Segregated Prom/Homecoming King/Queens Still?
October 2, 2024 12:25 PM Subscribe
I talked to several folks who went to public high schools in the US south that were rural enough to be integrated (i.e not every white person went to the local academy) and they had a black homecoming/prom queen/king and a white homecoming/prom king/queen.These folks went to HS in the late 90s and early 2000s. Does this still exist? Based on your current anecodotes or any news articles. I rather not get into a big commentary on this unless you were or your kid attends a hs with this dynamic.
I assume this started in the 70s when these schools were desegregated. I'm not talking about the 'new south' like the suburbs of Atlanta, Charlotte or Nashville, I'm talking about the big high school with 1,500 kids in the middle of nowhere Georgia or North Carolina that wins all the football titles.
I assume this started in the 70s when these schools were desegregated. I'm not talking about the 'new south' like the suburbs of Atlanta, Charlotte or Nashville, I'm talking about the big high school with 1,500 kids in the middle of nowhere Georgia or North Carolina that wins all the football titles.
Possibly of interest, Prom Night in Mississippi, a 2009 Canadian-American documentary film written and directed by Paul Saltzman. The documentary follows a group of 2008 Charleston High School high school seniors in Charleston, Mississippi as they prepare for their senior prom, the first racially integrated prom in Charleston history. The prom was funded by Morgan Freeman, a Charleston resident, and exposed racial tension in the town, mainly among administrators and parents of the students of the high school.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 3:38 PM on October 2 [1 favorite]
posted by nouvelle-personne at 3:38 PM on October 2 [1 favorite]
This definitely was happening in 1990. There's news articles about it.
When people started noticing, I remember a new blurb about it. It was no longer official school proms but White people had private events and invited only "friends". There seemed to be one aspect that was always the same for these friends.
There's one mentioned in the paper in 2003 in Wrightsville, GA. More mentions in 2015. Not sure about now.
posted by beccaj at 3:48 PM on October 2
When people started noticing, I remember a new blurb about it. It was no longer official school proms but White people had private events and invited only "friends". There seemed to be one aspect that was always the same for these friends.
There's one mentioned in the paper in 2003 in Wrightsville, GA. More mentions in 2015. Not sure about now.
posted by beccaj at 3:48 PM on October 2
Okay, so this is a hazy third hand memory so take it with a big grain of salt. I went to high school in the South (NE Florida) in the late 90s. My high school did not have separate black and white prom and homecoming courts, but I have a vague recollection of hearing about a neighboring high school that did, maybe Orange Park or Palatka? A school that was close enough that we played in athletic tournaments against them.
Anyway, and again, this is a hazy recollection, and more importantly it is ONLY a recollection NOT a defense of any kind, my memory is that this was explained as an attempt at inclusion: the school was something like 60/40 white/black and EXTREMELY socially segregated, so by allowing black students to vote on a separate slate of prom/homecoming courts you could ensure that it wasn't exclusively white every year. These were not segregated events, the whole school was at a single, integrated prom and homecoming, but they had a black court and a white court who would share the stage and ride together in the parade or whatever.
And thus ends my extremely shaky remembrance of a bizarre practice that I never actually witnessed.
posted by saladin at 12:53 PM on October 3 [2 favorites]
Anyway, and again, this is a hazy recollection, and more importantly it is ONLY a recollection NOT a defense of any kind, my memory is that this was explained as an attempt at inclusion: the school was something like 60/40 white/black and EXTREMELY socially segregated, so by allowing black students to vote on a separate slate of prom/homecoming courts you could ensure that it wasn't exclusively white every year. These were not segregated events, the whole school was at a single, integrated prom and homecoming, but they had a black court and a white court who would share the stage and ride together in the parade or whatever.
And thus ends my extremely shaky remembrance of a bizarre practice that I never actually witnessed.
posted by saladin at 12:53 PM on October 3 [2 favorites]
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posted by beagle at 12:44 PM on October 2