After national mockery rained down upon him like a Georgia squall, Mr. Deal finally conceded that Mr. Obama was, more than likely, born in the United States. Still, there won't be any more concessions to reality during his term if he can help it. That's why he has resisted calls to add his voice to the growing chorus of Georgians demanding integration of school prom nights where segregation still reigns.
Although the calendar swears it is 2013, black and white students from Wilcox County High School in the Macon area attend separate proms even though the school has been integrated by court order since 1970-71. Under pressure from white parents who didn't want their kids socializing across racial lines, the school long ago canceled the prom rather than risk white flight. The school has had separate Homecoming kings and queens, too, with no joint photographs of them for the yearbook.
Thus began the Wilcox tradition of white parents underwriting a private, invitation-only prom for whites, held far removed from school property, in a strategy mirrored throughout the South by other public schools. Black parents responded to the snub by underwriting private proms for their kids, although white kids aren't excluded.
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