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.'"

[wardaddy]

Thanks...not much room for honest talk on these threads.

[timm22]

Glad to see you used German in your tagline. It makes it much easier to figure your agenda.

What's THAT supposed to mean? You wouldn't be stereotyping Germans as racists, now, would you?

[SoulStorms]

I want to try this one more time...

Nothing in my posts has amounted to "voicing" any stereotypes. I merely note that they exist, as you have confirmed by stating that others have voiced them. I also have said that even though I don't believe those generalizations, spectacles like 'whites only' prom parties, intended to discourage interracial dating (wasn't that part of the original story?) only cause such stereotypes to propogate.

I can see that you're angry, but please don't waste my time with the whole America-hates-the-white-man rant. First of all, you're arguing with the wrong person--I have said many of the same things myself on more than one occasion. Secondly, it has nothing to do with my post.

If you look at my previous replies, you will see that I made a case in a few sentences why I think the racially exclusive party is wrong even though it may be legal. I find it interesting that you have spent two posts, and many paragraphs arguing with me over one sentence, without once addressing the actual substance of what I had to say.

Again, I see that you are angry. I think that you should be angry for many of the reasons you stated, but I'm not your problem, and adding fuel to the friction between races in America is not the solution.

[wardaddy]

if you want to have another couple of centuries of Americans hating Americans, if you want the South to continue to be berated for being full of backwards, ignorant, and petty people...then I guess this move is not so wrong after all.

Pardon me for being angry and misunderstanding what you said above.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Is the NAACP organizing a demonstration or boycott in Albany, GA? This situation is far more worthy of one than the South Carolina flag strawman.

Were I still in Atlanta, I'd gladly drive down to participate in a march or demonstration against these idiots. This is the kind of crap that allows the false(for 95% of the South) stereotypes about the South to exist and thrive in liberal/media/international circles. Those numbskulls in Albany will be how everyone in the South is portrayed on European TV and magazines, etc.

[never4get]

"Humans, on the other hand, have nice, contradictory, natural instincts on this. On the one hand, we do have a "flocking" instinct to stay with those similar to us. On the other, we have a love and curiosity (sometimes the stronger emotion) about the exotic or merely different. Which instinct triumphs, or the balance struck between them, is a decision - influenced greatly by the local society and upbringing. These teens chose badly. Drew Garrett"

I agree. I have some black friends I like, some black people I can not stand. Same with white people I know. I tend to believe most folks are like me and with each passing generation the “flocking” instinct slowly becomes less of a factor. People, white and black, who simply hate each other because of the color of their skin...mmmmm, a very strong "flocking instinct" brought on by their society and upbringing I suppose? I also suppose if the "flocking instinct" was that great of an instinct in humans then this country would have failed early on (Italian, Irish, German, Polish etc. immigrants would not have been "flocking" together rather then ultimately assimilating for the most part). Yes, there are still distinct flavors of the various cultures within towns and areas in this country but I ask how many of us Americans are born of Italian, German, Irish ancestry??? How many of Irish ancestry live comfortably next to someone of German ancestry.....But of course some will argue that the "flocking instinct" only pertains to the color of skin rather then cultures and languages. Hey, if it helps you get to sleep at night, anyone can call it what ever they want. Anyone can analyze it to satisfy ones own reason to feel good about ones own prejudices but I call it what it is....BIGOTRY. I catch myself with these prejudices on occasion but I also remind myself that the black guy on the train looking around that I am feeling "tense" about has red blood in his veins, worries about his job, his wife, kids (except for the low lifes who come in every color and culture) and I remind myself God made us all.

[Ulysses]

Anyone can analyze it to satisfy ones own reason to feel good about ones own prejudices but I call it what it is....BIGOTRY. I catch myself with these prejudices on occasion but I also remind myself that the black guy on the train looking around that I am feeling "tense" about has red blood in his veins, worries about his job, his wife, kids (except for the low lifes who come in every color and culture) and I remind myself God made us all.

