Proms and Racism

I should note that I haven't been reading as many (meaning none) YA titles the past few months--hence so few IMHO posts lately.

However, I am watching a documentary of potential interest.  It's called Prom Night in Mississippi, and it's about the proms in the small town (pop. 2100) of Charleston, MS.  Proms, as in more than one prom. Specifically, a white prom and a black prom. 

Actor Morgan Freeman, a Mississippi native, offered to pay the full cost of an integrated prom in 1995, but his offer was ignored.  In 2008, he tried again, and this film is about that year and that prom.  I want to emphasize that in 2008, had Freeman not intervened, this school would have had segregated proms.

As I said, I'm watching it--it's stopped about halfway through at home, waiting for the next round of dinnertime DVD viewing--so I can't say how I felt about it.  So far, it's interesting, and sort of mind blowing--at one point, a man states that he isn't a racist before noting that he doesn't want his white daughter to have an African American boyfriend. 

I've gone on long enough.  Here's the trailer for your viewing pleasure.