The Thin Line Between Race and Prom

As prom is nearing in the month of May, students and young teens from all over are preparing for the best day of their high school years...Prom.  But in the small town of Wilcox, Georgia, students will be in separate arenas this year.  Nothing much has changed for this small, southern town, and nearly sixty years since the passing of Brown vs. Board of Education, it still seems like there are people falling by the wayside.  

The argument is clear: Why, after sixty years of integration in this country, does a town still uphold segregation in their school prom?  How have we come so far, but not far enough as a justice system?  With further investigating this issue, turns out that the school officials have nothing to do with the prom and it is merely the parents' responsibilities to organize the special day.  So why do they choose to separate their children based on the color of their skin?

Reading an essay written by Cheree Franco http://chereefranco.wordpress.com/2011/03/28/racially-segregated-proms-and-the-approach-of-another-prom-season/, told me a lot about what it means to still live in a community so set in traditional ways and frightened by change.  You should read her post and even submit to her blog. Great writer and will shed some light on this world of ours! It's a long essay but very well-written!

Also, if you are not aware, take a look at the Morgan Freeman documentary, that made its debut in 2009 at the Sundance Festival.  He and director Paul Saltzman, set foot in Freeman's old town where the prom had been racially segregated for years.  During filming the documentary, "Prom Night in Mississippi", Freeman paid $17,000 to host an integrated prom in which most students attended.  Only about two-dozen students joined another prom for whites only.  Great documentary and really makes you think...

Finally an Arrest...Should We be Happy??

George Zimmerman has finally looked justice in its eyes...and so far, they're not too pretty.  After the arrest of Zimmerman on Wednesday, April 11th, after stalking and killing Trayvon Martin, I admit, I felt relief and happiness. Finally, I thought, justice had been served. But sitting back at work I asked myself, what now? What if they lessen the charge to Voluntary Manslaughter? What if he is found not guilty based on his outrageous claim of Self-Defense due to the unlawful Stand Your Ground Law?  If our justice system failed this country for over a month and a half allowing Zimmerman to walk free after eyewitnesses and evidence were all refuting his claim of self-defense, then how are we guaranteed that justice will prevail?

Don't get me wrong, I love our country and I would never wish to live anywhere else, and those that know me know that I am a strong liberal to the fullest.  But when a murderer is allowed to walk free and set up a personal website (www.therealgeorgezimmerman.com) soliciting money on his behalf, something is wrong, terribly wrong.

Soon after the news was released stating that Zimmerman had been arrested and charged, Rev. Al Sharpton held a press conference stating, "We do not want anybody high-fiving tonight. There's no victory here tonight. There are no winners here. They lost their son. This is not about gloating. This is about pursuing justice. We have not won anything. We are still mourning with this family.” 

(http://s2smagazine.com/stories/2012/04/trayvon-martins-parents-react-shooters-arrest)

Rev. Sharpton is exactly right. No one should be happy or joyous that WE as a people had to fight the justice system for over 45 days seeking an arrest of man who hunted down an unarmed, 17-year old child, shot and killed him; then had the nerve to claim self-defense. It infuriates me to even talk about it because it is so ridiculous and unreal that a killer can walk free.  I am not going to call this a hate crime, but I would like to know that if he did not kill Trayvon Martin based on the color of his skin...then WHY?