Livid

[justamom]

I don't think this is a "first". I'm pretty sure I read something about a year or two ago where the same "choices" were made.

amycat-I was thinking the same thing from the very first post.

[PM_Mama00]

Originally posted by RacizmSux
Me so apaled! Why cannt we all jus get alone? You cant' see black peeple at nite, nor white peeple in tha snow, Aisains next to beer, nor mixsed peeple by zebbras. Ereone has there fauts.

Ok. Please don't everyone go off on me about this, but I kinda thought it was funny. RacizmSux touched upon almost every "color", and I could see that if he just mentioned one or two, that it'd be offensive. I'm not saying that it's ok to bling bling a statement like that, but it did make me kinda laugh. Other than that, I grew up in a small town (literaly a 4 mile circumfrance [god i know I spelled that wrong?]) and my high school was extremely dominantly white, with a few black or asian students. What is funny about that is that we could never have wanted a separate prom from the lack of ethnicity, but we could never have wanted one due to music cuz that's all we all listened to! R&B, rap, hip hop....these are the types of music the majority of my school listened and danced to! There's definately gota be something else brewing in these high schools that prefer a segregated event.

[SilverTurtle]

Originally posted by lovelyivy84
THis sounds to me like something was WRONG at this school. I doubt that the prom is the greatest of their problems!

Also, a lot of proms might not be specifically segregated but I am betting that if you looked at the room you would find that it might as well be- all the black kids on one side, the hispanic kids in their clique, the Asians in their cliques (assorted by nationality of course) and the white kids in a huge group never even noticing that the others are not interacting with them AT ALL.

Some of you really have rose colored glasses on about this world, I swear. ALl these kids did was make it official, and I am POSITIVE that if a lot of schools were even given this option then there would be a lot of other schools doing it too.

I am the first to admit that people self-segregate themselves all of the time, whether they realize they are doing it or not. But for the administration, teachers and parents to okay this type of thing is appalling. It is simply saying that, yes, it's okay to just do things differently and not even try to come to a compromise. It's saying that, yes, you're different, and shouldn't have to associate with those other people.

What should have happened was a meeting with the teachers and administrators that oversee prom arrangements and a sampling of the students- an equal number of every ethnicity represented. The students could have all said what they wanted, representing of course "their" side of things, and surely the music played could have been varied, the kids could have decided on a theme together, etc. What kind of leadership exists at this school anyway?

And what happens if it's segregated between black and white, but I'm Asian or Hispanic or Phillipino....? Or what if, as unusual as it still is in many places, my date is black but I'm white?

Just because something happens all of the time doesn't mean it's okay. If we're not striving to improve our society, then what are we doing?

[Tom Earp]

I always found it intersting, that I had a customer who would bring in his Freinds and tell them when I was introduced, you have to love this man, he is not racially prejeicied! He dont like nobody!

He would have a big grin on his face when he said it!

I took that as one hell of a compliment!

If we cannot make fun of ourselves, what can we make fun of!

This crap is going on to long so let us put a stop to it!

All I know is that the only N, Black, or African American in my school spent as much time in my room at the dorm as his! He was always welcome in my small abode! We were freinds!

Well this aught to stir some stuff up! No disrespect to my many freinds on GC Site!

[Optimist Prime]

We had no say in music, it was up to the DJ. Anyway, my school was pretty well mixed. At least who I hung out with. People of all races.

[lovelyivy84]

Originally posted by SilverTurtle




What should have happened was a meeting with the teachers and administrators that oversee prom arrangements and a sampling of the students- an equal number of every ethnicity represented. The students could have all said what they wanted, representing of course "their" side of things, and surely the music played could have been varied, the kids could have decided on a theme together, etc. What kind of leadership exists at this school anyway?

And what happens if it's segregated between black and white, but I'm Asian or Hispanic or Phillipino....? Or what if, as unusual as it still is in many places, my date is black but I'm white?

Just because something happens all of the time doesn't mean it's okay. If we're not striving to improve our society, then what are we doing?

I don't know that we have enough details on this case to make these judgements.

I am positive that the administration tried SOMEHOW to resolve this- no sane people would let this happen without fighting. I am surprised that the minority kids got the funds to make their seperate prom too, but we don't know where they got it. Maybe they raised it themselves, maybe it came from parents, who knows? As a matter of fact, if this was a public school then the school could not legally give them ANY funds to do something like this if it was in fact de jure segregation.

I am sure that it was not a strictly racial thing- there were just two proms and it just so happened that at one of the proms most of the kids were white and at the other most were black. Oops!

[BlueReign]

Originally posted by amycat412
RacizmSux = Sh8er, curiousss, et al?

I think so too.

