Longstanding Tradition in the South :-(

Segregated Proms. I guess I just don't understand. When I was in high school, about 30% of the students that attended my school were Black, about 60% were white, and the remaining 10% identified with other ethnic groups. However, I distinctly remember that we all hung out with each other, especially during and after big events. I can't imagine not spending Prom night with all of my fellow classmates, who helped to shape my high school experience, all in the same building on the same night.

However, according to an article that appeared on the NY Times website the other day, segregated proms are longstanding traditions in towns across the rural South.

Yes! Still! In 2009. In the era of our first Black President. People continue to purposely practice segregation even today. 55 years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision, in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case, ruling that the separate but equal policies of the past were unlawful.

In my opinion this (segregated proms) is the perpetuation of racism, although those who stand by these segregated events call them tradition. I, however, pose a question to those who hold the belief that this is tradition... From where does this tradition come?...

I also have an answer: It comes from racist practices of our past. From the Jim Crow laws that prohibited Blacks from occupying the same space as Whites. It comes from the antebellum era when Blacks were enslaved and sold as chattel. From a belief that Blacks are only 3/5 of a person.

And you know what?... It just ain't right... tradition or not...

Sincerely,

TSH

* To view the article, click the link above.