A TOWN in America's deep south that still believes blacks and whites should not mix is about to be dragged into the 21st Century.

A group of students at Wilcox County High in Georgia are fighting to organise the first racially-integrated prom in their school's history - 50 years after the Civil Rights Act came into being.

Stephanie Sinnot, Keela Bloodworth, Mareshia Rucker and Quanesha Wallace have been friends since childhood and claim to be inseparable.

So it makes sense that they would want to go to the prom together.

But they can't because Ms Sinnot and Ms Bloodworth are white and Ms Rucker and Ms Wallace are black and their school has held separate proms for white and non-white students for as long as it has existed.

"We're embarrassed, it's embarrassing," Ms Sinnot told news website WSAV. "We are all friends (and) that's just kind of not right that we can't go to prom together."



Incredibly, the school is not breaking any civil rights laws with its outrageous practice because it does not sponsor the segregated prom dances - or any prom dance, for that matter.

Instead, parents and students are responsible for organizing and funding the private events.

Ms Bloodworth told WSAV that authorities would "probably have the police come out there and escort them off the premises" should anyone attempt to breach the race divide.

That was the outcome last year when a biracial student tried to attend the whites-only prom.

The friends are determined that this year will be different. They are part of a group of students trying to organise an "Integrated Prom", an idea which has ruffled local feathers.

"I put up posters for the "Integrated Prom" and we've had people ripping them down at the school," Ms Bloodworth said.



Beyond the school walls, townsfolk claim separate proms for whites and non-whites is a "tradition we don't need to change".



"They think nothing's broken so don't fix it," Ms Bloodworth said.

There will still be separate proms for blacks and whites this year. Neither is financed by or allowed to take place at Wilcox County High School.

The students said that when they pushed for one prom, the school offered a resolution to permit an integrated prom that would allow all students to attend but not stop segregated proms.

The group also has a Facebook page named "Integrated Prom" - which had registered almost 7,500 likes as of this morning - to raise funds for the event.