did you know that in georgia, there are still segregated proms?! what is wrong with people?! sounds like that school needs gate crashers to me...

Yeah, I saw that on the news... crazy, isn't it?

Wow, thats pretty freaky.

there are somethings in this world that are so stupid they are funny, and others that are so stupid they make you feel all violent! BLARG!!!!

You know, what really sickens me is that this happens all the time. The whole elitist attitude thing, being too good for another group of people. I watch it happen every day, only it's not divided on racial lines. It's economic status based. Class based. Label based. Gender based. And it happens EVERY F-IN' DAY. And we all participate in some way, whether it's because we actively discriminate or if we stand by and let others do it.

totaly agree. that school sucks Damn racisits! (or however it's spelt!)

omg.... that was shocking I had no idea that people did stuff like that anymore... That is so sad...

GAH THAT SUCKS! racisim sucks. It happens at our school being pretty much 1/3 white/asian, 1/3 african american, and 1/3 hispanic. gah...

somehow, even tho that's really sick and horrible and i hate neone who segregates proms, i wasn't that suprised. racism didn't 'go away' after the civil war, it just wasn't as legal nemore. by now, the racism that was common a few hundred years ago is illegal. that's great, it really is. but racism didn't go away for many ppl. in new york city, i see racism every day (none directed at me, thank god). my french teacher (who is french) once got spat at as he was asking for directions. and it's not just the french stuff. i live very close to the 'border' between harlem and carnegie hill and for everyone tries to avoid the other side of the border, it's pathetic. at my skool, we joke about racism, which lets us accept it (and realize just how stupid it is) which for me has somehow gotten rid of all subconsious prejudices that were integrated into me by nyc society. luckily, racists are slowly dying out as more and more ppl refuse to be influenced by their relatives'/friends' racism. unfortunatelly, like i said, it's still here and unfortunatelly, everyone's gonna have to live with it. sad, really, that ppl still carry the petty (on in some cases, extreme) prejudices.........

my school is more racist towards hispanics than blacks, because we have lots of immagrants from latin america near me. everyone sort of jokes about it, but it is there, people are sort of half joking most of the time, but it can get very offensive. people are extremely homophobic, except only against guys. if a girl is a lesbian, that is awesome because we objectify women and they should all perform sexual acts on eachother because the boys like to watch, and that makes it ok. i hate these horrible biast people

"OH NO. THAT PERSON HAS A DIFFERENT SHADE OF SKIN THAN I. HELP ME, OH HELP ME."

People still aren't hearing how utterly rediculous that sounds? It's been so long since the country has claimed they abolished that sort of racism towards african-american, hispanic, and asian youths, but I guess some people don't freaking get that there's no big deal. I could understand if there was some kind of gang related thing, but to segregate an entire prom is just disgusting. I guess people still refuse to grow up about differences in society. Ohmigosh, we're individuals, weather we choose to be or it's something we're born with. GET OVER IT.

And that's what I have t'say about that. Mmhm. :D

- Syuu.

That's really sickening.

That's so stupid. I hate racism! People shouldn't judge by color or race or language! Everyone is equal...

this type of thing is one of the reasons why i wish people would shoot white supremists... they need to be shot or maimed... the times have changed... now i may have a different attitudebecause of where i was rasied (i was and am a minority, i go to a school that is mostly black, and when i see 80 white people in a crowd i say "dang thats a ton of white people...") anyways i just think that there is no real difference between us, although i wish i were black... i really hate sunburning...

racist f**kers!!! i ahte racist people. and homophobic people. and sexist people.

I really can not tolerate racism, I discovered recently that one of my friends is incredibly racist (he let it slip on a drunken night out) and the only thing reason that he used to justify his opinion was the fact that on holiday he got mugged by a black guy...how closed minded can you get, what does he think that its genetic and that if your skin is not white then you automatically get the urge to rob someone.

If he just opened his eyes he would have seen that there are plenty of white people, if not more where I live, who commit more crimes. Needless to say, I look at him in a different light now.

that only breaks a few laws?

stupid inbreeding. (no offense to anyone from georgia)

Wow! Holy crap! That's wierd, I'd have never thought of that!
You people think it's mean, well it is. But I still think it's uber-hilarious.

