Black Student In Texas Suspended Twice For Hairstyle Despite State Ban On Racial Discrimination

Black Student In Texas Suspended Twice For Hairstyle:

A recent incident involving a Black high school kid in Texas shows that racism is still widespread. Despite Texas’ new law on racial discrimination based on haircuts, student Darryl George was punished twice for his hairdo at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu.

Unjust Dress Code Or Discrimination?

George’s incident triggered a heated discussion concerning the school’s clothing policy and racial prejudice. The school prohibits male pupils from having hair below their eyebrows, ear lobes, or t-shirt collars. The code requires pupils’ hair to be clean, well-groomed, geometrical, and not unnaturally colored.

The big issue is whether the school’s tight clothing rule discriminates against Black pupils like George, who wear dreadlocks. This event raises questions about whether clothing restrictions are being utilized to hide discriminatory policies that disproportionately harm Black people.

The Crown Act: A Beacon Of Hope

This circumstance emphasizes the CROWN Act (Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair), passed in Texas on September 1. The CROWN Act prohibits race-based hair discrimination and protects Afros, braids, dreadlocks, twists, and Bantu knots from penalties.

The legislation gives people like Darryl George and his family optimism because they think their hairdo is firmly rooted in their culture and religion. The CROWN Act allows people to express their culture and identity without discrimination.

A Nationwide Struggle Against Racial Bias

The example of Darryl George is not unique. Black people across who have encountered clothing regulations and hair remarks have related to it. These terrible experiences remind us that racial prejudice continues in school and workplace hygiene and appearance standards.

A recent movement against racial unfairness in grooming standards has led to the CROWN Act in numerous states. The struggle is far from ended, and incidents like George’s remind us that much work remains to guarantee that everybody, regardless of race or culture, may express themselves freely and without fear of prejudice.

The Significance Of Cultural Identity

Cultural identity and hairdo are tightly linked, as shown by Darryl George’s example. Black people wear their hair to honor their ancestors and ancestry. Many regard dreadlocks as a symbol of their culture and religion.

The Black diaspora has had several influential hairstyles. African cultures utilized braids and other hairstyles to indicate tribe identity and marital status, according to historians. Enslaved people saw them as symbols of protection and freedom. Black Americans’ hair was a political statement after enslavement, frequently incurring professional and social criticism for not adhering to white European beauty standards.

Dreadlocks, particularly, are associated with wisdom and have significant spiritual roots. They are part of one’s individuality, not a fad or a way to get attention. Having dreadlocks is a cultural and religious practice for Darryl George’s family.

Legal Battles Over Hair Discrimination

Darryl George’s case is hardly the first hair discrimination lawsuit in schools and businesses. A white New Jersey referee was famous in 2018 for forcing a Black high school wrestler to shave his dreadlocks or lose about. The referee was suspended when the event received notice. It also led to New Jersey’s CROWN Act, which banned racial hair discrimination.

Legal experts say the school’s attitude on George’s case may be illegal. Allie Booker, the George family’s attorney, says hair length is important and protected by law. The continuous hair discrimination lawsuits demonstrate the necessity for a uniform strategy to preserve people’s rights to express themselves via their hairstyles.

Differing School Policies: Barbers Hill Vs. Other Districts

Darryl George’s suspension controversy highlights school districts’ grooming rules and practices. Barbers Hill Independent School District restricts male pupils from having hair below the eyebrows, ear lobes, or t-shirt collar. However, other adjacent districts have more lax restrictions.

Some districts let kids wear holey jeans, but Barbers Hill doesn’t. Greg Poole, the district’s superintendent, says the policy teaches pupils to sacrifice for the greater good and boosts academic performance. The George family and their counsel claim the policy’s rigidity discriminates against Black hairstyles and culture.

The variations in grooming standards amongst school districts raise issues about the need for universal norms to allow children of all backgrounds to express themselves without fear of prejudice or punishment for their haircut.

The Impact On Academic And Extracurricular Opportunities

This suspension of Darryl George for his hairdo has far-reaching effects beyond the school’s dress code. His academic performance and extracurricular involvement have suffered. With his grades falling from the ban, George may not be allowed to play football or other extracurriculars. This threatens his academic progress and graduation.

Darresha George, his mother, is concerned that her son, who was on pace to graduate early, is suddenly falling behind academically. The ban has impacted George’s academic and extracurricular options, raising issues about the justice of such sanctions for a culturally and personally significant hairdo.

Read Also: Parents Sue Lubbock-area Schools Over Racism And Antisemitism Incidents

The Crown Act: A Beacon Of Hope In The Fight Against Hair Discrimination

Darryl George’s case has refocused on the CROWN Act in Texas and elsewhere. The CROWN Act’s acronym, “Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” describes its goal: to allow people to exhibit their cultural heritage and uniqueness without hair prejudice.

This legislation, passed in several states, gives hair discrimination victims hope. It protects Black and different people who have natural and protective hairstyles. The CROWN Act helps eliminate racial prejudice and promote natural hair in schools, workplaces, and more.

The Call For Systemic Change

Darryl George’s case shows that hair prejudice and racism are persisting. Black people across who have encountered clothing regulations and hair remarks have related to it. They want structural change, not personal vindication.

Standardized grooming norms encouraging tolerance and cultural diversity are part of systemic transformation. It calls for no student, regardless of race or culture, to be punished for expressing their cultural identity via hairdo. Darryl George’s story highlights the need to end hair prejudice and inspires activism and legislative change.

A Black high school student in Texas who served an in-school suspension over his hairstyle received the same punishment again when he arrived Monday wearing his hair in twisted dreadlocks tied on top of his head, his mother said.

Darryl George, a junior at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, was initially suspended the same week his state outlawed racial discrimination based on hairstyles. School officials said his dreadlocks fell below his eyebrows and ear lobes and violated the district’s dress code.

George, 17, served the first suspension last week at the Houston-area school. He was in tears when he was sent back to in-school suspension Monday, his mother Darresha George said.

“He has to sit on a stool for eight hours in a cubicle,” she said. “That’s very uncomfortable. Every day he’d come home, he’d say his back hurts because he has to sit on a stool.”

The incident recalls debates over hair discrimination in schools and the workplace and is already testing the state’s newly enacted CROWN Act, which took effect Sept. 1.

The law, an acronym for “Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” is intended to prohibit race-based hair discrimination and bars employers and schools from penalizing people because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including Afros, braids, dreadlocks, twists or Bantu knots. Texas is one of 24 states that have enacted a version of the CROWN Act.

A federal version of the CROWN Act passed in the House of Representatives last year, but was not successful in the Senate.

For Black people, hairstyles are more than just a fashion statement. Hair has always played an important role across the Black diaspora, said Candice Matthews, national minister of politics for the New Black Panther Nation. 

“Dreadlocks are perceived as a connection to wisdom,” Matthews said. “This is not a fad, and this is not about getting attention. Hair is our connection to our soul, our heritage and our connection to God.”

In George’s family, all the men have dreadlocks, going back generations. To them, the hairstyle has cultural and religious importance, his mother said.