Separate but equal proms

[cyrano]

From my friend Gayle:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/magazine/24prom-t.html

Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps.

Comments

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

This reminds me of why I don't miss being 18 - despite the fact that (as one student pointed out) you're of age, you've been dependent on your parents and (often) haven't had the opportunity to learn to stand up for yourself. Those kids should band together and raise hell; I'm pretty sure that if they all petitioned the school/held a protest/wrote letters to the paper/refused to attend segregated proms that things would change pretty quickly. But our culture treats teenagers like overgrown children and doesn't value what they have to say, and it's a rare teen that has the maturity and self-confidence to stand up for themselves and say "This is wrong and needs to change" loudly enough for parents to take notice.

[weirdodragoncat.livejournal.com]

Holy fuck....I always suspected but never knew for sure that crap like this still happened.

[amanda_lodden.livejournal.com]

And the rare teen who can afford to royally piss off the people who are likely going to be paying for their college tuition in a few months.

I agree that a fair portion of the blame rests on the shoulders of the white students who don't speak up (and who don't attend the black prom, which is open to everyone), but the parents are much, much worse.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. I'm certainly not trying to pin the blame on the teens, just saying that (since the parents are perpetrating the issue) they're the only ones who can change it. But thanks to the combination of societal/fiscal power that parents hold over teenage children, that's not really likely to happen.

[phillipalden.livejournal.com]

That is pathetic! And it must violate the Civil Rights Act.

How do these racist assholes get away with this crap?