A judge has ordered that a trial be held next month to determine whether a Black high school student in Texas can continue being punished by his district for refusing to change his hairstyle.

A judge ordered Wednesday that a trial be held next month to determine whether a Black high school student in Texas can continue being punished by his district for refusing to change a hairstyle he and his family say is protected by a new state law.

Darryl George, 18, has not been in his regular classroom in Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu since Aug. 31. Instead, he has either been serving in-school suspension or spending time in an off-site disciplinary program.

His Houston-area school district, Barbers Hill, has said George’s long hair, which he wears in neatly tied and twisted locs on top of his head, violates a district dress code that limits hair length for boys. The district has said other students with locs comply with the length policy.

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In the ad, Poole defended his district’s policy and wrote that districts with a traditional dress code are safer and had higher academic performance and that “being an American requires conformity.”

  • @feedum_sneedson
    1•8 months ago

    I was suspended for my hairstyle, twice I think. Definitely at least two times. Just wasn’t in line with the dress code for the school. Annoyed me at the time but it’s like… the rules weren’t racial, I’m white and one of the times I had cornrows. It was the 90’s, I’d just been to Tenerife, I definitely looked stupid.

    • @[email protected]English
      8•8 months ago

      the rules weren’t racial, I’m white and one of the times I had cornrows.

      If cornrows were banned, it absolutely was racist, they just accidentally caught a white person too

      https://www.byrdie.com/history-of-cornrows-5193458

      It poses an even bigger issue when, in more recent times, Black people are still discriminated against based on their hair texture and choices, including cornrows. In 1980, Renee Rogers sued American Airlines when the company demanded she not wear cornrows to work. In 2000, a Wisconsin teacher forcibly cut off seven-year-old Lamya Cammon’s plaits before her grade-school class. These instances don’t include the countless cases of discrimination that go unreported or unspoken. “That’s why it’s so important that when you see cornrows today, it’s so important to recognize that Black people are discriminated against and even face job loss for wearing cornrows,” Donaldson stresses. “Non-Black people just don’t.”

      In 1999 Venus Williams wore cornrows with beaded ends, which were declared disruptive at the Australian Open. Only two years ago in 2019, Gabrielle Union filed a discrimination complaint against her employer, America’s Got Talent, after receiving racially insensitive comments in regards to her hair, including that her styles were “too Black.” It paints a clear picture of the disparities between Black traits and styles and the people who are policed versus those glorified.

      • @feedum_sneedson
        0•8 months ago

        No, all kinds of stuff was banned and I think there was literally one black guy at my school. Come to think of it, he may have actually had cornrows and wasn’t suspended for it. But there was a very strict dress code. Bordering on military, now I think about it.

        I’m not in the USA and I wish I didn’t have to hear about your annoying culture war shit constantly.

    • @Maggoty
      -4•8 months ago

      In the this case the dress code is a child’s argument. The hair is “too long” and the statute only protects cultural hair styles without using the word “length” anywhere. It’s exactly the same level as your buddy arguing you can deal illegal drugs if you get a tax stamp.