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Gifts for all occasions in the Galleria! Add your comments on this week's "What is the Deal?" column at Uncle Hiram's Bulletin Board. May 18, 2003 What is the Deal with All-White Proms? By Jan A. Larson Recently a group of students at Taylor County High School in Butler, Georgia organized a dance or "prom" to celebrate the end of the school year. Proms are a tradition at schools across the country and are the first formal party, with tuxedos and evening gowns that some students ever attend. What separated this prom from most proms is that it was restricted to Caucasian students only. To be sure, a second, integrated prom was also scheduled and the school did not "officially" sponsor either prom. Separate proms for black and white students had been the norm at Taylor County High School for many years until last year when the first integrated prom was held. From all accounts, the integrated prom was a big success and there were no incidents that should have caused anyone to reconsider returning to segregated proms. Nevertheless, the "all-white" prom was held on May 2 and it got the attention of Fox News analyst Bill O'Reilly. O'Reilly condemned those that organized the all-white prom as well as school administrators and politicians all the way up to governor Sonny Perdue for not speaking out against the event. O'Reilly and syndicated radio commentator, Neal Boortz, got into a heated discussion on the subject of the all-white prom on O'Reilly's The O'Reilly Factor program. It was clear that Boortz viewed the prom from a purely legal, right of assembly point of view while O'Reilly took the "big picture" societal viewpoint. Boortz was clearly correct that a group of individuals has a perfect right to invite whomever they so choose to a private party. O'Reilly was just as correct in that a party the excludes some persons solely on the basis of the color of their skin can be hurtful to those excluded and does nothing to promote the greater good. The real question is not whether the party was legal, but was it right? It would be one thing for the glee club at Taylor County High School to have a party and exclude individuals that are not members of the glee club. That would be perfectly legal and it would be right. Exclusion based on race, in this case may be legal, but it is not right, and I believe everyone involved knew it wasn't right. The question that an organizer of such an event should ask him/herself is, "If I were being excluded from this event for the reasons that some people are being excluded, how would I feel?" Being a member of the glee club involves a choice. One's race does not. Anyone who is not a member of the glee club wouldn't think twice about not being invited to a gathering of the glee club, but I'm sure there were many black students at Taylor County High School that were hurt that they weren't invited to the prom simply because they are black. Maybe the attendees of the "all-white" prom will think about the message their actions sent to their classmates. Their all-white prom was much more than a dance, but I fear they and the organizers just don't get it. -- Send feedback to the author. The "What is the Deal?" column will appears weekly on the Pie of Knowledge website. Guest submissions are welcome and encouraged. To submit an article to "What is the Deal?" click here. To subscribe to the "What is the Deal?" mailing list and receive early notification when a new column is available, click here. The Pie of Knowledge will never, ever divulge email addresses to any third party for any reason unless so ordered by a court of law. Contributions to the Pie of Knowledge are greatly appreciated. 
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