I'm English and must be ignerant

is a prom like the thing thet have in the film Carry
and er back to the future???

this is not the case in my opinion. its not the colour of skin, but the extra inches/better muscles/smaller waist/curvier rear that people are afraid of because then they themselves might be segregated to the bottom of the pretty person pile.
(thats what i think any way)

On a personal note -

I feel it would be advantageous to re-educate people who have rascist, sexist, sizeist, ageist, or possessing homophobic tendancies.

They are people too.

Unfortunately they are stupid.

Stupidity is a curse that can be cured through education.

And if they don't want to be educated then that's cool too - they can be repatriated to my penal colony by the Prince Charles Mountains.
(Just west of the Lambert Glacier - a few miles north of the South Pole).

weeeeeelllllll I have let this thread alone long enough... I grew up in the south.. there is one state between me and Georgia. When I was in high school there where several race wars (more like bar room brawls). It has not been a very long while since segregation ended, where talking the 70's.
Race was never a issue for me. I was raised in a family where my fathers best friend (Aaron) was a black man and his mother helped raise me. I spent more time with her than I did with my own mother. So I never understood racism, and for a while (until high school) I didn't know it a problem.
We grew up on a farm in the middle of eastern North Carolina where it is mostly country folks. People would use racist terms, my father included but there actions spoke greater volumes. My father would only hire black men to work for him, he felt that white people where sorry and lazy and wouldn't work for a living. He also would not trust white people. But granted he would be the first person to use the N word (which I hate with a passion). There was always a silent understanding between country people in the south. More of a silent, "I am going to say this cause this is how I was raised" attitude, but a visual "Ill spilt someone's head open if they mess with you" life style.
When Aaron died my father was more upset than when his sisters and brothers died. He cried like a baby, which is ruff for a man's man. So you see there are different dynamics of racism. A silent acceptance among some communities of older folks. What may look racist up front is different once you look inside.
What is disturbing about this situation is that it is a high school in the 2003. The old money (southern term for racist white folks) is dying out. Racism is really not a issue in most southern states. Forcing these student to have a prom together would do nothing but stir up hate toward each other. They have to learn on there own they are being morons. Georgia has a lot of old tradition that it has issues with giving up. Much like the PGA banning women from certain golf clubs, or the US banning gay and lesbian marriage. They are traditions that need to be broken but that takes time and education. There is no need to hate these student for there actions. This is all they have known there whole lives. Once they get out in the world and away from backwoods Georgia there attitudes will change. If not, natural selection will catch up with them

MLK said it best,

"But like all slavery, like all domination, like all exploitation, it came to the point that the people got tired of it. And that seems to be the long story of history. There seems to be a throbbing desire, there seems to be an internal desire for freedom within the soul of every man. And it’s there—it might not break forth in the beginning, but eventually it breaks out, for men realize that freedom is something basic."

(sorry to be wordy, I did my thesis on the evolution of racism in the south.. its about time I used some of it)

woah thats a long post, no my post? right here? thats what i like to call spam.

Thanks to Overfriendly Kitten and Ravein for two very good responses and for a change I don't think that there's anything I can I add to that so instead I'll just applaud (plus, anyone who knows MLK well enough to quote him is okay in my books)

*claps*

For those who have never read the 'I've been to the mountaintop' speech it is one of the most moving things I've ever read read it here.

I love that speech... it makes me tear up everytime I hear it or read it...MLK was the most enlightened man of our century.. in my opinion of course. I think that all students..in schools everywhere.. should have to read all of his speaches and recite at least two of them... the world would be a much better place for it.

oy...i definitely know what you're talking about, being a white girl who used to live in harlem. i was amazed the first time i ever walked out of the neighborhood at how visible that separation was. you can literally see the majority of the faces begin to change color...it was a really odd experience for me, and i hadn't expected it to be there at all.

i grew up in rural oregon, so i'd never been exposed to much diversity...but i'd always hated racism with a passion. i'll never forget the first racial expletive i heard hurled at myself. that was just...an odd feeling. it came about because i was dating a black/puerto rican guy (who i'm now married to) and some girl cursed me out for "stealing their men." that really floored me. there were also a lot of white jokes, but eh i got used to those.

i always got asked if i was a student at columbia or city college when i worked at a supermarket across the street from my building...and once i even got asked if i was doing volunteer work..lmao. a lot of the white delivery guys would ask me if i was scared living where i did, but that was the place where i felt most comfortable in all of nyc....even though i stuck out like crazy.

