Prom Night in Mississippi

In 1970, Charleston High School in Charleston, MS, was finally desegregated—16 years after the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education ruling; however, the school refused to integrate its traditional prom, resulting in one dance for white students and one for blacks. As luck would have it, Charleston is the home of Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman, who in 1997 offered to pay for a fully integrated event. Freeman's generosity was rejected, but in 2008 a second offer was grudgingly accepted. Paul Saltzman's documentary Prom Night in Mississippi is often mind-boggling: the idea of racially segregated proms in a year when an African-American was elected president seems like a bad joke. Having made a career playing strong heroic types, Freeman completely fits the bill here; when the district school superintendent explains that separate proms are a tradition, Freeman sharply counters: “Tradition is one thing, idiocy is another.” Prom Night in Mississippi does not tap too deeply into the underlying currents of racism that still swirl in America (not surprisingly, most of the students who advocated continuation of the tradition did not wish to be interviewed for the film); but what the camera does capture argues that the roots of racism are much deeper than most Americans would like to acknowledge. DVD extras include an interview with Saltzman, deleted and extended scenes, and a filmmaker bio. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)