Segregated Prom

A segregated prom refers to the practice of United States high schools, generally located in the Deep South, of holding racially segregated proms for white and black students. The practice spread after these schools were integrated, and persists in a few rural places to the present day. The separate proms have been the subject of frequent (often negative) press coverage, and several films.

History

Prior to the 1954 decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in ''Brown v. Board of Education'', most schools in the southern United States were racially segregated.(Reporting on early integration steps after Brown was decided, article quotes an unnamed white student, "What we'll do about dances, Will they go to our proms.") The process of integration of schools was slow, and many schools did not become integrated until the late 1960s and early 1970s. In order to avoid having to hold an integrated prom, many high schools stopped sponsoring any prom, and private segregated proms were organized as a replacement.("... the 1970s. That is when many Southern schools were belatedly integrated, and the time when a new set of traditions was born. While black and white students now sat side by side in classrooms and on the school bus, the races would still often gather separately when it came time for the biggest dance of the year.") Sometimes a concern over interracial dating was cited as the reason for not holding a single prom. ("After integration in the early 1970s, school officials stopped sponsoring a prom, in part because of fear of interracial dating.") Other schools cited liability concerns as the reason for not sponsoring a prom. (reported on segregated proms at Eufaula High School in Alabama, noting that "opponents of segregated proms claim the white-controlled school board uses worries over liquor and liability to dodge the issue of mixed-race dances")

In addition to segregated proms, some schools have also elected black and white homecoming kings and queens, class officers, and even awarded separate black and white superlatives such as "Most Likely To Succeed."(reporting on first integrated prom in Turner County, Georgia, also noting that "Aniesha Gipson, who became the county's first solo homecoming queen last fall as it abandoned the practice of crowning separate white and black queens.") School sponsored separate events, including separate homecoming queens or superlatives, have been deemed to violate federal law by the United States Department of Justice.("Practices such as holding segregated high school proms or naming separate race-based sets of recipients for senior-year honors 'are inconsistent with federal law and should not be tolerated,' says the joint letter from the civil rights offices of the federal departments of Justice and Education.' We have found, for example, that some school districts have racially separate homecoming queens and kings, most popular student, most friendly, as well as other superlatives,' says the letter. 'We have also found that school districts have assisted in facilitating racially separate proms.'")

In 1990, ''The New York Times'' reported that 10 counties in Georgia were still holding segregated proms. (reporting on first integrated prom at Peach County High School in Fort Valley, Georgia held in 1990) Though the practice has been reported to be on the decline since 1970, occasional press reports seem to show it persists in some rural locations.("Segregated proms, although apparently few, are one of the worst public displays of racism in today's America.")(reporting on segregated prom in Johnson County, Georgia, and noting "Though no national figures exist, Johnson is not the only county in the U.S. to host segregated proms.") Since 1987, media sources have reported on segregated proms being held in the U.S. states of Alabama,(reporting that location of prom was kept a secret from first black student at Jones Valley High School in Birmingham, Alabama, in the mid-1960s so she could not attend) Arkansas,(reporting on first integrated prom in Forrest City, Arkansas, and noting "This Mississippi River Delta town, like many other Southern communities, had eliminated school-sponsored dances and other social functions when court-ordered integration began in the mid-1960s. For 23 years private, racially segregated dances sponsored by social clubs and individual families had taken the place of a traditional prom in Forrest City.") Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas.

In two places in Georgia, the "black prom" was open to attendance by all students. Only the "white prom" was racially exclusive.

School alumni at schools which held segregated proms sometimes hold segregated class reunions as well.

Outside the Deep South

Even prior to integration in the South, there have been instances of segregated proms being held in integrated schools in the northern United States. In the late 1920s, for example, separate proms for blacks and whites are recorded as occurring at Froebel High School in Gary, Indiana.

Notable cases

* Charleston, Mississippi: In 1997, actor Morgan Freeman offered to fund a racially integrated prom in Charleston, Mississippi, where he lives. The offer was turned down. In 2007, he made the offer again and it was accepted, and the school held its first integrated prom in 2008, profiled in the documentary '' Prom Night in Mississippi''.
* Taylor County, Georgia: In 2002, Taylor County, Georgia made international news for holding its first integrated prom, and again when a group of white students proceeded to hold a separate prom the following year. The 2006 film '' For One Night'' is based on these events.
* Toombs County, Georgia: In 2004, it was reported that Hispanic students at Toombs County High School had planned their own prom, and that separate white, black, and Hispanic proms would be held. The school, 56% white, 31% black, and 12% Hispanic, had been holding separate white and black proms since 1971.
* Montgomery County, Georgia: In 2009, ''The New York Times'' and ''The Daily Telegraph'' both profiled the racially segregated prom in Montgomery County, Georgia. (online audio and slideshow supplementing article)
* Wilcox County, Georgia: In 2013, the ''New York Times'' published an article about Wilcox County High School's first integrated prom, which took place that year, and was organized by students.

See also

* '' Prom Night in Mississippi'', 2009 documentary that follows a group of Charleston, Mississippi high-school students preparing for their first racially integrated prom in town history.
* '' For One Night'', 2006 film based on first integrated prom in Taylor County, Georgia held in 2002.
* Hulond Humphries, former principal in Randolph County, Alabama who threatened to cancel the school prom in the mid-1990s to prevent attendance by interracial couples.
* 2010 Itawamba County School District prom controversy, in which a private prom was organized by a school in order to exclude a lesbian student and her date from attending.
* Racial segregation of churches in the United States

References

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Post–civil rights era in African-American history
History of racial segregation in the United States
History of racism in the United States
School segregation in the United States
School dances
Prom