<p>I don’t think this is a southern thing or as nefarious as some posts suggest. Similar events occur at northern schools - - primarily b/c of differing musical tastes. If the class votes for the type of music or specific selections, often the black students’ favorites do not garner enough votes to make the play list. And going to a dance where little or none of “your” music is playes probab isn’t a whole lot of fun.</p>
<p>Glad this one had a happy ending.</p>
<p>NYC, you raise a good point. When an event is homogenous you always have to ask if it’s because people have been pushed aside or if they’ve chosen to come together. There’s definitely a difference. I’ve noticed this in the disability community. That while people don’t want to be excluded from events of general interest, they also want to have times that they come together to support each other.</p>
<p>But given that the most recent article describes this as the “return” of the prom, I have to wonder if there was historically a prom and it was cancelled when the school was desegregated. </p>
<p>If so, this would not have been an isolated incident. Many, many public activities were cancelled during the desegregation era rather than open them up to everyone. For example, in New Orleans, after it was ruled that the taxpayer-funded city pools could no longer be whites-only, the city fathers simply closed them. And closed they stayed, for something like 30 years.</p>
<p>My mother and I attended the same Chicago public h/s. When she graduated there was the official school prom for Whites only. Blacks (Negroes) were not allowed to buy tickets to the school prom, so they held there own prom at a local church.</p>
<p>When I graduated 26 years later - the official school prom was integrated but the homecoming queen and her court were all White (only Whites were on the ballot). The Black students didnt attend the pre-prom activities and dinner, because they were held at a country club that didnt admit Blacks.</p>
<p>Well I heard mister Young sing about her
Well, I heard ole Neil put her down
Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
A Southern man don’t need him around anyhow</p>
<p>NJres, that song always had me deeply conflicted.
I was a Skynrd fan from the Deep South AND a total Neil Young freak. It was a substantial ethical dilemma for me. I resolved it by singing the line very loudly.</p>