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DEBATE 101 DEFINITIONS
Debate Terminology
Debate is a formal, interactive argument that has many forms. Speakers typically make their appeals based on logic, fact, accuracy, persuasion, and emotion. The outcome of a debate may be determined by audiences and/or judges. Some different forms of debate are Parliamentary, Lincoln-Douglas, Mock Trials, and Policy Debate or CX.
Rhetoric is the art of effective speaking and writing, while oratory is the public speaking component. The development of principles and rules of composition were first formulated in ancient Greece, but has since proved to be an effective tool in the delivery of information and persuasion, whether the setting be political or educational. The contemporary study of rhetoric includes the critical and social construction of meaning and problems with methodology. As legislative parliaments increased in the 18th century, so did skilled politicians, but by the mid-20th century, in the U.S., oratory became more conversational.
Other Terminology
Racial Segregation is the separation of different groups of people based on their race. It may be mandated by law, such as the case of Jim Crow laws that governed in the US from 1876-1965, or it may be a social norm. Civil rights activists lobbied, demonstrated, and used civil disobedience to end institutionalized segregation in the US. By 1968, all forms of racial segregation were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. While the laws have not necessarily been repealed, court rulings have rendered them illegal. However, according to researchers at UCLA’s Civil Rights Project, some US schools have become more segregated since the late 1980s with whites dominating the suburbs and minorities the city centers.
Racism is the belief that biological traits and capacities are inherent to one’s race, with one race superior to another. “Race” is based on common biological or genetic ancestry while “ethnicity” is identification with or perceived common ancestry. The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination considers racial discrimination any “distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, religion, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.”
HBCU. There are over 110 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the United States that serve the black population. Before the Civil War, formal higher education was not available for African-Americans, but after the 13th Amendment was passed, the situation began to change. Between 1861 and 1910, state legislatures, along with the support of the American Missionary Association (AMA) and the Freedmen's Bureau, used federal land-grant funds to set up private colleges and universities for the education of blacks. The first generation of graduates included Booker Washington and W.E.B. Dubois. In 1948, The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools began surveying and accrediting the HBCUs.
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