we say they widen the net of social control. We say that judges and juries will have
increased available options and therefore sentence people who would have
otherwise been released if higher sentences were the only option.
Krsna
Tibbs: [Simulated
speech] All right judge, we know that prison overcrowding is one of the most
serious problems facing this nation.
Since we won all of our arguments, you must vote affirmative.
Rasheed
Moss: [Simulated
speech] All right, so we win on net widening, we win on the impact to net
widening, we win on baby boom and states taking action; we win negative.
Eric
Girault: [Simulated
speech] Judge, we define the word nationwide. Nationwide means stretching from one end to the other. There are 21 states that don't have
overcrowding problems, therefore it cannot be a nationwide problem.
Larry
Moss: [Asking
questions off-camera to Therrell debaters seated at table] All right gentlemen,
how about introducing yourselves to your public.
Rasheed
Moss: My
name is Rasheed Moss. I'm a
sophomore here at Therrell Comprehensive High School, and I'm a varsity
debater.
Eric
Girault: My
name is Eric Girault. I'm a junior
at Therrell High School, and I'm also a varsity debater.
Krsna
Tibbs: My
name is Krsna Tibbs. I'm a
sophomore at Therrell High School, and I'm also a varsity debater.
Larry
Moss: Gentlemen,
you had a great deal of success on the debate circuit this year. How do you feel about your year?
Rasheed
Moss: Well,
I feel it was amazing, as well as predictable. I figured that during our hard work, we were going to have a
great deal of success this year.
It finally paid off.
Eric
Girault: I
think that was a very key term that Rasheed used, and that was hard work. Indeed, we did do a lot of hard
work. There were a lot of hard
hours. After school, when everyone
else was playing basketball, the days was hot, we was in here, doing research
and working on debate. I feel
absolutely great. I feel a sense
of achievement.
Krsna
Tibbs: I
agree with Rasheed and Eric. I
believe our success was the direct result of our hard work and
determination.
Larry
Moss: OK,
let me take you back, Rasheed, you and Krsna, two years ago, first tournament
ever for a Therrell High School team.
We went out to Macintosh, you got involved in debate, I believe you lost
all four rounds. When you think
back on that experience, how did that leave you feeling when we walked out and
you discovered that we had not won any rounds?
Rasheed
Moss: Well
I felt really bad. I had the
feeling during the debate that I had won, and then to find out that I had not
won anything, that was a bad feeling.
Larry
Moss: Yeah,
you guys told me you had won all four rounds.
Krsna
Tibbs: We
thought we had [won], but we found out differently.
Larry
Moss: You
found out differently. So when we
started to work this past year, did you bring that experience with you?
Rasheed
Moss: Sure
did. That experience resulted from
basically not really preparing, and not really working. We knew that this year, we were going
to have to work, and have to prepare, if we wanted to win. And we did that.
Larry
Moss: You
worked much harder.
Rasheed
Moss: Right.
Larry
Moss: Eric,
I believe your first debate experience was at Westminster, right?
Eric
Girault: Yes,
that's right.
Larry
Moss: Were
you a little intimidated starting your debate career at Westminster?
Eric
Girault: To
tell you the truth, I was extremely intimidated. There was hundreds of students everywhere, it was an
extremely huge campus, I saw students getting off the bus with suitcases and
briefcases full of information, and I believe we might have had one briefcase,
and I was just intimidated. I knew
that the minute we walked in there, we were going to get blown out. But we saw that that wasn't true,
because we were the ones that ended up taking names, taking no prisoners.
Larry
Moss:
OK, you and Rasheed ended up with what, a 4-1 record?
Eric
Girault: Yeah,
that's correct.
Larry
Moss: How
did you feel coming out of Westminster?
Eric
Girault / Rasheed Moss: [together] Great.
Eric
Girault: We
felt like all the hard work that we had done previously had paid off.
Rasheed
Moss: And
actually, that was one of my first achievements, my first big achievement.
Eric
Girault: And
it was also giving me a sense of confidence, now. I felt that I had debated with some of the best, so I knew
that I could debate with some of the best in the future, and anytime, I was
ready.
Larry
Moss: So,
OK, we've had an enormously successful year. I believe that at one point, Eric, you and Rasheed teamed
together and went 18-0. We won the
7 Quad-A Championship, we placed sixth in the state. How do you explain such enormous success so early in the
game, because we're all basically novices, this is basically our first
year. How do you explain that kind
of success?
Eric
Girault: I
would have to say an awful lot of talent.
An awful lot of hard work.
Krsna
Tibbs: Determination.
Eric
Girault: Determination,
exactly. Self-confidence. Preparation. We prepared in every aspect, every way we possibly could.
Larry
Moss: Could
it be, do you think that it may be attributable to the inspiration and
motivation of a brilliant coach?
Rasheed
Moss, Eric Girault, Krsna Tibbs: [After huddling together briefly to consult] No.
