Student Gets Banned From Prom Over Confederate Dress

A dress with the design of the Confederate Flag wound up getting a student bounced from her prom in Tennessee this Saturday.

Texanna Edwards, an 18 year old Gibson County High School senior, was dressed in a knee length red dress decorated with bright blue stripes and white stars resembling the Confederate battle flag. School officials would not allow the student to attend the prom telling her the dress was “offensive and inappropriate,” reports the Jackson Sun.

Texanna stated in an interview Monday:

“We asked why they thought that, but they kept saying the same thing over and over. We kept asking people walking inside — black and white — and everyone said they loved it. Two black women even went off on the principal. They were upset with the principal. No one was upset with me.”

Eddie Pruett, director of schools for the Gibson County Special School District, told the Sun:

“She was told because of the dress and what it would look like, it would be considered inappropriate. She had talked with the prom sponsor and they told her it would be inappropriate. … I feel like Hughes followed legal precedents set by other court cases. Students have legal rights, and we don’t infringe upon those. But we have to follow legal precedents, and if there is a reason to believe something could happen, we don’t wait until after the fact to do something.”

According to Pruett, there have been race-related issues at Gibson County High in recent years and that Principal James Hughes was concerned the dress could have caused possible conflicts.

Pruett continued to add:

“I hate that the girl was not able to attend prom, and this is an unfortunate incident. But as a school district, we have to look out for the best interest for all students. You have to try to do what’s best for every child. Because of past incidents, Mr. Hughes felt that by admitting that dress it could cause a problem that night, or it could continue on throughout the school year.”

Check out the news video below for more about this story.

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