Yep..."birds of a feather do flock together." That's why we as humans still flock together with others of our "flock"...humans...regardless of skin color, etc.

never4get...you are right on with your point. "The Book" says, "Out of one blood, God made all men!"

[holdmuhbeer]

unbelievable in this day and age.

[jeeps]

The fact is, we have no idea what brought about this choice."

Your post is right on. Everyone who is throwing around the "hick", "KKK", "backwards", dumb southerner comments really have know idea why these kids want to have a separate prom. The only people that know what goes on in this school are the ones that live there. Has anyone considered the possibility that the blacks kids at the school want nothing to do with the white kids? Just because there were 2 black kids on the news that said they are upset about the white only prom does not mean the other blacks at the school feel the same way.

I have seen some suggestions that music is the issue followed by a reply claiming this can not possibly be true because everyone listens to R&B now. This is true in many areas, but country music, especially in the South, is far more popular than R&B.

I think a lot of people are jumping to conclusions without knowing any more than 15 seconds worth of sound bites they heard on the news tonight. I bet 98% of blacks at the school do not even care. Why should they?

I do not know the reason these kids wanted a white only prom and neither do most of you. I am just trying to point out that they may have valid reasons for it, and throwing derogatory comments their way without hearing there point of view is very judgmental.

By the way, I live in NYC, so save your backwards, hick comments for someone else.

[Michael2001]

What's with the sudden outrage? We have black spring break, black pages, black entertainment television, black night clubs etc.; and now everyone's all upset that a couple white kids in Georgia want to have a white prom? I'm not condoning what they do, but the double standards are glaring

[Michael2001]

They also don't get negative news coverage across the country

[quebecois]

You are totally correct in your analysis of the double standard. In fact, I think that the critics of this separate prom are engaging in a bit of anti-white racism.

The reason that I say this is that we have examples of other races engaging in exclusivist behaviors all across this country....and not just teens, but actual institutions. UCLA had around 40 ethnic and racial "graduation ceremonies" last year...sponsored by the tax-payer funded university. Almost every major campus in America has racial and ethnic "theme dorms". Public high schools across america have black, asian, and hispanic students' organizations (but never white ones, I might add).

I, for one, am getting sick to death of the glaring double standard that allows other races to engage in segregationist beharior but has a hissy fit if whites do so.

I am far less concerned about a private party thrown by white teens in Georgia than I am about the fact that these white teens will be grotesquely discriminated against by public and private universities later this year when they apply for admission.

The first is mere freedom of association in one's private life. The second is a gross injustice that needs to be resolved (though, we should note that seldom does this greater injustice get the kind of TV coverage that this stupid prom has).

[quebecois]

Amen to your #251

[quebecois]

"I guess you had to be born early enough to remember the civil rights movement to feel the sympathy that my parents tried to instill in me"

I was born just after the civil rights movement (late '60s). My only living recollection of racial issues in america is being at the bottom of the totem pole for affirmative action, etc. This, along with the generally hostile attitude that many blacks have against whites and the smear job that our education system does on white history, is my generation's perspective on the whole affair. Young whites in this country are growing tired of sitting in the back of the bus to "make up" for real and alleged wrongs of other people in other times.

[cyborg]

I bet if I look further, I will see you didn't stay off this thread!

[cyborg]

Birds of a different feather are of different species. Humans are all the same otherwise we would not be able to have children together. Lame. You just think that because maybe that's all you know. Or could it be because of forced separation? I do not see this problem in Latin/South America/Caribbean? Funny how in this country, people have this belief.

[wardaddy]

Busted...you know me too well. My views on this issue are mixed between heart and mind....between experience and observation versus wishful thinking.

I do find it odd that folks who decry less enlightened racial practices are the very ones who resort to prejudicial stereotyping to bloster their argument.

White guilt is a bottomless pit.

I think we should be able to pick on everyone equally.