And I don't mean the physical kind. In my line of work I am forced to think about issues of diversity.
Today we showed a screening of Morgan Freeman's "Prom Night at Mississippi". It basically is a documentary about the first desegregated prom in a town in Mississippi. In 1997 Morgan Freeman went to them and offered to pay for the prom if they integrated the prom. At this time they had a separate prom for Blacks and a separate prom for Whites. In 1997 they refused Morgan's offer. The school got away with it because the students' parents paid for the proms. In 2008 Morgan tried again. They accepted. (A select group of parents did not agree and still hosted a White only prom).
This film and the following conversation really made me think about my background. I never realized until I moved to Illinois just how diverse my neighborhood growing up was. I mean, I have always had friends of various races. It's still odd to me that students haven't been around people of diverse backgrounds.
Next week I will be serving on a panel about inter-racial dating. I have an interesting background being a multiracial person in an inter-racial marriage. Should be interesting.
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