During this time of the year, high school seniors around the country are prepping themselves for the long anticipated prom night. In Montgomery County in south central Georgia, however, the local high school will facilitate two prom nights, one for the black students and one for the whites.

Segregated proms have long been a tradition in many parts of the rural south, but in recent years, students and parents in some communities have banned together and pushed for prom integration with success.

The senior class of Montgomery County High school, which only consists of 54 students, willingly participated in the prom that matched their ethnicity, reports The New York Times. On Friday, May 1, the white students had their prom and the following night, the black students had theirs.

The students of Montgomery High School refer to the set of dances as "white-folks prom" and "black-folks prom," which are organized by committees outside the school with help from parents. Perhaps the most disturbing twist is that all students are invited to the "black-folks prom," though whites seldom attend. Students say the unspoken rule for the white prom is black students aren't welcomed.

Black members of the student council say they have asked school administration to consider hosting a school-sponsored prom for all seniors and made efforts to collaborate with white prom planners with no success. Timothy Wiggs is one of 21 black students graduating this year and student council president. "We just never get anywhere with it," he said in reference to the integration efforts.

The school's principal, Luke Smith, says the school has no intention to sponsor a prom after a one time attempt in 1995 in which the turnout was minimal.

Interracial friendships and dating are both common at Montgomery High and many students have conflicting views.

“It’s awkward,” said Jon Paul Edge, a white senior. “I have as many black friends as I do white friends. We do everything else together. We hang out. We play sports together. We go to class together. I don’t think anybody at our school is racist.”  But in the same breath defends the "tradition" as many white parents in the area do. “It’s how it’s always been,” he says. “It’s just a tradition.”

Terra Fountain, a 2008 MHS graduate who now lives with her black boyfriend said, “Most of the students do want to have a prom together. But it’s the white parents who say no. … They’re like, if you’re going with the black people; I’m not going to pay for it.”

Kerra Nobles, A black senior whose best friend is white drove to the white prom at the local community center with six other black students to watch her friend participate in the senior walk. "We got stared at a little, being there, but it wasn't too bad," said one of the onlookers. Once the walk was over, they were allowed to watch the father daughter dance and were soon ushered out of the door by white chaperones.

After they were shown the door, they all sat at a KFC and exchanged their feelings towards the prom segregation.

The seven teenagers, girls and boys, cracked jokes and vented their frustrations. “I feel bad for them! Their prom is lame!”

They questioned white girls' fixation with tanning, “You don’t like black people, but you’re working your hardest to get as brown as I am!”

“Half of those girls, when they get home, they’re gonna text a black boy,” one of the young men said.

They questioned if white parents were thinking realistically about life after high school, “you think there aren’t going to be black boys at college?”

Finally the group begins to question their friends helplessness, “you’re 18 years old! You’re old enough to smoke, drive, and do whatever else you want to. Why aren’t you able to step up and say, ‘I want to have my senior prom with the people I’m graduating with?’ ”

“My best friend is white,” said one senior girl. “She’s in there. She’s real cool, but I don’t understand. If they can be in there, why can’t everybody else?”

Just before leaving the restaurant, a girl in the group named Angel checked her phone for text messages from her white friends and found nothing.

“I really don’t understand,” she said. “Because I’m thinking that these people love me and I love them, but I don’t know. Tonight’s a different story.”

The somber group left, and went home for the night to prepare for the following night's "black-folks prom."