Ga. students fight tradition of segregated proms

In Georgia's Wilcox County, segregation is still alive for a special event that marks a young person's passage into adulthood. Now a group of students is looking to change that.

Wilcox County High School student Quanesha Wallace and her friends are organizing an integrated prom, CBS affiliate WMAZ Macon reported, in response to the county's tradition of segregated proms. That is because the school board doesn't oversee the proms but rather are considered private events that are operated by parents.

Wallace was elected homecoming queen in the school's first integrated homecoming court, but she was not allowed to attend the white homecoming party.

"Hearing from other students that I couldn't, they didn't want me to go, it kind of saddened my heart a little," she told WMAZ.

As a result, she and her friends are starting their own integrated prom by hiring DJs and creating flyers. Despite some backlash in the community, the group's effort has drawn support worldwide. They say that half of the white students plan to attend the integrated prom rather than the white-only one.

The integrated prom is scheduled to be held in late April at the Crisp County Community Clubhouse in Cordele.