[Bridget3D]

Originally posted by amycat412
RacizmSux = Sh8er, curiousss, et al?

Oh come on! My spelling and grammar is not that bad!

[Tom Earp]

Briget, welcome to my world!

I go from being the Pres. Elect of the USA to the Typo King!

Well, I admit to being the Typo King of the WORLD!

Heck, whom in their Right Mind wants to be Pres!?

I want to be KING! Its GOOD TO BE THE KING!

[ChaosDST]

I guess you're trying to lighten up the convo. But, you must be a struggling, starving, comedianne
On another note, I guess I'm just glad that everyone's so "outraged" over this. This incident is definitely newsworthy...but even this newsworthy "outrage" won't change the hearts of most.

Originally posted by RacizmSux
Me so apaled! Why cannt we all jus get alone? You cant' see black peeple at nite, nor white peeple in tha snow, Aisains next to beer, nor mixsed peeple by zebbras. Ereone has there fauts.

[Tom Earp]

Chaos, Yes I am trying, as my departed Mother said yes son you are very trying!

It is so sad that so many people have tried so hard to get it right!

And the Problerm is that there are that many who want to tear it Down! What a Shame!

We on this site are the Best of The Best, Black, Red,, Yellow or Whatever color! Some have better tans than others, Gawd no's I have to work on mine!

Welcome and good to hear from you!

[VirtuousErudite]

About two years ago I was watching a talk show, Montel Williams I believe, and they highlighted a school where the tradition was to have two separate homecoming dances and crown two homecoming queens, one black, one white. There were two separate ballots and everything. This was started because before this a black student was never elected homecoming queen.Maybe this is something similar.

[snuggles12]

Is there a written story about the prom? I can't believe a school district would hold 2 separate proms. When there is a case of separate proms, the school pays for the one that is attended by white students and the African Americans hold their own separate party which is financed by them. They can attend the official prom but choose to go to their own.

Self segregation is very apparent. If you remember in high school cafeteria, the white kids had their table, the black kids had their table, the hispanic kids had their table, etc.

Look at the churches. 11AM on a Sunday morning is the most segregated time of the week. You have black churches and white churches and then there is a sprinkling of a mixed church. So for those you do not think it still happens, you must not be aware of your surroundings.

[justamom]

Two examples

2002 story
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/html/...86F51CE5.shtml
Jackson points to her prom at Mansfield High School as an example. She was prom queen her senior year. That prom was the first attempt in recent history to merge the black and white proms into one. Other years, they were held on separate nights.



1994
http://www.holysmoke.org/fem/fem0380.htm
For example, last spring a private high school in Chicago had two
proms -- one mainly attended by white students and the other mainly
attended by black students. The controversy arose when the
all-white prom committee was choosing songs. Each student could
vote for three songs, and the songs with the most votes would be
played at the prom. It turned out that many of the black student's
songs were not chosen.

The black students felt shut out by the decision-making process
based on majority rule. Guinier quoted one student as saying: "With
us being in the minority, we're always out-voted. It's as if we
don't count."

White students were hurt that their black peers were holding a
separate prom. They thought the black students were not playing by
the rules, namely the supposedly fair majority rule, Guinier said.

An alternative to the situation would be to give each student 10
votes to place on how ever many songs, reflecting the intensity of
their preferences. In this way, the black students could pool their
votes to hear some of their songs at the prom. So even if the
majority's favorite songs were played more often, the "songs that
the minority enjoyed would also show up on the roster."

[ChaosDST]

Cultural similarities bring people together. However, there are whites who enjoy worshipping in Black churches and vice versa. Similarly, there are blacks students who find that they have more in common with the white students and sit with them in the cafeteria.
People flock towards those who look most like them and share similar interests. There are brave souls who go outside of their own comfort level, defy their own friends, to befriend and interact with those of another race.
To specifially look at these instances of segregation (the prom, church, etc.) overlooks WHY these instances come about. People claim to be appalled, but in our own little ways, we perpetuate this. Forced integration is only a bandaid for the problem, there is no cure. But, these kids learned from the adults in America. So, let's not be surprised that the next generation has already learned about America's problem with race and how to keep the problem going.

Originally posted by snuggles12
Is there a written story about the prom? I can't believe a school district would hold 2 separate proms. When there is a case of separate proms, the school pays for the one that is attended by white students and the African Americans hold their own separate party which is financed by them. They can attend the official prom but choose to go to their own.

Self segregation is very apparent. If you remember in high school cafeteria, the white kids had their table, the black kids had their table, the hispanic kids had their table, etc.

Look at the churches. 11AM on a Sunday morning is the most segregated time of the week. You have black churches and white churches and then there is a sprinkling of a mixed church. So for those you do not think it still happens, you must not be aware of your surroundings.