Somewhat related: in my area (Poughkeepsie, NY), a student was nearly barred from graduating this year. Appearently, she was a "discipline case", suspected of threatening a schoolmate, using street slang in everyday conversation, and dating a male caucasian.

More details of the incident.

Never heard of it before. I am not aware of the practice in the NYC tri-state region.

At my Tennessee high school in the late 70s we had a black and a white homecoming queen but no separate ceremonies of any kind. I had no idea these kinds of things were still going on.

Never heard of it before. I am not aware of the practice in the NYC tri-state region.

It's too common, actually:

1)Administrator notices (non)issue in workplace environment.

2)Administrator worries about the impression (non)issue may set for overall morale and establishment image.

3)Administrator informs higher management of an ensuing crisis, recommending drastic and immediate action.

4)Higher management notes memorandum, noting the administrator who sent in the paperwork must know the situation well enough, as they wouldn't have hired the administrator.

5)Civil liberties issue ensures out of what is now revealed to be a harrassment issue on the part of the administrator.

6)Higher management is deeply embarrassed by the incident, and reverses their prior decision.

In this case, it was a parochial school, rather than a Fortune 500 company, military branch or municipal chamber of commerce.

Smart Dalek: My above comment is in reference to the LAT article.

Having said that. . .

Aisha O'Gilvie, who is black, said she and her boyfriend, who is white and captain of the football team, were repeatedly asked by school officials this year if they were dating.

*head explodes*

Never heard of it either. Don't think I like it at all.

When does exclusive cross the line to racist? When it becomes onerous or involuntary or threatening, obviously. I'm not aware of any evidence that suggests African-American or other minority students can't decline to attend these ceremonies, if they choose. Multiple ceremonies may be silly--they may even be a waste of money--but as long as no one's being forced to attend or kept from attending a graduation ceremony, it seems all harmless pagentry to me. What constitutes the "racism" here?

I went to a California State University and this is big news to me. But then I am not black or Latino or Asian. Apparently they can attend their separate ceremony and then join in the more general ceremony as well. It is really difficult for me to work up an opinion on this at the moment.

However, my daughter is half-Asian. I wonder if they are still having separate ceremonies if she will a.) be invited or b.) participate. I sure hope not. One graduation ceremony in the hot June sun is all I can take.

That's...very odd. o_O

What, really, was the point? More segregation? What good would that do?

Multiple ceremonies may be silly--they may even be a waste of money--but as long as no one's being forced to attend or kept from attending a graduation ceremony, it seems all harmless pagentry to me. What constitutes the "racism" here?

If you don't want to drink from the second water fountain, you mustn't be very thirsty...

Smart Dalek, what similarity is there between keeping African-Americans from drinking at a Whites Only water fountain by the implicit threat of law or violence and the voluntary association of African-Americans in an additional, ethnically-identified, graduation ceremony? Unless you have evidence that these ceremonies are not voluntary, or that they are especially burdensome or threatening to some other group, I don't see any similarity at all.

More segregation? What good would that do?

Well, again, I ask: what's segregatory--in a malicious sense--about what is, as far as I can tell, a voluntary association?

I agree with Smart Dalek. Segregation, whether voluntary or involuntary is a bad thing.

1) There can be a fine line between what is voluntary and what is not. Peer pressure, for one which when increased by having authority figures highlight people as different can push people away from each others in ways they see as being "voluntary"

2) Voluntary segregation is, in my opinion, one of the most insidious, dangerous and under-stated problems in our modern societies. With all the talk of multi-culturalism and preserving identity, people seem to have forgotten that the best way we have of getting on is to actually spend time with each other.