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‘Picking Cotton’ Prom Proposal: Invited Student Is Heir To Grandma’s Cotton Farm

By Paula Mooney
Published on: 12:24 PST, Mar 31, 2017

There’s a weird prom proposal, or “promposal,” that is going viral, and not in a good way, much like the #LetNannyGoToProm movement, as reported by the Inquisitr. This prom proposal featured a sign by two white student written for an African-American student that read, “You may be picking cotton, but we’re picking you.”

According to CBS Miami, the sign held by all three women went viral as soon as people on social media got wind of the prom proposal, and read the message that is being called a racist remark online. It was deemed so controversial, some of the high school students involved were suspended. The sign became a popular topic of conversation at Monarch High.

Located in Coconut Creek, Florida, Monarch High School is a public high school.

A search for “picking cotton” on Twitter automatically suggests “picking cotton prom” as a result. That’s because plenty of people are viewing the photo of the viral prom proposal, and talking about the concern it caused, even if the proposal is being explained away as a joke. With the photo displaying two white female students who created a prom proposal for an African-American student with the message about picking cotton, the prom proposal caused confusion and controversy.

“You may be picking cotton, but we’re picking you to go to the prom with us.”

The fact that all three of the women in the controversial photo are smiling is something that added more confusion to the melee. On social media, viewers were questioning how offensive the “joke” of a sign really was in the wake of it going viral.

As reported by Local 10, the “picking cotton” prom sign was publicized via a tweet from Jon Aro. While some are calling it a “joke” between friends, others are calling it a tone-deaf sign in a world heightened with racial sensitivities.

The picking cotton prom proposal, according to The Root, is a sign that the principal has already been made aware of, as noted by a receptionist at the school. What’s being called the “Most Racist Promposal You’ve Seen” by sites like Blavity has drawn unwanted attention to the school, even though the Instagram post that once hosted the photo has been deleted.

The sign about picking cotton and going to the prom arose when one of the girls decided not to go to prom due to being homeschooled. As a result, the two students decided to invite the African-American student to prom, because she is the literal heir to her grandmother’s cotton farm in Alabama. However, the cotton-picking prom proposal has gotten the girls suspended, according to Ebony. After knowing the backstory behind the viral promposal, some folks online were willing to cut the girls some slack, but others insist it is racially insensitive.

The students have said they are sorry for the prom proposal that mentioned picking cotton, according to Yahoo News Canada.

Whereas some people assumed the “picking cotton” promposal was apropos of nothing, and articles state that the women may have assumed it would be a good joke to invite their black softball teammate to prom with the picking cotton reference, plenty of publications may not realize that the African-American student was heir to a cotton farm.

For others writing comments about the prom proposal, the black student being heir to a cotton farm shouldn’t matter, and that all references to picking cotton should have been left off the prom proposal. However, detractors argue that the students proved they had pure motives at heart — if not a bit wayward — by showing that they wanted the African-American student to go to prom in the first place.

The cotton-picking prom proposal continued to go viral on Friday evening, and as a result, the Monarch High School softball team forfeited a game because the team had received threats. The girls are straight-A students and were suspended for one week.

[Featured Image by czb/Shutterstock]

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