HuffPost Review: Prom Night in Mississippi
In 1954, Charleston High School was ordered, like every other school in the country, to desegregate. Integration was instantaneous at some schools, happened a year or two later at others, and then, of course, there were determined stragglers; schools that used the Supreme Court's 1955 declaration of desegregation at "all deliberate speed" to delay and sometimes avoid integration altogether. Sixteen years after it was supposed to happen, Charleston High School in Mississippi, finally allowed black students inside its walls.
Of course, Charleston's dwindling white population, who had fought so hard to stave off integration, managed to hold onto one small piece of Jim Crow: At this southern high school, white students attend one prom; black students attend another.
Lucky for Charleston, superstar Morgan Freeman calls the town of 2,100 home. And this segregated prom thing -- it really didn't sit well with him. So in 1997 Freeman volunteered to pay for the prom, as long as both black and white students could be in attendance. The offer was declined; the separate proms continued.
In 2008 documentary filmmaker Paul Saltzman follows Freeman as he attempts, once more, to coax a revolution. And so Prom Night In Mississippi begins, and we're seat-side with Freeman as he steers his dust-covered BMW through the asphalted backwaters of the Mississippi Delta, determined to foot the tab for Charleston High's first integrated senior prom.
"Tradition is one thing," he tells the superintendent of the East Tallahatchie School District. "Idiocy is another." This time around, Charleston High accepts Freeman's offer and Saltzman hurls us into the lives of the senior class as they prepare for what is not just a history-making event in their small town, but another step in the nation's never-ending quest to achieve racial and civil equality. One made more difficult by the fact that the all-white prom isn't canceled.
Tallahatchie County is one of the poorest in the United States; more than 34 per cent of Charleston's inhabitants live below the poverty line. It's a town steeped in the blood of confederacy slave policy, where the hanging of blacks in the town square were an unexceptional occurrence in the early 1900s. The Mississippi State flag, emblazoned with the symbolism-soaked confederate flag, flanks the stars and stripes on a flagpole in the center of a town where 60 per cent of the inhabitants are black. That percentage is higher at the local high school.
There is something jarring about a segregated prom in 2008. It's not as if we're unaware that racism still runs rampant in this country -- between Sotomayor's Supreme Court hearings and newly published photos of a still healthy Ku Klux Klan -- you can't avoid it. But there's something about this bastion of segregation at Charleston High that is so loathsome to watch, and perhaps it has something to do with the innocence-of-youth factor; that basically at the end of the day, these young, hopeful black students are told by the white coterie -- okay, thanks for coming; it was great going to school with you all these years, but as for celebrating this milestone, we don't want to share it with you.
In one night, the all-white prom nullifies all those Supreme Court decisions; all the sit-ins and demonstrations; the thirty-years of integrated classes at Charleston High. And that makes the pro-integration students not just endearing, but inspirational. They are candid and funny and many risk their family lives in their march to end segregation here.
But Prom Night misses the voice of the pro-segregation whites, and it's those voices we are dying to hear. We hear about their bigotry from their children, and their children's friends, but Saltzman's team was forbidden from going anywhere near them or their all-white gatherings after a group of white parents hired legal counsel at the outset of filming. So, the few white parents we meet in Prom Night are not George Wallace incarnates. Not even close. The racism here is far more simplistic than that. As one mother of a white student explains, "My grandmother always told us we were all put on this earth different, and when we all start integrating there's not going to be anymore individuality... And if that's the way god wanted us he would have made us all the same to start with."
Saltzman equipped all of Prom Night's protagonists -- mainly students -- with personal video devices in the lead-up to prom, which provide some of the most touching moments in the film, as we share unfiltered, intimate and spontaneous confessions with members of the senior class.
But there is a change in tone when the prom finally arrives. Sitting beside me at the screening, a friend described it best when she said, "at some point it stopped being a documentary and started being a feature film." It doesn't take away from the message, but I would have liked to see the candid, unidealized texture that characterized the first three quarters of the film, extend until the final frame.
Certainly Prom Night is uplifting, illuminating and enjoyable, enhanced by a thumping r'n'b/hip hop soundtrack and the unselfconscious musings of the senior class. But how uplifted can you truly be, knowing that the following year, Charleston High School had another all-white prom. Or that Saltzman's film, far from capturing a dying tradition, taps into a new era of educational segregation in this country, with recent studies revealing that the nation's schools are now more racially segregated than at any other time since 1954. Which makes Prom Night in Mississippi that much more important to watch.
Prom Night in Mississippi premiers on HBO tonight at 9 pm.
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I saw this film and it was sad to watch, seeing racism from both sides was sad. I couldn't believe that this still exist. Real eye opener, I am just glad my parents taught me not to judge anyone by the color of their skin, but by what he or she represents as a person. If God willing I ever have children I will raise them the same way.
