A Texas school has punished a Black student over his hairstyle for months.

There are some cultures who wear their hair long for religious reasons - Mennonites, Amish, Jewish etc. Then there are American Indians, eastern Indians etc who also wear their hair long for religious reasons.

Should religion be an acceptable exemption?

Years ago in Rexdale Ontario a student was allowed to bring his huge 3 foot plus sword to school. The case went to court and he won.
 

Some kids are raised different and feel a strong desire to be creative in their looks and dress. It hurts no one and is really no ones business. If the kid learns his stuff, or not has nothing to do with his clothes or hair style. If it was a breading ground for mice maybe. :) If he learns, let him be. is my vote on this. By the way I ran into this dress code thing pretty heavy like when a teen. It was us against them back then. The straight people and groovy people. I was in California in the Silicon Valley, smack in the suburbs.
 

PeppermintPatty said:
There are some cultures who wear their hair long for religious reasons - Mennonites, Amish, Jewish etc. Then there are American Indians, eastern Indians etc who also wear their hair long for religious reasons.

Should religion be an acceptable exemption?

Years ago in Rexdale Ontario a student was allowed to bring his huge 3 foot plus sword to school. The case went to court and he won.
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This whole thing could turn politically weird if were not careful. It is first amendment stuff. I have seen Videos of people stopped by a cop and refuse his directions. There are all kinds of first amendment nuts. Geez, do we need to find out if his guidance counselor agrees or not? His family life, their income? It is his hair. leave him alone. Whatever religion, music, gang, ( there needs to be regulation of hate media ), but whatever. If he is learning, let him be.
 
Pepper said:
Could you supply some details? This sounds so interesting. Why did he need to bring a sword to school?
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It was about 3 years ago. The reason why I remember it was because it got so much media attention. This kid was in the news 24/7 making his case more known.
Throughout this whole thing, I was saying thereā€™s no way this kid is going to be allowed but he was. Let me try and find it.
 
Pepper said:
Could you supply some details? This sounds so interesting. Why did he need to bring a sword to school?
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Found it. It was back in 2006. Hereā€™s an article. Nope! Itā€™s the wrong one. This is a different court winning article that happened in Quebec. Iā€™ll keep looking.

Canada allows Sikh knives in school

Itā€™s not a sword, itā€™s a knife shaped like a sword and is called a kirpan

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/what-is-a-kirpan-1.1101486

IMG_3842.jpeg


In the 2006 Supreme Court of Canada decision of Multani v. Commission scolaire Margueriteā€‘Bourgeoys the court held that the banning of the kirpan in a school environment offended Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and that the restriction could not be upheld under s. 1 of the Charter, as per R.
 
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I think the kid is there for an education. That should be the mission of the school. The whole racism thing is iodic. I think the race card is used to much and dilutes when it is in truly needed in a real issue. Looking on the news the kid seemed to be keeping it neat and well kept. Judge should throw out the case and the kid should be back to school. If the school is not a private school then his hair should not be an issue.
 
VaughanJB said:
Still, for me, the school is the cultural setting. It's a learning facility. It has a syllabus. And THAT is the purpose. It's not to be "culturally aware" (outside the learning syllabus), or to allow opportunities for individual expression. No-one is at the school 24/7, so they enjoy personal expression when they are not mandated to be learning.
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sure, nobody is at school 24/7 - so temporary changes for school time - like uniforms, shoes, hair tied up, no make up - that is reasonable (as long as it is applied to everyone equally, ie black.white. girls.boys )
Individual expression of clothes, makeup etc can be done at other times.
Similar to work requirements for employment.

But cutting hair is not temporary - if one has long hair it would not grow back out of school hours.

I think the school (and employers) can only mandate that hair is neat and tied back in some way rather than loose and flowing. Not that you have to cut it.
 
January said:
sure, nobody is at school 24/7 - so temporary changes for school time - like uniforms, shoes, hair tied up, no make up - that is reasonable (as long as it is applied to everyone equally, ie black.white. girls.boys )
Individual expression of clothes, makeup etc can be done at other times.
Similar to work requirements for employment.

But cutting hair is not temporary - if one has long hair it would not grow back out of school hours.

I think the school (and employers) can only mandate that hair is neat and tied back in some way rather than loose and flowing. Not that you have to cut it.
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Let's get back to the original article, because we've drifted a bit. Actually, the school is punishing this guy because he won't conform to school rules regarding hair STYLES. They're not saying he has to cut it, but the style has to conform to the rules regarding length. Then, inevitably, we have the race issue splashed around - even though the rule is a blanket rule, and applies to all students equally.

