A Prom Divided

NYT ^ | May 2009

[MinorityRepublican]

About now, high-school seniors everywhere slip into a glorious sort of limbo. Waiting out the final weeks of the school year, they begin rightfully to revel in the shared thrill of moving on. It is no different in south-central Georgia’s Montgomery County, made up of a few small towns set between fields of wire grass and sweet onion. The music is turned up. Homework languishes. The future looms large. But for the 54 students in the class of 2009 at Montgomery County High School, so, too, does the past. On May 1 — a balmy Friday evening — the white students held their senior prom. And the following night — a balmy Saturday — the black students had theirs.

Racially segregated proms have been held in Montgomery County — where about two-thirds of the population is white — almost every year since its schools were integrated in 1971. Such proms are, by many accounts, longstanding traditions in towns across the rural South, though in recent years a number of communities have successfully pushed for change.

[Wilhelm Tell]

Yes, we are two different species.

What utter nonsense! One thing I have always wondered about - do you dry clean all those white sheets or just launder them?

[trumandogz]

In order to believe that blacks and whites are two different species, one would have to have a complete lack of under standing of elementary biology or worse, a racist.

[nufsed]

Why wouldn’t they. It should be illegal for public schools to do this.

[jude24]

When is society going to learn that blacks and whites have their own culture? They have their own music, their own way of worship and everyone keeps trying to change that.

Nothing wrong with intercultural exchange. 100 years ago, my ancestors (English and Italian) and my wife's (Puerto Rican and German) all had distinct cultures, their own music, and own ways of worship. Fast forward to the present day, and we're pretty compatible. Time erodes a lot of differences. As it should, we're all human.

You can’t make a cat into a dog or vice versa. They’re two different species and nothing you can do will change that.

Dogs and cats are different species. Whites and blacks are not, regardless of the inane babblings of the KKK.

[Vigilantcitizen]

How about rap-country? This guy is from Georgia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSlArizRI-E

[John Will]

http://www.umich.edu/news/index.html?Releases/2000/Mar00/r032300a

about 25% of Asian women are married to white men, 45% of cohabiting Asian women have white boyfriends.

[BenLurkin]

I figured the “music” was a big part of it ..... though here in the L.A. area all the kids seem to like “rap” and happily “dance” to it.

As for myself there are one or two “songs” that I like but mostly — no thanks. Guess I'm an old fuddy-duddy — music was much more danceable 25 years ago.

[toneythetiger]

trumandogz and jude24, If you 2 are trying to be PC, then keep your hypocritical PC mouths shut about these students doing what is NORMAL, until YOU go tell these groups to dissolve and NEVER organize again: (or maybe better still, start White organizations of the same, and watch the PC bast#$ds howl *___*).

BET
Blacks In Government
Congressional Black Caucus
Harvard Black Law Students Association
Miss Black USA
NAACP
Nat’l. Alliance of Black School Educators
Nat’l. Assn. of African American Studies
Nat’l. Assn. of Black Accountants Inc.
Nat’l. Assn. of Black College Broadcasters
Nat’l. Assn. of Black Journalists
Nat’l. Assn. of Black Scuba Divers
Nat’l. Assn. of Black-Owned Broadcasters Inc
Nat’l. Black Child Development Institute
Nat’l. Black Flight Attendants of Amer. Inc.
Nat’l. Black Nurses Association
Nat’l. Black Police Association Inc
Nat’l. Society of Black Engineers
Nat’l. Urban League
Rainbow Push Coalition
The Organization of Black Airline Pilots Inc

and DOZENS more

And don’t forget to eliminate Black History Month, (or make a White one)

and BTW, if you were Christians, you would know that separation was a normal thing – and if you had paid any attention to Nature, you know that Blackbirds and Redbirds don’t intermix and pro-create. Holly101 was correct in what she was trying to say about species (she meant different ‘races’, I think), she just got a little mixed up, but she didn’t “misspeak” like your PC heroes Hillary, O’Biden, zer0, Ried, Pelosi, Jesse Jackson, etc.

and one more thing, before you start calling me racist, the Best Man at my wedding was a black man, and one of my best friends; but he is a Christian and is aware of the curse – true Christians are aware of it, pseudo-christians aren’t, or deny it!!!!

I think the same about PC bast#$ds, as Jesus did the moneychangers.

[trumandogz]

It would appear that holly 101 used the word “species,” not just once but at least twice. In those posts holly 101 said that blacks and whites are different species. Holly 101 confirmed that view even when asked to confirm that view. So therefore, it is unlikely that the poster confuse such an elementary word.

[trumandogz]

BTW, if you were Christians, you would know that separation was a normal thing...

Actually, I am Catholic but am married to a Jewish woman. I hope that does not offend those who advocate a separation of various groups.

And while I thought everyone in America had by now recognized that Plessy v. Ferguson was a bad decision by the SCOTUS, it would appear that I was wrong.

So now that we have established that you believe the races should be separate, do you believe that accommodation should be "equal?"

Or do you believe that the Fuller Court was too liberal for insisting the accommodations be equal?

[csense]

Yes, we are two different species. That’s reality. Two different cultures, always had been that way, always will be.

Did you ever meet an English citizen of African descent? They talk, dress, and act as prissy as any white Londoner you'd ever want to meet. Now I don't know why there's such a disconnect between the cultures in this country. Personally, I think most of it is forced. People seem to go out of theri way to be different, but that aside, there's nothing inherently different between us, and you as a Christian should understand Christ's warnings of the traditions of men, and that's all culture really is at it's most fundamental...a tradition of man.

[steve-b]

Yes, we are two different species. That’s reality. Two different cultures, always had been that way, always will be.

I smell ozone....

[central_va]

There should be two proms, forget race. One prom for hot girls the other for fat girls only. /sarc

[jude24]

Curse? What curse?

I have no patience for bigoted racists.

[chris_bdba]

My prom was in 1978 so it was years after intergration. I’m not sure why this area was never intergrated but it might have something to do with the population here? This county and the one next to it to the west as well as the ones as you go south closer to the Ohio river are still anywhere from 90%-98% white. Columbus went through intergration but this area never did. I suspect there were not high enough numbers of black kids to worry about moving around?

[Smokin' Joe]

I suspect there were not high enough numbers of black kids to worry about moving around?

If there had been, the poor kids would have spent a few hours a day on a school bus, just to make the numbers right.

Something similar happened to the ND National Guard years ago. Seems they were told they did not have a high enough percentage of blacks, and that they had to recruit more.

The head honcho added up the census figures on blacks, subtracted those not of military age, subtracted the active duty service personnel, a few felons, and did not have enough people left to meet quota if they had all enlisted.

That was the end of that.

[Non-Sequitur]

But they interview the kids, and it was their choice, not the parents.

And the article makes it clear that they interviewed the kids and their preference would be for one, bi-racial prom.

[Wuli]

Living in the New York City metro area, my anecdotal experience would have presumed the figures would be:

about 25% of Asian MEN married to a white WOMAN and 40% of cohabitating Asian MEN have white girlfriends

but

1. that would only be my own anecdotal impression, from my own local experience, and

2. neither your data nor my experience has any answers that, in either case, would identify the rate of Asian American couplings with African-American, or Hispanic partners, in comparison

[bruinbirdman]

"I'm speechless. This is 2009 after all. "

"According to Timothy Wiggs, the outgoing student council president and one of 21 black students graduating this year, 'We just never get anywhere with it.'

The NYT, of course, gives less than half the story. According to The Telegraph (UK). Both sides agree they met to try to have an integrated prom. They couldn't agree on a theme, band, or music. So they went their separate ways.

yitbos