Segregated Proms in Wilcox County Gain National Attention

ABBEVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – From NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams to radio stations around the world, Wilcox County continues to gain attention for the segregated proms controversy.

“In this area, people just don’t talk about things like that,” said Shonda Reaves, a Wilcox County native, “so it kind of shocked me when I heard about it.”

When the county’s well-kept secret of segregation was out, it was a story that shocked the nation. The Wilcox County School System doesn’t sponsor a prom, but for decades parents have raised money to host separate segregated ‘proms’ for students.

Until Mariesha Rucker came along.

Rucker and several of her classmates started raising money to host the county’s first ever integrated prom. Since 41 NBC’s story aired last week, media crews from across the nation have descended upon the area. Toni Rucker, Mariesha’s mother, has been swamped with interviews, inquiries, support and criticism.

“It’s just phenomenal,” Rucker stated, “never in a million years, did I think it would be like this.”

For the Woodhams, the media is bringing the ingrained injustice to light.

“It had been so long like this,” said Queen Woodham, “it was mentioned but it didn’t go this far to really try and make it happen.”