Why doesn't he simply have a style for in-school, and do whatever he wants out of school? Well, the article is clear that the school believes this is a money-grab. At the time of the article, the guy has gone without a months worth of education. Over a hair style. And while some might say, "yes, it's only over a hair style, therefore the school is being stupid", I don't think that's correct here. The school documented their standard, the parent should have read about these requirements before enrolling, and this should have become a non-issue.

I think the never-ending desire for a society of racial equality must have come a long way if the main issue in this child's life is the style of his hair.

Back in ye-olde-days, kids were generally forced to have a "short back and sides". At least where I lived (a very low brow area of England that is sinking lower each passing day). I hated it. I didn't want it. But my parents insisted I would do as I was told. But then, that was back in the days when parents understood the greater good.
 
The topic began by using the headline from a media source.

A Texas school has punished a Black student over his hairstyle for months.

Would we even be discussing this if the article read

A Texas school has punished a student over his hairstyle for months.

The article the OP posted begins with the court ruling of.

In a test of Texasā€™ new CROWN Act prohibiting discrimination based on hairstyles, a judge said the Barbers Hill school district can limit the length of male studentsā€™ hair.


Didn't conform to the schools rules about hair length. Court ruled in the schools favor.
But in order to keep the race issue alive no mystery why race was included in the article.
 
Knight said:
The topic began by using the headline from a media source.

A Texas school has punished a Black student over his hairstyle for months.

Would we even be discussing this if the article read

A Texas school has punished a student over his hairstyle for months.

The article the OP posted begins with the court ruling of.

In a test of Texasā€™ new CROWN Act prohibiting discrimination based on hairstyles, a judge said the Barbers Hill school district can limit the length of male studentsā€™ hair.


Didn't conform to the schools rules about hair length. Court ruled in the schools favor.
But in order to keep the race issue alive no mystery why race was included in the article.
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Anyone else laugh at the schools name?
 
His hair exceeds the length maximum per the policy, but in an effort to comply w the length aspect of the policy by putting his hair up now fails to comply w another part of the policy. To me that shows the kid has made an attempt to compromise and conform as best he could while still having his locs.

The CROWN Act was supposed to end these types of policies in TX by eliminating the ability of individual school districts to set these divisive policies (and apparently did across the vast majority of TX SDs), but the Act failed to include a specific mention of permitted length which the authors of the bill presumed/assumed was included based on some of the protected styles, ie locs, to have locs one needs hair longer than permitted by BHSD. A TX state legislator that helped write the CROWN Act testified to same at the January, 2024 trial.

I'm sure they'll try to refine the CROWN Act to permit hair of any length and/or style for male students as is ALREADY permitted for female students. So no matter that the kid tried to comply by wearing his hair put up, they still found a way to bounce him from BHHS.

The policies of BHSD have been applied differently from Whites and Blacks in the past, which is the origin of the charge of racism which came before this kid was ever enrolled in the district.


Please name another service provided by local and/or state taxes that would be denied because of hair length or style.

Would he be denied entry into state funded colleges?

Would he be denied access to mass transit?

Would emergency services refuse to respond to his request for aid?

Would he be denied a drivers license?

One final comment. His hair has no impact on anyone else, it does not impair the education of others, it does not impact staff, so I fail to understand why the BHSD repeatedly tries to fight this useless battle over nothing in the face of the state of TX passing the CROWN Act to eliminate this issue.
 
VaughanJB said:
Let's get back to the original article, because we've drifted a bit. Actually, the school is punishing this guy because he won't conform to school rules regarding hair STYLES. They're not saying he has to cut it, but the style has to conform to the rules regarding length. Then, inevitably, we have the race issue splashed around - even though the rule is a blanket rule, and applies to all students equally.

Why doesn't he simply have a style for in-school, and do whatever he wants out of school? Well, the article is clear that the school believes this is a money-grab. At the time of the article, the guy has gone without a months worth of education. Over a hair style. And while some might say, "yes, it's only over a hair style, therefore the school is being stupid", I don't think that's correct here. The school documented their standard, the parent should have read about these requirements before enrolling, and this should have become a non-issue.
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Knight said:
The topic began by using the headline from a media source.

A Texas school has punished a Black student over his hairstyle for months.

Would we even be discussing this if the article read

A Texas school has punished a student over his hairstyle for months.

The article the OP posted begins with the court ruling of.

In a test of Texasā€™ new CROWN Act prohibiting discrimination based on hairstyles, a judge said the Barbers Hill school district can limit the length of male studentsā€™ hair.


Didn't conform to the schools rules about hair length. Court ruled in the schools favor.
But in order to keep the race issue alive no mystery why race was included in the article.
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Would not be able to have a separate rule for boys here in Australia so yes I would be discussing it on that discrimination.

