US High School has First Integrated Prom

[Jason]

School plans 1st non-segregated prom - Race & Ethnicity - MSNBC.com

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.

This was actually just on MSNBC on TV. They had the integrated prom, although the white students had another party the week beforehand.

How did they last this long without getting sued? All because it was "unofficial"?

[Mr.Vicchio]

Jason,

I used to live in Cameron Texas, little nice corner of Texas near Temple. Anyway, the town had no real racial strains, BUT...

The poor section of town, that was almost all black (except for a few white gals and one white guy who had become pregnant or impregnated through inter racial couplings..) was called N----r town.

Everyone from the residents themselves to the Mayor to the School principle.

Some places forms of segregation exists, it may not be "nice" it may not be "politically correct, but for the people there... it works.

[Jason]

I suppose the real problem emerges when residents of these towns move elsewhere and come into contact with a much more liberal, egalitarian society.

[Kamehameha34]

It's hard to tell without knowing the whole story, but it sounds like a self-segregated society.

While I don't agree with it, I won't view it as a civil rights issue.

[DEEJ85]

Quote by: Kamehameha34 It's hard to tell without knowing the whole story, but it sounds like a self-segregated society. While I don't agree with it, I won't view it as a civil rights issue.

It wouldn't be an issue if the black/poor side of town segregated themselves completely of freewill.

If they were forced or coerced against their will then it would be a civil rights issue.

perhaps they were ostracized or socially discommunicated from the rest of the society.

but then again I don't know for sure what the case is so I can't really say.

I do find it odd that their are towns in the States that still practice racial segregation. Vancouver Canada is so multicultural that I often find in social situations white people (such as myself) are a minority.

In my High School there may have been 2 maybe 3 white people per class. I'm hoping experiences like the ones that these students are going through gives them a greater appreciation for those that are different from themselves.

Most of the racial discrimination that I see these days seems to be from the older crowd, people 40+. Coincidently when these people were in high school the demographics were of a predominately white background in the high schools.

Not to say that these people are inheritly intolerant, as I only hear discriminatory talk rarely. all of these remarks are half-hearted complaints like "these Chinese are such bad drivers" and I have yet to hear one full of anger or contempt.

I am always surprised how much racism there is in the world despite the how long its been and what progress the media tells us we are making.

[fushigi]

Why are Americans surprised when they find out Jim Crow is still alive and well in many parts of the South?

I lived in New Orleans two years when I was in college; those schools are segregated - white/black - by a combination of economic discrimination and a clever property tax law.

To calculate your property tax, a homeowner first reduces $100,000 from the actual value of his home. Taxes are paid on THAT estimation of value.

The result is that homeowners get a significant tax break, which saves them enough so they can send their kids to white-only private schools.

Blacks, who either can't afford to buy, have bad credit, or own very cheap homes, don't get the same benefit from the law. They're forced to send their kids to public schools, which - thanks to the reduction in accrued property taxes - are so woefully funded that they can't even afford books. Teachers have to make copies for the students from workbooks they buy themselves - at their OWN unreimbursed EXPENSE.

Take one look at the marching bands at Mardi Gras. All of them are either all-black or all-white. No racial integration whatsoever.

[Mr.Vicchio]

What are you talking about Jim Crow?

Boggle the noggin.

It's just what that part of town is called. There is no "forced" segregation, that's just how it is.

[fushigi]

If it looks like a duck...

[Mr.Vicchio]

Quote by: fushigi If it looks like a duck...

Label it and play morally superior!

Perhaps my explination is to blame, perhaps it's your intellectual/moral bigotry..

The world may never know.

[fushigi]

I don't know what you mean by my intellectual/moral bigotry, you've got me lost there my friend. Maybe if you explained it to me a bit further.

Anyway, I was only talking about New Orleans and many other areas of the South - as for Turner Country High, I can't say.

Of course it's not segregation for segregation's sake; they're policies that lead to segregation.

[Mr.Vicchio]

Then perhaps you should be clear, I was talking about the Town I lived in, Cameron.

[fushigi]

What gave you the idea I was writing about Cameron? I wrote, "Jim Crow is still alive and well in many parts of the South." (Some areas have integrated better than others; Atlanta is a great example.)

I stand by my statement.