Leaders of the Georgia NAACP have urged education authorities in the state to end a school's practice of allowing racially segregated proms.
"These children want to go to prom together. I cannot understand that in the year 2013 there are segregated proms in Wilcox County," said Edward DuBose, President of the Georgia NAACP.
The children in question are the students of Wilcox County High School, which has a longstanding practice of having both separate proms and homecomings for black and white students. The proms are not organized or endorsed by the school.
The NAACP asked the school board Tuesday to change their policy of not sponsoring proms, which would allow the segregated proms to continue, and sponsor one official prom for everyone, according to WALB.
WMGT quoted DuBose as saying: ""They may say, well we're not endorsing it, we're not holding it," said Edward DuBose, President of the Georgia NAACP, "your silence means that you're endorsing it, your silence means that your embracing something that is so wrong in 2013."
The school board members will form a leadership team at the high school to see if a school-funded prom will be possible for the upcoming school year.
The story attracted national attention after a group of seniors at the school launched an effort to have an integrated prom at the school.
Though receiving much positive feedback on their Facebook page, not all the reaction to the girls' plan for an integrated prom has been complimentary.
Keela Bloodworth, one of the girls behind the integrated prom effort said: "I put up posters for the "Integrated Prom" and we've had people ripping them down at the school."
Another of the girls behind the effort, Mareshia Rucker, told WMGT that classmates had been resistant to the idea.
"People have said things like 'black people don't like white people and white people don't like black people so just leave them alone. But things like that don't really get to me."
However, the negative reactions from some have not prevented the integrated prom from raising $15,000 online. The event is scheduled to go ahead on April 27th.