Blanche: What I was referring to was a relationship I had in high school with a young man named Benjamin. You have to understand that in those days in the South, a lot of things were still taboo. Certain people were not to mix. So Benjamin and I had to meet in secret. We knew if any of the bigots in town found out about us, there'd be a terrible scandal. And then one day, I had to make a decision. Benjamin invited me to our senior prom. I didn't know what to do. Should I go out with this boy I really cared for, or should I bow to the pressures of an unjust society?
Dorothy: So, what did you do?
Blanche: I walked into that gymnasium on Benjamin's arm. Heads turned, jaws dropped. Why, the room was buzzing all evening. I didn't care. I had followed my heart. And I've never regretted it.
Rose: Oh, Blanche, that's a beautiful story. Oh, that must have taken real courage for both of you!
Dorothy: And it's terrible to think that the two of you were almost kept apart just because Benjamin was black.
Blanche: Black? Benjamin wasn't black. He was from New Jersey. I went to my senior prom with a Yankee!
Dorothy: A Yankee, a Yankee? That is incredible! And to think they made a movie about that deadbeat Gandhi, when there's a story like this that hasn't been told.