Yes, very horrible. But there's also WORSE proof that the "secret" prom was the school prom all along.
So ... on facebook I see classmates and parents of the bigoted students defensively saying crap like "Constance got to go to the 'prom', she can't complain" and refer to the real prom as a "party". Example:
Of course that was posted on a "prom 2010" photo folder.
Well, as you probably know, the "private party" line is a COMPLETE LIE. The Secret Prom was the REAL PROM all along. And Constance was intentionally excluded from it in violation of the US Constitution. When NMisscommentor first broke the story about the secret prom, he noted, "Meanwhile, there’s a rumor that school officials were directly involved in setting up the “fake” prom."
This rumor seems to be true.
On February 5, 2010, Itawamba students were sent a flyer explaining the rules for the prom and that the theme was MASQUERADE:
(Note also that dates MUST BE of the opposite sex.)
After they claimed to cancel the official prom to avoid Constance from attending, a federal judge ruled that that act violated the Constitution. But he didn't require the school to reinstitute the prom because he was told a private prom was being planned that ALL students could attend. In fact, however, USAToday reported that Constance would not be permitted to bring a same-sex date or wear a tux to it (which is what the federal judge already had said was discrimination). Well, they ended up "cancelling" that prom too after claiming Constance was "one hour" late trying to buy a ticket for it.
Then, about a day after that "private" prom was "cancelled," a new prom was announced to be held at the local country club. But what really happened is that the real prom moved somewhere else, and Constance was directed to go to the fake prom. (Whether or not she knew there was another real "party" going on, its clear she was not invited to it.)
And at the secret real prom, guess what the theme was and what decorations they used?? Yep -- Masquerade!! They used all the decorations intended for the original prom! Could it not be any clearer that this was intended to be the continuation of the original prom?
ETA 9:45pm PDT 4/8/10:2nd pic
This, it seems to me, in addition to being sicker than sicker, is a direct and unbelievable breach of what the school district promised the federal judge.
Constance WAS NOT invited to the real prom - she was segregated and sent to a decoy prom. And they laughed their asses off at her, while "Masquerade 2010" went on.
Sick sick sick.
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ETA: 6:40am PDT 4/9 (another facebook comment showing continuity of proms leading to the secret prom):
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ETA 2:15pm PDT 4/9 Here's some more info, this is a bit odd. Its some local forum posts in MS which seem to initially deny that any secret prom took place, but there are some references to a "birthday party". Then there are pics from the prom with people pointing to an old greek/roman bust. I know this many be loony but could this be the "birthday party" guest of honor (i.e., a cover story for the prom). I wish someone would just tell me what that bust was for!
ETA 7:53 PDT 4/9: Best info I can gather is that there is no "birthday-bust" connection. A private informant tells me: "that little man in the pictures is this tradition at the school. Every year a senior steals the little man, and takes it somewhere with them and takes pictures with it. Something silly!"