unfortunately, racism IS everywhere, but from what i have seen in my own town (which has 10,000 people and is 99% caucasian), it is dying out more and more as younger generations become more educated about different people. my husband gets hassled a lot by older people, but not at all from younger people. in fact, many of the friends he's made here can't believe that people in this town can still have such backward thinking. so, there is hope at least. there may still be segregated proms in georgia, but i'm certain there won't always be.

and that generation is our greatest hope that in another 20 years, racism, homophobia, classism, etc.. will be a distant memory. As long as there are humans, there will be hate..hate of nation... hate of ideals but hopefully somthing as stupid as skin tone and culture will be extinct and we can hate people for who they are on the inside... not for whats on the outside
I just hope that as this generation grows it passes along those ideals to the next generation... the extinction of racism is dependent on evolution and education.

i cant believe segregation of races still exists in the USA. as a child, i had thought all the segregation in southern USA was in the 19th century, not the 1960s! when i learnt that it was bad enough...but bloody hell segregation still today?
when i first saw the film 'a time to kill' i was convinced it was set in the 60s, but then it referred to the 80s, and i thought bloody hell thats bad, but BLOODY HELL THATS BAD segregation today? i cant get over it.


race riots and problems in england recently have stirred up racist feelings in some people, and damn i hope people as a whole isnt reverting.

Spuglet,
There is no real segregation in the southern US anymore. Now it is cultural segregation. Segregation of the 60's was the separate but equal act. According to federal law as long as facility was equal, they could mandate who used it by color of skin ( I like to call this the bull kaka act). Thank god some strong brave people broke that acts back in the late 60s.
In this case you have a bunch of white kids who decided to keep with a stupid tradition and have there own all white prom. What they didn't say in most of the articles is that this was not sanctioned by the school. It was thrown by the students, much like a private party. They also did not report that less than half of the schools white student population went, they chose to attend the school sanctioned prom.
But segregation is still a real problem here, as I am sure it is there. It is cultural segregation. Some folks feel 'I don't understand your culture, so I stay with a environment I understand.." which appears as racism.. this is in fact ignorance... it can be treated with interaction and education.

WAIT!!!!!!!! HIT THE BREAKS!!!!!!!!

okay...so...my last post made me think about something... and cultural segregation...these kids... chose not to have this prom with the black students not so much because there skin color was darker than theirs... but because they did not understand there culture.
Well try this on for size, a group of gay teens decide to throw there own private prom and not to invite straight kids... is it segregation or a environment that they feel safe in..and how does this outcome affect the original situation???

im afriad i cant answer your questions, but your last post reminded me of something.
often there are specific festivals for homosexuals, africans, different groups and these are accepted. but if there was a straight people only or a white people only festival it would be called secretairianism
surely instead of leading to acceptance and equality this leads to double standards and more separation?

that is correct... so the answer is... in everyones life a little racism must fall.. just some people get down poors and some people get sprinkles..

There's a couple of ways to look at this. One is that straight white folk have any number of organised events targeted at them, they're just not advertised as being for straight white folk (bog-standard cheesy nightclubs spring to mind). The flip side of that is that if it were advertised as such, there'd no doubt be a helluva lot of bad feeling against it, which is a slightly double standard.

This was a topic that came up at university. The Student's Union had a Women's Officer, a Lesbain, Gay and Bisexual Officer, a Black officer, and a few other positions that represented and looked out for the 'minorities' on campus. While I was all for that, I was miffed that as a hetero white male, there was no-one specifically looking out for my needs (i.e. cigarette and snack machines being stocked, beer quality in the bars monitored etc)

Racism is born of ignorance, pure and simple. I grew up in the south Bronx, in NY. I'm 1/4 Italian 3/4 puerto rican, but somehow they cancel each other out and if I don't get Sun for a while I just look like I'm white. Now here I am growing up in the projects, and you know what, it was the safest place I've ever lived. I never had any trouble there in my life. I had more problems when I moved to New Jersey than I did my entire childhood (up til my early teens) living in the "inner city"
Yes, there's crime there. Yes, there's poverty. Yes, there's drugs. Guess what? There's also little to no funding for schools. No little league, no after school activites. Hence a second rate education. Leading to a third rate job, leading to poverty, which leads into drugs, which leads into crime. Of course it's mostly minorities in these area, it's not because of natural order but it's were they ended up when they first landed in the country 100 years ago, so it's just a natural progression. Some people do get out, some do make something of themselves. I'm on my way to a degree in psychology. I start on my masters in a year. Living proof that the projects can make something good.
Now I knew a guy from georgia, real redneck type. Disgusting, dumb as a stick. His dad didn't help matters either. If I just went by him I'd have to say the south was full of rednecked idiots. The I met my buddy Ron. Incredibly cool guy, anarchist, punk/speed metal freak all the way. Rons changed the way I looked at the south, we may disagree on some points but it only reassures me he's an independent thinker.

