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...
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