Georgia School Has First Integrated Prom: 'We Are Living MLK's Dream'
And not a half-century too soon.
Just a few months shy of the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s iconic "I Have a Dream" speech, the students at Wilcox County High School finally got to have their very first racially integrated prom.
Organized by four students — two white, two black — who decided to end their community's decades-old tradition of hosting two private "separate but equal" proms for black and white kids, the 1st annual Wilcox County Integrated Prom took place last Saturday night at the Cordele Community Clubhouse in neighboring Crisp County.
"I feel like we are living Martin Luther King's dream," said Alexis Miller, a Caucasian student whose boyfriend is African-American.
And just like the original Civil Rights Movement, it wasn't easy for the integrated prom's organizers to get their campaign for equality off the ground.
"I put up posters for the integrated prom, and we've had people ripping them down at school," Keela Bloodworth told CBS Atlanta earlier this month.
Even though many ultimately opted to attend the integrated prom, "dozens" of students still ended up at the "whites-only" prom that took place the previous Saturday.
None of the parents who dropped their kids off at the segregated prom were willing to speak on camera, and several became belligerent when asked for an interview.
Still, it seems the integrated prom will end up being more than the sum of its parts.
For one thing, it finally persuaded the school district to consider organizing an official prom for the entire student body irrespective of color.