Larry
Moss: OK,
we'll come back to that question a little later. OK, let's talk about debate tournaments a little bit,
generally speaking. You guys walk
into debate tournaments and you make me sick. You swagger in, you saunter in, and you kind of have an
attitude. Tell me what that's
about.
Eric
Girault: I
think that attitude comes from the fact that we've been to so many debates
where people didn't even know our name, they pronounced it "Terrell"
and "Thurell," and we were sick and tired of it. So when we started winning, we started
letting people know that we was here, and we was here to stay. We can come in with a certain air of
confidence.
Larry
Moss: I
remember hearing from a debate coach that his team walked in and saw Therrell
there and they panicked. You guys
try to intimidate other teams, don't you?
Rasheed
Moss: Yeah,
we had one team that walked out of the debate when we were debating them. It gave us a good feeling, highness in
a way, but I guess there's an aura that we present that we want to keep on
presenting.
Larry
Moss: Let
me ask you something else. I've
noticed that a lot of the other teams, especially the black kids who debate
throughout the state, hold you in a kind of high level of esteem, you have a
reputation. I've noticed that they
like to come up and talk to you.
How does that make you feel?
Eric
Girault: Well,
with African-American students that look at me as kind of a role model, like
I'm doing something good, it makes me feel great. When you go to these debates, there's such a low percentage
of African-American debaters. I would
think that in the future, it would be a good idea to get more African-American
students involved in the debate process, because it is an excellent academic
activity.
Larry
Moss: OK,
you talk about role models. I
happen to know that you got suspended for fighting, is that right Eric?
Eric
Girault: Yes
it is.
Larry
Moss: Rasheed,
a couple of times you were in in-school suspension, before debate?
Rasheed
Moss: Right.
Larry
Moss: How
has debate impacted your behavior?
Eric
Girault: It's
definitely changed the way I've behaved.
I have a certain image to protect.
I know I'm doing something for the school, and I know that now, I'm sort
of a school leader, so I can't just go around and act any way I want. I have to carry myself with a certain
amount of respect, and I think that has a tremendous difference on the way that
I do act in everyday life.
Rasheed
Moss: It's
the same with me. Winning debates,
and so forth, boosted my image.
Last year, when I used to fight and get in-school, or whatever, I had an
image for being popular for being bad.
But this year, when I go out and start to win things, come back with the
image of winning in academic sports, there's a certain amount of prestige that
comes from that, and I'd like to keep that prestige as well.
Larry
Moss: In
that same vein, I know that each one of you failed at least one course before you
started debating. How has debating
impacted on your schoolwork, your academic work?
Rasheed
Moss: I'd
like to answer that question right there.
Last year I had a 1.7. This
year, after I debated, I had a feeling of success. I had the feeling that I could achieve something, and I
brought my grade point average up to a 3.2. That's really a phenomenal success, considering how low I
was last year.
Eric
Girault: I'd
like to say that last year, I had three F's, and it was terrible, I had F's,
D's and C's on my report card.
This year, I had nothing but A's and B's, and I'm on the honor
roll. So I think that debate
teaches you research skills, thinking skills, discipline. And I think that debate has got to be
the number one curricular activity that exists.
Krsna
Tibbs: I
think debate really develops your thinking skills, and your forensics skills,
and that can really help you a lot in class.
Larry
Moss: What
would you say to people who say that all of the time that you spend taking the
various challenges in order to debate well, take away from what you need to be
doing in terms of the academic career?
Eric
Girault: Take
current events, for instance. You
get such a wide scope of what's going on in the world, through debate. You learn about all different areas,
and all different aspects of life.
So I would say that while you're studying for debate, in essence you're
studying for all your classes.
Rasheed
Moss: I
mean, when you look at your classes, you have English, you learn speaking
skills [in debate], you learn how to speak the language well. World History, you learn about your
history [in debate], like the baby boom population, those things. So I think that debate is directly
related to all your other classes and it helps you in all of your classes.
Eric
Girault: Definitely. Absolutely right.
Larry
Moss: OK,
let's talk about image a little bit.
I noticed you all have those spiffy new jackets on, they look like
lettermen's jackets, much like the football jackets that people have. What's been the reaction around the
school to you all as you begin to wear your jackets and show your credentials
as debaters?
Eric
Girault: Everyone
wants to find out how to get a jacket.
They want to wear it, they want to join the debate team, just so they
can get a jacket.
Rasheed
Moss: And
there's normally a certain amount of jealousy, but not that much. Most of the people respect what we're
trying to do; they respect what we are doing. And most people want to become involved in it.
Larry
Moss: What
about the image of debaters as wimps or nerds?
Eric
Girault: I
don't think that we carry that type of image.
Larry
Moss: Well
that's because you guys fight all the time.
Rasheed
Moss: I
think that we defy that image, actually, because we prove that you can have a
social life and debate; they can coexist.
So that I feel you can be smart, have fun, and do all of that together.