I think the only way we can truly elminate racsim is to eliminate barriers. Just get everyone together in one spot, understand that we are all the same, flesh and blood, mind and body. We're all different from each other no matter what skin color you are, or what sexual orientation you are. It's not stupidity that causes it, simply ignorance.

the problem is, silence, there's gonna be racism no matter what. just by watching tv, by reading the news, by listening to someone say 'that's so gay' you become predjudiced, whether you like it (or know it) or not. it eventually becomes integrated into your subconsious without you even knowing it's there (i had a similar post like this somewhere but this basicly sums it up)

___________________

LOOOOONG LOAD OF SPEEL WARNING
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If the gay kids hold their own party and make an active choice that they will NOT invite anyone purely based on their sexual orientation then this is as prejudiced as if the only reason for not inviting people is the colour of their skin, or if the private prom said "no gays allowed".

On the flip side - If the active decision was not to invite hetrosexual kids who wouldn't be able to cope in an environment where there were gay kids OR not to invite people who are critical of homosexuality - then that is understandable (though lamentable).

Forming groups should be about getting together with people who share a common interest or goal or trait. It shouldn't be about excluding people who don't fit into your group - unless, perhaps, they are a threat.

Some groups should not exist - Nazis, Rascists, Paedophiles, some cults... the list goes on (though I've only mentioned the couple that I am personally disgusted with).

When I was at Uni there were loads of societies - one for almost every social, ethnic, political or other group... eg - a gay and lesbian soiciety, a chinese society, african society etc, etc;

One day I got really drunk and bet a mate that I would be in more societies than he was by the end of the week. I then proceeded to attend every meeting of every society I could, explaining my reasons for joining. The one thing I remember was that the Rugby Society would only let me in if I completed the initiation... I decided I wouldn't even ask what that entailed... The Gay and Lesbain Society welcomed me in, bought me drinks and gave me a discount card they'd each got to HMV. I was already in the African Society because of my Ghanian friends.

The fact that these groups had their clubs was for social reasons... it wasn't about exclusion, but inclusion... I didn't have to be gay or even bi to get into the gay and lesbian society. I'm not African. I'm not Chinese. I don't even own a mountain bike (the Mountain Bike society was one of the best).

These groups and all the others situations where Gays, Non-whites, or people of a specific religious or political or cultural persuasion meet up are generally not about keeping out white middle-class christian men. A straight person can walk into any of the gay bars that I've visited in London. I can go into the Lithuanian or Korean churches in West London and Kingston, I've visited the Central London Mosque (I needed to use a phone and two of the lads who helped keep the place clean gave me their phone cards), and our local Liberal Synagog (I like the Rabbi - hes a good bloke who does a lot for the homeless in my area).

There are minority groups who do not want outsiders to venture anywhere near them. Some do it out of fear of repression, which is understandable - but I would hope that this can be overcome through greater contact with other groups. Others segregate for less justifiable reasons - I feel these people are as blinkered as the people who try and exclude non whites, gays, people form lower classes, or non chiristians. Though there is an important distinction... no matter how rascist, sexist, homophobic or just unpleasant the minority group are - they're still just a minority. The effect of their prejudice is always going to be less than the effect that the majority can have (which is White, middle class and Christian - where I come from). This is not to say that it is less disgusting - or less harmful - but that I don't think it's justification for the majority.

Very very true. Alot of the socail groups (gay/lesbian, cultural, etc . . . ) are geared toward growing social awareness. The film company I run was requested recently to actually help out a couple groups by doing a feature on raising awarness of homosexual lifestyles. I have alot of gay/lesbian friends whom put up with alot of crap because people don't understand. Alot of the hatred is pretty much spurred from not knowing. People fear what they don't know, and often don't know what they fear.