Also I can see how it is a race issue now - since he is trying to put it up to be in the short style needed but they are objecting to the style of african hair being put up in locs.
Since only african race people have that sort of hair then it is a race based discrimination.
 
January said:
Would not be able to have a separate rule for boys here in Australia so yes I would be discussing it on that discrimination.

Also I can see how it is a race issue now - since he is trying to put it up to be in the short style needed but they are objecting to the style of african hair being put up in locs.
Since only african race people have that sort of hair then it is a race based discrimination.
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White people can grow dreadlocks. Something isn't racial discrimination just because of a style.

wd.jpg
 
January said:
Yes they can. But they don't have afro type hair which seemed to be the objection.
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This is a quote out of the article: "The Barbers Hill school district's dress code says male studentsā€™ hair cannot extend below the eyebrows, earlobes or the top of a T-shirt collar. Male studentsā€™ hair also may not ā€œbe gathered or worn in a styleā€ that would allow the hair to fall to these lengths ā€œwhen let down,ā€ the policy states. George wears his hair in a twisted style at the top of his head."

It is over the length of his hair, not that he has afro-type hair.
 
In defiance of state law that protects the locs, BHSD still manages to overcome the will of the people of the state of TX based on the passage of the CROWN Act.

Houston Chronicle CROWN Act

TX Tribune CA sent to.....

TX Tribune CA sent to TX legislature


"Dakari Davis, a Black police officer who testified in support of the bill, said people shouldnā€™t be reprimanded for sporting styles that are natural for their hair or specific to certain cultures.

Davis, who has cornrows, said he was suspended from duty and prevented from engaging with the community he protected for almost a year before being cleared of violating department policy with his hair.

ā€œThe discrimination had already occurred and the damage was done,ā€ Davis said. ā€œI was confused as to how my natural hair determined that I was not good enough to protect Texans, confused as to why I had to change my appearance to fit in with old standards of beauty created during a time where people that didnā€™t look like me or people that did look like me were considered a non-factor.ā€

He recounted the July 2016 police shootings in Dallas when a gunman killed five law enforcement officials, including one who was Davisā€™ close friend.

ā€œI remember that night seeing police from all over the state respond to protect Texas, running towards gunfire,ā€ Davis testified. ā€œToday as I reflect on that night, I do not recall anyone stopping to say, ā€˜Hey, I donā€™t believe that officerā€™s hair is professional.ā€™ā€

Anecdotal accounts of discrimination like Davisā€™ have emerged sporadically since the incident in Mont Belvieu drew international attention to the issue."
 
Lilac said:
This is a quote out of the article: "The Barbers Hill school district's dress code says male studentsā€™ hair cannot extend below the eyebrows, earlobes or the top of a T-shirt collar. Male studentsā€™ hair also may not ā€œbe gathered or worn in a styleā€ that would allow the hair to fall to these lengths ā€œwhen let down,ā€ the policy states. George wears his hair in a twisted style at the top of his head."

It is over the length of his hair, not that he has afro-type hair.
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Except that later reports said he did have it tied up but they did not accept that style of being tied up - the style which was twisted up afro hair. If that is correct, I can see how it is racist.

If it is just about length of hair I think that is wrong of the school too - a. because it only applies t o boys and b. because having hair tied up is just as safe and neat as short hair.
 
I must admit that I did not read everything posted. I will say if restrictions were made and publicly available information, then the rule must be followed. If the school did not detail everything then it is left to interpretation.

In this modern age we know that our younger generations like to express themselves with hair, clothing, makeup. I, for one like that children and young adults are allowed to be who they are, what makes them feel confident, ready to take on the world. Just because I don't have orange hair and have big eyelashes does not make me feel weird. Why should we find it weird, they are just doing what makes them comfortable. I am all for it!!
 
January said:
Except that later reports said he did have it tied up but they did not accept that style of being tied up - the style which was twisted up afro hair. If that is correct, I can see how it is racist.

If it is just about length of hair I think that is wrong of the school too - a. because it only applies t o boys and b. because having hair tied up is just as safe and neat as short hair.
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Policy didn't allow for hair tied up because if let down, it would have been longer than the school allowed. It was out of policy. See my post #6.
 
Lilac said:
Policy didn't allow for hair tied up because if let down, it would have been longer than the school allowed. It was out of policy. See my post #6.
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And other reports said white students had long hair and blind eye was turned to this when it was tied up in different style.

The policy isn't applied to girls so no reason for it to be applied to boys.
( that would be illegal discrimination here in Australia)
 

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