By Patrick Rita

Sentry Staff Reporter

Prom night to most means a night of partying with classmates and teachers. For the students at Wilcox County High School, however, this night was totally different. When the teens stepped out of their limos and walked down the red carpet into the Cordele Community Clubhouse on April 27, the night of the dance, many cameras awaited them. This Rochelle, Georgia high school held an integrated prom for the first time ever this year. This dance was about making a point that discrimination is wrong and that those of all races should be able to attend prom together.

Shocking as it may seem, this high school has been having separate black and white dances for decades. Wilcox County High School is not even the final school in the state to integrate their prom. The high school does not sponsor the prom, which means the students are in charge of everything. The principal and superintendent of their school system have allowed segregated proms for years, so it has been up to the students to make the decision to change.

For years, the students have been lobbying to allow black and white teens to attend the same dance. It never worked out however, as there were not enough kids to make it a success. Finally, this year, four seniors at the high school created a Facebook page to promote the dance and made posters to put up around town. What inspired them this year was the fact that many of these kids, black and white, had been lifelong friends and simply wanted to share one last night together.

The popularity that this integrated prom has created soon reached the national level. They even got the attention of DJ’s coming from the entire southeast region who wanted to participate in their prom. Wilcox County High School also received many donations in order to make this night possible. These donations came from all over the country and were enough to fund scholarships for some of the students.

Thanks to the success and publicity that this event brought, Principal Chad Davis of Wilcox County High School has said that he will consider having an official prom in 2014, which will be sponsored by the school. He and most of the students have agreed that they would like to make this a tradition, not a one-time occurrence.

There was some backlash from the rest of the town in response to the integrated prom, and some of the posters that were put up were taken down or damaged. There was also a “white only” dance held a week before the integrated one that was run by the parents, not through the school. However, many white students passed up the opportunity to attend the “white” prom and chose to attend the integrated one instead. This event also sparked drama at the political level when Georgia Governor Nathan Deal refused to respond to the students’ efforts to create an integrated prom.

In the dawn of our own prom season here at school, students and faculty are finding this story very surprising. Minority Achievement and Leadership Center Coordinator Shari Benites is an advocate for equal rights and opportunities who also sponsors Latinas Leading Tomorrow at Yorktown. Benites combines both jobs to give minorities leadership roles in clubs and other organizations.

“My reaction is just shocked after hearing about this. I cannot believe this is something that exists anymore and that there would be any controversy about integrating a prom. I am almost speechless,” said Benites.

Sophomore Michael Hanafin, also part of Minority Achievement, had a similar reaction upon hearing about this development.

“It shocks me that something like this is going on in the U.S. today. I think that it is sad that it took this long,” said Hanafin.

The institution of segregated proms in Georgia has created embarrassing moments for some Georgia students. One instance of this was when black homecoming queen Quanesha Wallace, a Wilcox County senior who was attending the Abbeville High School’s prom, was not allowed to attend the white homecoming party after the dance. Wallace did not want this to happen at her own high school’s dance and took this as motivation to help Wilcox County High School. She then became one of the main figures in the push to hold the integrated prom and was one of the four senior students to create the Facebook page and inspire others to attend the joint dance.

The theme of this movement has seemed to be the kids, who are finally taking a stand and fighting for what they believe in. Benites claims that this generation has grown up in a much less racist time and are starting to see people for people rather than judging them by the color of their skin.

“This generation will be a very important one in eliminating the issue of race,” said Benites.

All it took was four dedicated students to lead a revolution that made sure no child, no matter what race, would be denied entrance to their high school prom.