Four Wilcox County high school students are raising money to hold an integrated prom. Racially integrated. Because they don’t have one, because ever since the school itself integrated 30 years ago, the parents have been throwing separate proms. Because it’s the parents, and not the school, who are sponsoring the separate, private proms, they’re legally free to exclude anyone they want. (Last year, the police were called to remove a biracial student who had attempted to enter the white prom.) The school also recently integrated their homecoming court, but not their homecoming dance, so the white king and black queen weren’t allowed to attend the same dance or be photographed together for the yearbook.
A group of friends — Stephanie Sinnot, Mareshia Rucker, homecoming queen Quanesha Wallace, and Keela Bloodworth — are raising money to sponsor an integrated prom. They say they pressed the school for a single prom, but all they could get was a resolution to permit an integrated prom in addition to the segregated ones. So they’re doing the entire thing themselves. “If we don’t change it, nobody else will,” Bloodworth says.
The prom is scheduled for April 27, and the girls are taking care of the DJ and refreshments and venue all on their own. If you want to help them out with a donation, you can do so via their Facebook page.