Georgians Plan Whites-Only Prom Party

Associated Press ^ | 05-01-03

[Brian S]

ALBANY, Ga. May 1 — A year after holding their first integrated prom, some students at Taylor County High School have decided to again hold a separate, private party for whites only.

While many whites say they still plan to attend next week's integrated prom, the decision to hold the whites-only prom this Friday saddened senior Gerica McCrary, who helped organize last year's dance.

"I cried," said McCrary, who is black. "The black juniors said, 'Our prom is open to everyone. If you want to come, come.'"

Juniors are in charge of planning the prom each year and last year they decided to have just one dance the first integrated prom in 31 years in the rural Georgia county 150 miles south of Atlanta.

Until then, parents and students organized separate proms for whites and blacks after school officials stopped sponsoring dances, in part because they wanted to avoid problems arising from interracial dating.

This year, a small number of white juniors decided they wanted a separate prom.

"They influenced the others," said McCrary, who plans to major in biology at Columbus State University. "They didn't vote on anything. They said, 'This is what we're going to do.'"

The school has 439 students, 232 of them black. McCrary and a white friend passed out fliers informing students of all races that they would be welcome at the May 9 prom at nearby Fort Valley State University.

The private prom is Friday night 50 miles away in Columbus.

Erin Posey, a white senior, said the entire junior class joined together in hosting last year's prom, but this year's junior class wasn't as unified.

"I think a lot of seniors were disappointed," she said. "Now we have to choose between two groups of friends."

Posey plans to attend both proms.

"I had some white friends who were not going to the other (inclusive) prom," she said. "I wanted to have time with everybody. I'll have a lot of (black) friends there, too. A lot more of the seniors are going to be at the mixed one."

After school integration, separate proms were common in the rural South, but Taylor County was among the last to cling to the practice.

Glenda Latimore, a 1972 graduate, was in the first class to have separate black and white proms. Now her 16-year-old son, Gerard, is preparing for prom night.

As the black junior class president, her son helped organize the open-to-all prom. The class also has a white president.

"I would have liked to see it together this year," said Latimore, an outfielder on the school's baseball team. "My class would have, too. It just didn't happen this year."

Glenda Latimore said relatives in Philadelphia and New Jersey laugh when they read about Taylor County's prom. She said residents here are "nice and friendly," but they still have a problem with proms.

"It seems like it's something secret," she said. "The white people are afraid to speak up against the separation.

"But I went to a black prom and I had fun," she said. "It didn't kill me, so I tell my son, 'Just go to the prom and have fun. Don't come out hating anyone.'"

[AlGone2001]

I am against segregation. In fact, my best friend is black (and I'm white).

The sad truth is that when blacks and whites gather together in a public place, we tend to congregate with our own color. I have found this to be terribly true of blacks.

One great way to get through this mess is to put our money where our mouth is and invite those of other races into our homes. I do it often. Incidentally, I have many black friends-most of them are pubbies.

[demosthenes the elder]

um...
If they decided to hold "single-gender proms," I think the board would flame up a LOT hotter than this thread has so far done.
Think about it.

[xm177e2]

Would this be news if the black students decided on their own they wanted a blacks only prom? Don't think so.

Do you think there is no difference between a whites-only prom and a blacks-only prom?

[MineralMan]

"Would this be news if the black students decided on their own they wanted a blacks only prom? Don't think so.

Do you think there is no difference between a whites-only prom and a blacks-only prom?"

No difference. Except that in this case, no such thing took place. There are two proms here: One invites everyone. The other excludes black students. One is racist; the other is not. If there was a prom that only invited blacks, then it would be racist, too. That, however, is not the case in this situation.

[AlGone2001]

Sure glad she didn't have hicks in her family.

That's an insult to good southern people, you know?

There is a difference between a hick and a racist.

There are racists all over this country. They have various colors and speak with a multitude of dialects. They are all losers.

[berserker]

Link to Taylor County High School.

[lugsoul]

Not to be picky or anything...

Was it "right" for the Dixie Chicks to make the comments that they made? They were just exercising a Constitutional right.

[wardaddy]

Note to self:

Stay off this thread...lol.

[headsonpikes]

"...just one really big family that's interlinked in several places?"

Aren't we all, really?

;^)

[demosthenes the elder]

it was constitutional for them to do so, as was the backlash. I don't feel compelled to judge these things on any other grounds.

[OPS4]

Is that like the BET Black Entertainment Network, running segregated programming, or the Miss Black America Contest,
or does that right just belong to minorities?

Ops4 God BLess America!

[okiesap]

I agree. My PC views regarding racism were completely "deflowered" by the time I hit junior high in 1979. Racism suddenly cut both ways. Prior to 1979, I was raised to assume only whites were capable of prejudice based on skin color. I guess you had to be born early enough to remember the civil rights movement to feel the sympathy my parents tried to instill in me.

[LuisBasco]

Is the date on this 2003 or 1903?

The next thing you know some group will be calling for "whites only" basketball teams.

[Fraulein]

If they decided to hold "single-gender proms," I think the board would flame up a LOT hotter than this thread has so far done.

Agreed.

[steve-b]

Er, these people do know that colleges aren't just indulging idle curiosity when they ask about extracurricular activities, right? They actually consider that stuff in making decisions... and unless they're applying to KKK-U I don't think this is going to burnish their applications.

[Fraulein]

We may not like their decision, but it is certainly within their right to make it.