"In Georgia, students plan first integrated prom" by Robbie Brown | New York Times, April 27, 2013
ABBEVILLE, Ga. — The rural county in central Georgia is one of the last pockets in the country with racially segregated proms....
This weekend, however, after decades of separate proms for white students and black students, Wilcox County will have its first integrated prom. Although events sponsored by the public schools cannot issue invitations on the basis of race, the proms had been organized since 1971, when the schools were desegregated, as private, invitation-only events, sponsored by parents, not the school.
The integrated prom — organized by students — is open to all, at a ballroom in nearby Cordele. Nearly half of the school’s 380 students have registered, with roughly equal numbers of black students and white students.
A group of four female students — two black and two white — came up with the idea, and they have received an outpouring of support from across the country. Their Facebook group has 24,000 fans, and it has raised enough in donations to rent a ballroom and buy food and gift bags for every couple.
Which is great, but being I'm just turned off by ma$$ media promotions these days, thanks.
Disc jockeys from Texas and Atlanta volunteered to play music, a motivational speaker from Florida is delivering a speech, and photographers from New York and Savannah are taking pictures, all without cost. In response, the Wilcox County school board plans to vote this spring on making future proms official school events, which would prohibit segregation.
‘‘Let’s face it: It’s 2013. Why are we even having this conversation?’’ asked Steven Smith, the school district’s superintendent. ‘‘It became an embarrassment long ago.’’
Leaders of the Georgia NAACP have called for the state to ban segregated proms, and the all-white prom has been ridiculed on social media.
Which is interesting. If you haven't noticed, white is the only ethnic group that isn't allowed to celebrate its diversity without being racist -- according to our politically-correct Jewish monitors.
Locally, however, the separate proms have defenders. White residents said members of the two races had different tastes in music and dancing, and different traditions: The junior class plans the white prom, and the senior class plans the black prom.
Just sounds racist.
Wayne McGuinty, a furniture store owner and City Council member who is white, said he had donated to fund-raising events for both proms in past years and saw no problem with separate proms. They do not reflect racism, he said, but simply different traditions and tastes. When he was a senior in high school, in the 1970s, he said, there were separate proms for those who liked rock music and country music.
Sounds too much like Jim Crow.
‘‘This whole issue has been blown out of proportion,’’ he said. ‘‘Nobody had a problem with having two proms until it got all this publicity.’’
And here I have a full article in my divisive Globe.
Parents who organized the white prom declined to comment, as did students who attended.
Across the South, segregated proms have gradually faded away. In 2008, Charleston, Miss., held its first mixed-race prom after the actor Morgan Freeman, who grew up there, offered to pay for the event. In 2010, Montgomery County, Ga., stopped its segregated proms after they were featured in an article in The New York Times Magazine.
Paul Saltzman, who directed a film about Charleston’s desegregation, ‘‘Prom Night in Mississippi,’’ said he did not know of any other proms that were still segregated.
He praised Wilcox County students for breaking with tradition.
‘‘Young people see that the rest of the world doesn’t do things this way,’’ he said....
Actually, the rest of the world does if you read the Jewish War Dailies. Muslim and Christian worlds are intolerant.
In Wilcox County, where 62 percent of the people are white and 35 percent are black, the effort to integrate the prom has grown far beyond the four students....
I'm tired of being divided and categorized by race, gender, sex preference, and all the other little qualifiers the Zionist media would like to apply when I wish health and happiness for everyone.
--more--"
So what are you going to wear?
"Prom spending on the rise again" by Joseph Pisani | Associated Press, April 27, 2013
The prom is making a big comeback.
The recession forced parents and teens to cut back on spending for the annual high school dance, but wallets are finally opening again....
This is over the top s*** when this economy stinks except for those at the top.
‘‘This crop of kids cares about prom,’’ says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at market research firm NPD Group.
And so do the parents, who see the dance as a rite of passage....
Just don't do any drinking.
Prom spending is expected to rise this spring to an average $1,139. That’s among families who are planning to spend some money to attend the annual affair, according to a survey of 1,025 parents of prom-age teens by payment processor Visa Inc. and research company Gfk. Not included in the average were 12 percent who said they wouldn’t spend anything on the prom. A majority of parents with teenagers surveyed were still unsure how much they’d spend.
All of a sudden, things don't look so good.
Leigh Dow didn’t have a budget for her 16-year-old daughter’s prom dress. She wanted it to be well made, have a good fit, and be unique.
Dow paid $500 for a raspberry-colored gown with silver beading and a sweetheart neckline. She expects her daughter, Darby McDaniel, who is a junior in high school to wear the dress more than once.
Dow will also pay for a hairstylist, a spray tan, and part of the cost of a party bus to drive a group of kids to the dance.
What is it about white people wanting to be dark-skinned?
‘‘Prom has become a very big production,’’ says Dow, who owns Dow Media Group, a marketing company....
Other parents set more precise budgets. Anne Klein, who lives in Durango, Colo., gave her 17-year-old daughter a budget of $150 for a prom dress. They picked a $120 peach colored dress from a Macy’s Inc. store in San Diego while visiting colleges in the area. The remaining $30 will go toward shoes.
But mom, I'm gonna look like a skank!
David’s Bridal, which sells prom dresses, says the average spent on prom dresses this year at its 300 stores is $170.
The most popular color is pink blush, thanks to ‘‘Hunger Games’’ actress Jennifer Lawrence, says Brian Beitler, an executive vice president. Lawrence wore a similar color to the Academy Awards.
Boys want to be noticed, too. Men’s Wearhouse Inc. says boys are spending anywhere from $60 to $200 on tuxedo rentals. A gray tuxedo by Vera Wang is popular this year. It rents for $180....
Wendy Kerschner of Adamstown, Pa., told her 16-year-old son that she wasn’t paying for any of his prom expenses. She wanted to teach him a lesson about spending money.
Her son, Casey Kerschner, paid $129 to rent a gray tuxedo with money he made cleaning stalls at a horse barn.
The prom ticket cost the high school junior $50.
He spent $20 on two tickets for the after-prom party. He didn’t take a limousine earlier this month.
Most people in his school didn’t. Instead, he paid $10 to get his Volkswagen Jetta cleaned.
‘‘It’s fun,’’ says Casey Kerschner about the prom, ‘‘but in my opinion, it’s not worth $220.’’
Lesson learned!
--more--"
As usual, the Globe party sucked.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Georgia fire in house kills 4 children, woman
NEWNAN — A woman and four young children died early Saturday as a fire engulfed a home in west Georgia, and authorities said only an 11-year-old girl who was woken by her mother escaped. Firefighters were alerted at 1:17 a.m. Saturday to the blaze at the single-story home in Newnan. Georgia state Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens ruled that the fire was accidental and appeared to have originated in an electrical panel in the home’s den area (AP)."
As usual, the Globe party sucked.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Georgia fire in house kills 4 children, woman
NEWNAN — A woman and four young children died early Saturday as a fire engulfed a home in west Georgia, and authorities said only an 11-year-old girl who was woken by her mother escaped. Firefighters were alerted at 1:17 a.m. Saturday to the blaze at the single-story home in Newnan. Georgia state Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens ruled that the fire was accidental and appeared to have originated in an electrical panel in the home’s den area (AP)."
