Georgia High School students return to segregated proms

Jet, May 26, 2003

Last year, a rural Georgia county high school made history when it held its first integrated prom (JET, May 27, 2002).

This year, White students at Taylor County High School in Butler, GA, voted to have a segregated prom in which Black students were not invited.

Gerica McCrary, who is Black, led the campaign to have the historic integrated prom. She recently told the Chicago Tribune: "People are always saying, 'We are afraid of change down here,' and I guess we are. We go to school together every day, but there is a small group of rednecks who don't agree with what we were trying to do. In my opinion, a lot of it is just plain ignorance."

The school is about 55 percent Black and 45 percent White.

Last year's prom ended the school's 31-year tradition of separate proms. This year, the White students held a prom for Whites only while the Black students held a separate prom that was open to all students.

The county school board says the proms are private functions and are not sponsored by the district, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Supt. Wayne Smith said he plans to submit a proposal for a single prom for Blacks and Whites, but he is not certain he will get the support he needs for an integrated prom.