In Mississippi most of the population is Southern Baptist; something for the population to have in common you would think. The most segragated hour of the week is 11 o'clock Sunday morning when black and white Baptists are in church, separately.
I thought Southern Baptists (of the strictest sort) didn't allow dancing anyhow?
Let's just be honest. The whites want their own prom because they want to maintain the classic traditions of a prom. Most blacks reject this as white culture and want to re-make the dance in their own image. Just leave the kids alone and let them do what they want to do.
LOL! Are you serious? I'll be honest with you. Each of those kids participated on a prom committee which was led by the students and had help from the administration. The same as most schools across the country. So, white students can join that committee and put in their input the same as the Black kids. And why would Black children reject anything, when their entire existence is white culture? Ignorant comments - but I am here to extend my hand to you so that you're no longer ignorant. Make a Black friend so that you can not continue to have the same ignorant views.
I was watching this fascinated; however; the steam was let out of my bag and I grew disgusted with it during the scene when the Prom King and Queen (both black) got up to dance; and the Prom King said: "What's up with this whitey song?"
This racist comment went unchallenged, and I was completely floored; as a white person I felt insulted, that when all this effort was being made to bring these different cultures and people together; it turns out that there was no respect from that young black man. How can these two communities come together to forage a new future when individuals still can not treat and talk respectfully to each other?
I mean think about it, if the Prom King was white and said: "Whats up with this blackey song?" Would there not have been an uproar? Racism can go both ways, tread lightly and do not trade one master for another, but rather free each other from all 'masters'!
I don't want to diminish what you're saying here. It's an important point, but I really hope that you didn't think that this one "prom" is going to change this young man's attitudes towards White people when he's spent 17-18 years experiencing daily racism of his own. I am pretty sure some of the White kids made comments about the over saturation of rap and R&B music as well, they just probably weren't caught on tape. The main premise of this movie, I think, is that this is step one for these kids. Morgan set this up so that they can see they can make a difference - that doesn't mean that all of the old racial attitudes of both the Black and White students simply disappear with the event.
YOU ARE SO CORRECT! I am from charleston and this movie is completely one sided they lay racism all on the white people. But i have seen more racist blacks than whites. I am hurt by this movie as a graduate of that very high school and no im not racist or uneducated. Yes there are two proms but that is how it has always been and yes we pay out of pocket for the prom. So how can that be illegal?? In general the movie made me mad and led the world to think that the most ignorant racists call Charleston, MS home.
It is not illegal to be a ignorant racist bigot. I don't think anyone has suggested that a bunch of racists shouldn't be allowed to associate together and even have meetings and proclaim their dislike of those of other races.
The point is that the entire world has a right to speak out about your ignorant racist beliefs, which is what this movie does.
Well done Roomie....
I saw this documentary and it brought tears to my eyes. I can't wrap myself around how racist and hateful; people CHOSE to be. They spread it about as a cancer to their children poisoning them with that disease.It
(cont.) Mr. Freeman did an outstanding job highlighting this problem and hopefully his influence will help this small group overcome their prejudices; however, it would be a welcome change to see Mississippi showcased in a positive light. For everyone out there who thinks Mississippi is a third world country or at the very least the armpit of the U.S., do a little research, or better yet, come visit. You will find a state rich in beauty, history, character, and generosity, and you will be welcome here, which is more than I can say for many other states I have visited.
This documentary is both heartbreaking and infuriating. I was born and raised in north MS not far from Charleston and encountered very few people like the ones featured here. I am well aware of the racist attitudes still existing in the South, but for the most part they are not much different than those in rural areas across the country. The large majority of Mississippians do not participate in the small-minded blatant racism depicted in this documentary, and the students should be commended for defying their ignorant parents by insisting on maintaining their multi-racial relationships. While Mississippi does not have the best overall reputation (unemployment, obesity, etc.), it is home to some of the most interesting, intelligent, and talented teachers, authors, musicians, and businessmen in the country. Mississippi also ranks among the most charitable states in the U.S., and behind our 'country-dumb' accents are generous, selfless, welcoming, family-oriented people who care deeply about this state and work very hard to overcome the perception the rest of the country seems to have, and Mr. Freeman's documentary has not helped in that cause. Mississippians are very proud of our Morgan Freemans, John Grishams, Elvis Presleys, Medgar Evers, Jim Hensons, and William Faulkners, and in this case Mr. Freeman has used his celebrity to try to end a rediculous, antiquated practice in a community that he calls home.
Growing up in Jackson (MS), during the desegregation era, there was a great deal of racial tension. but we still had integrated proms. We did have segregated elections for homecoming courts and the like to maintain something akin to equal representation. But in those majority black towns in the MS Delta, those white kids who don't go to the private 'christian' academies and aren't home schooled have parents that are in mortal fear of their precious daughters being impregnated by some black "buck" and bringing home some mongrel baby......
