Friends asking friends to join them at prom? Normal.
It's in the same category as "Friendsgiving," borrowing clothes and girls' trips.
What's not normal is the incredibly racist way in which these two female white teens asked their black friend to join them for their night of glam, gowns and dancing.
Ladies and gentlemen, behold the worst kind of promposal ever:
Or so it should be.
Apparently, the invitee said "yes."
So, maybe this black girl grew up in a family that taught her she "shouldn't see color." And maybe they didn't warn her about how to navigate friendship dynamics when your pals are white.
This Instagram picture is proof such rhetoric falls flatter than the corny joke on that cardboard box.
Slavery is no laughing matter.
This is why we need to stop arguing slave stories are being told too much on our television and movie screens.
Although including more complex modern characters that reflect African-American life is important, there are obviously white and black people who don't have enough respect for the lives slaves have lived.
A century or so later, many issues the black community is battling right now — think institutionalized poverty, police brutality, colorism, the school-to-prison pipeline and more — are trickle-down effects of slavery.
A documentary by Ava DuVernay, "Thirteen," is about the namesake amendment that banned slavery, and it carefully draws out these connections.
Making light of slavery isn't just disrespectful to any black person today (whether he or she goes with it or not), but it also dishonors the millions who have endured the horrors of that period.
Racist promposals aren't new, but they need to stop.
They are not funny, and never acceptable.
Along with blackface for Halloween and touching black hair without permission, let's kill this already. There are way more creative and inoffensive ways to deliver a prom invitation.
