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cookeman
Live and let live
Registered: 10/26/05
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Georgia school's first non segregated prom
#6769274 - 04/10/07 09:46 AM (16 years, 11 months ago) |
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Ga schools first unsegregated prom
School plans 1st non-segregated prom After decades of separate functions, students hope to unite behind dance The Associated Press Updated: 10:11 a.m. ET April 10, 2007 ASHBURN, Ga. - Breaking from tradition, high school students in this small town are getting together for this year’s prom. Prom night at Turner County High has long been an evening of de facto segregation: white students organized their own unofficial prom, while black students did the same. This year’s group of seniors didn’t want that legacy. When the four senior class officers — two whites and two blacks — met with Principal Chad Stone at the start of the school year, they had more on their minds than changes to the school’s dress code. They wanted an all-school prom. They wanted everyone invited. On April 21, they’ll have their wish. The town’s auditorium will be transformed into a tropical scene, and for the first time, every junior and senior, regardless of race, will be invited. The prom’s theme: Breakaway. “Everybody says that’s just how it’s always been. It’s just the way of this very small town,” said James Hall, a 17-year-old black student who is the senior class president. “But it’s time for a change.” There are excited announcements of the upcoming dance plastered all over the school, where about 55 percent of students are black and most of the rest are white. A makeshift countdown to the prom is displayed as a cardboard cutout on a main hallway. Student council members canvass the hallways, asking students to buy a $25 ticket and be a part of history. In the cafeteria, images of palm trees and waterfalls brighten up the sterile walls. “The First Ever!” a poster exclaims. “Got your haircut?” Difficult task Students say the self-segregation that splits social circles in school mirrors the attitude of this town of 4,000 people. So getting every student to break from the past could be a difficult task. With prom night about two weeks away, only half of the 160 upper-class students have bought tickets. And there’s talk around the school that some white students might throw a competing party at a nearby lake. “Everyone is saying they’re not going to the school prom,” said Steven Tuller, a 17-year-old white junior who doesn’t plan to attend either event because he wants to wait until he’s a senior. “They’re saying it’s tradition.” Yet Turner County High already has defied tradition this year. The school abandoned its practice of naming separate white and black homecoming queens. Instead, a mixed-race student was named the county’s first solo homecoming queen. 'Life's got to move on' Some alumni welcome change at Turner County High. “People still think of how life was 20, 30 years ago,” said Keith Massey, a 1990 graduate who now runs the popular Keith-A-Que restaurant in town, about 75 miles south of Macon. “And life’s got to move on.” Massey recalls an attempt to integrate one of the prom parties when he was in school, but few whites showed up. Attempts to organize a school-wide prom in recent years failed because of a lack of student support. Stone, serving his first year as the school’s principal, has been enthusiastic about an integrated prom. He’s funneling $5,000 of his meager discretionary fund to hire a DJ and buy decorations, and he’s persuaded a photographer to set up shop at the civic center to snap photos of the couples before the dance. “This senior class is a close-knit group from top to bottom, and they want to do what’s right,” said Stone, who is white. “They wanted a full school prom. And I told them if they would do it, I’d do them right.” © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
I wasn't a big fan of prom in general even though I went to three, but this is ridiculous. How the hell has this been going on for so long? I know racism still exists and always will, but how was the school, county, state etc really ok with this? I was just stunned when I read this headline. Hope it's not just me who feels that way.
-------------------- “Let’s put it this way – to lump psychedelic mushrooms into the same group as methamphetamine is like lumping the Bible into the same group as Mein Kampf. I mean shit; they’re both books, right?” Joe Rogan R.I.P. - "Bones" - One of the greatest people I've ever had the pleasure of getting to know and become friends with.
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JunkFood
Stranger
Registered: 10/02/06
Posts: 7,258
Loc: NYC
Last seen: 2 years, 8 months
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Re: Georgia school's first non segregated prom [Re: cookeman]
#6769285 - 04/10/07 09:49 AM (16 years, 11 months ago) |
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This is a huge step backwards
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laska
Stranger
Registered: 09/18/06
Posts: 634
Loc: California
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Re: Georgia school's first non segregated prom [Re: JunkFood]
#6769452 - 04/10/07 10:29 AM (16 years, 11 months ago) |
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i remember reading about this school when i was in high school. It was an article in "Seventeen" of all places. A black guy and white girl were dating there and couldn't even go to prom together.
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memes
Blessed
Registered: 01/11/05
Posts: 27,785
Loc: In a Tree
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Re: Georgia school's first non segregated prom [Re: cookeman]
#6769511 - 04/10/07 10:40 AM (16 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
cookeman said: How the hell has this been going on for so long? I know racism still exists and always will, but how was the school, county, state etc really ok with this?
it didnt say anything in the article about the black's wanting the prom to be integrated.
If the whites dont care, and the blacks dont care, who's to pressure change? nobody - and thats what happened.
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Dark_Star
train driver pervading a desktop
Registered: 08/20/04
Posts: 31,859
Loc: Uranus
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Re: Georgia school's first non segregated prom [Re: cookeman]
#6769641 - 04/10/07 11:04 AM (16 years, 11 months ago) |
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Well man, it's Georgia......
I remember reading awhile back about them passing a law that banned women from piercing their genitals; doing so could be punished by 2-20 years in prison.
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