Just goes to show how much racism and homophobia have in common: They are both heaven-sent, apparently. This is why the gay community expects more support and understanding from the African-American community; because bigotry towards both groups is typically, religiously justified.
Why is everybody surprise about this story, this is how many of these white parents raise their children and whether it's in the South of in the Midwest. It wouldn't change unless some of our leaders like Jeff Sessions and the rest of the GOP stop with their race baiting tactics.
See Laura Stein's Profile
The most distressing thing was to learn that public schools are more segregated today than at any time since '54. People who say affirmative action is no longer needed must see this film. How can black and white seniors not be affected when separate proms are condoned and expected? The problem is these towns don't fall. These towns spread their poison to the next generation and the next.
It very true on what your saying but its very very difficult to change attitudes especially since affirmative action has been successfully been the dismantle by people who oppose it. The only way to defeat this cycle is that while racism still exist, The African American community must strive for excellent's in education and not make excuses such as crime. That's what President Obama was telling to member of the NAACP and all of America.
Maybe all the townsfolk should be rounded up and resettled.
As I read the story about "Prom Night In Mississippi, I was in shock! It is so difficult to believe that we have some southern white Americans that still have this "Raciest mentally! This is the true form of
"de facto Segregatio
Truthfully:
Truth Bruce
I noticed in some of the previous posts on this story, certain people used the example of all-white golf country clubs as an example of how racism is alive and well in this country. This is disturbing because it shows a lack of understanding our rights to freely assemble with those we choose.
Its obvious this is a case of private individuals deciding to conduct their own business in a manner that doesn't break any law? Liberals feel there is something fundametally wrong with these segregated proms, but the fact is they're perfectly legal.
I always like to point out the dust-up over the Augusta National Golf Club not having admitted any women during a recent Master's Tournament. Have you noticed that the National Organization of Women hasn't pursued their silly protest strategy over that issue? Its a private club, it gets to determine its membership, it stood up for itself and won. That's not misogeny, that's the law. If the left wants to use embarassment and public relations to pursue a policy of social justice, I can't stop them, but I don't have to put up with their "moral outrage" for every percieved wrong.
I neither applaud nor denigrate Mr. Freeman's attempt at conciliation. He's a private citizen that thinks he is contributing to the social good by his offer. Good for him. But don't think I have to acknowledge moral or intellectual inferiority by stating both (segregated) proms are perfectly acceptable activities in our complex republic.
Sir:
The KKK i assume is a private club!!! The John Birch society is also a private club! Don't use the Constitution of the United States To justify bigetory and hate! I fought for this country on foreign soil> I saw americans suffer and die! Not a word did I hear about the Left wing or the right wing in the jungles of Viet Nam! You sir appear to be an -IN-THE CLOSET -BIggot! I bet you are a Southern Republican!
Truth Bruth Said tha!
All I can say to you is that you're either out of touch with reality or you have a major problem with humanity as the reason is that you feel that your race is supperior an other people of color should have limits into what place they should go. All I can say is if your in a hospital fighting for your life you needed blood to keep you alive, are you going to ask the doctor did that blood came from another person of color? This is 2009 NOT 1950!!
Agreed -- to a point. Private individuals, acting in their private capacities, have the right to associate, or not to associate, with others -- for any reason, for an offensive/racist reason, or for no reason at all. And all such individuals and associations, no matter how benign or repugnant, deserve the same fair and equal treatment under the law: the Girl Scouts, Augusta National, the KKK and the New Black Panther Party.
Most prom events, however, are at least facilitated through the school. If a PUBLIC school sponsors, condones, administers, facilitates or chaparones segregated prom events, that is a different matter altogether.
The thing is, the way the schools in the south get away with segregated proms is because they are not school sponsored. They are usually privately funded by parents and the students. There was an article about this recently on MSN about some schools in GA and AL that still do this as well and each one of those towns had privately funded and organized segregated proms so that the school district did not have to be involved.
I'm not saying its right. I find it horrible. But that's how they get around the desegregation laws.
The point isn't that it is illegal. The point is that it is ignorant and racist behaviour that rightly ought to be condemned.
Sure you have a legal right to be an ignorant and racist bigot, but everyone else has a Constitutional right to proclaim loudly that you are a racist, which is what this movie does. If there is a private club that discriminates against people, then I want to know about it because I do not want to do anything that might be construed as supporting that group or the individuals that belong to it.
So what reason has the school given for continuing to have segregated proms? Are they afraid the black kids will infect the white kids with something? Goodness. Stories like this need to be put on blast everytime we hear someone rant about how racism is a thing of the past...or that minorities are just "whining" about race.
Tallahatchie. I seem to recall reading that the racists who murdered Emmett Till threw his body into the Tallahatchie River. Will that place ever change?
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