Larry
Moss: OK,
I want to bring up something that we discussed a little bit when we were on the
debate circuit. You all have a
tendency to be, in my parlance, a little bizarre in the way you dress, the way
you cut your eyebrows and your hair, and all that kind of stuff. Now we know that when we go out
debating, that debate tends to be a very conservative activity. How did you manage to take your personal
image, with the hair, and the earrings, and all of this stuff, and take that
out and debate and do well? How do
you do those two things at the same time?
Eric
Girault: I
would say that you have to be yourself.
If you have a certain hairstyle, or dress code that you wear, you can do
it, just as long as when you get into the debate, you perform, and you perform
at the level that people expect.
And we even go beyond that level.
We perform at another level.
I think that pretty much takes care of any fashions or hairstyles that
we might wear.
Rasheed
Moss: Basically,
when I go into a debate, I might go looking strange, with cut eyebrows or
whatever. But what I do when I get
into a debate is speak to the people so they look beyond what I look like and
actually listen to what I'm saying.
Larry
Moss: Krsna,
you're sort of a lamb thrown in with these two wild men here on the
circuit. How do you react to being
with these two wild people out on the debate circuit when we have to go and
stay together? How have they
influenced you, if at all?
Krsna
Tibbs: Well,
they're both great speakers, and have won several awards, and this has helped
me in my debate career as well.
Larry
Moss: They're
not corrupting you?
Krsna
Tibbs: Uh,
no.
Larry
Moss: You're
not going to wear an earring next year?
Krsna
Tibbs: I
don't know.
Larry
Moss: You
don't know; OK. Let me ask you
another question that has to do with debate. I understand that out on the debate circuit, statewide, you
have a sort of a rep[utation], people know who you are now, and you have
certain nicknames that the folks on the debate circuit have for you. What are those nicknames?
Eric
Girault and Rasheed Moss: [together] Batman and Robin.
Larry
Moss: Batman
and Robin.
Krsna
Tibbs: And
Special Ed.
Larry
Moss: And
Special Ed. How do you feel about
those [nicknames]?
Rasheed
Moss: Well,
I like those [nicknames], because it's a way of letting people know that you
know who you are. That's the deal,
when they give you nicknames and everything.
Eric
Girault: They
know you exist.
Larry
Moss: When
we began the year, I told all of you that you are going to have to mature in
order for us to do well out on the circuit, when we go to places like Raven
County and White County and Lee County, and all these various other stops where
we debate. How has debate helped
you mature?
Rasheed
Moss: [Debate]
has helped me mature considerably.
I have a tendency to have a quick temper and so forth, you have to learn
how to control your temper, you have to learn that sometimes, you're going to
get bad falls, and you're going to get good times and bad times, and they all
go together. You just have to
learn how to deal with those bad times.
I think that debate has, in fact, taught me that.
Eric
Girault: I
would like to say that there are two ways that debate has helped me
mature. One is a sense of responsibility. I know what I have to do, when I have
to do it, and I know I have to have preparation, or else I won't be any good
when I go in there.
Rasheed
Moss: I
think for me, it's something for embarrassment. At first, I never cared about being embarrassed about
anything that I do. But now
everything I do, I like to be good.
And debate's made it that way, by giving me an image of good in
everything I do, to try and succeed at everything I do.
Krsna
Tibbs: We
must live up to our image of excellence that we developed this year.
Eric
Girault: Debate
teaches you that there's never one single right way to do anything. You have to first consider everyone
else's views, they way that they look at things, before you can make a decision
on anything.
Larry
Moss: OK,
let me ask again, could you attribute your maturity this year to the influence
of a mature, dynamic, and brilliant coach?
Rasheed
Moss, Eric Girault, Krsna Tibbs: Yes.
Larry
Moss: That's
a trick answer.
Rasheed
Moss: No,
because in a way, our coach has taught us that when we go to these tournaments,
and we get bad deals, we get raw deals [in decisions], he tells us to just let
it go, and to learn that sometimes, you're going to get downfalls, but to not
make a big deal about it, because there's always upswings and pitfalls, but you
just have to take them as they come.
Eric
Girault: Also,
our coach has a certain way of being able to play with us, to have a good time,
and letting us know that we're all friends, but when we start to cut up a
little too much, he'll keep us in line.
Krsna
Tibbs: And
he motivates us a lot.
Larry
Moss: That's
a trick answer. You guys are
trying to embarrass me. Let me do
this. Next year, we won't sneak up
on anybody. Everybody knows who
Therrell debate is. There are people
who will be looking for us next year; they'll be looking to challenge us next
year. For those people who would
dare to talk about defeating Therrell's debate team next year, what would you
say to them?
[The
group stands in unison]
Eric
Girault: Therrell
debaters ...
[Krsna
Tibbs and Rasheed Moss turn their backs to the camera to show off the insignia sewn
on the back of their debate jackets]
Eric
Girault: Are
taking no prisoners.
[Camera
pans in on Therrell Debate insignias as school song is played].
[end
of video].