this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023
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A Black student was suspended for his hairstyle. The school says it wasn’t discrimination. (apnews.com)
submitted 1 year ago by HappyMeatbag@beehaw.org to c/usnews@beehaw.org
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I was expecting something clearly offensive, like FUCK YOU shaved into his head, but nope.

Personally, I think his hair looks pretty cool.

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[–] flak@beehaw.org 22 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Greg Poole, who has been district superintendent since 2006, said the policy is legal and teaches students to conform as a sacrifice benefitting everyone.

“When you are asked to conform ... and give up something for the betterment of the whole, there is a psychological benefit,” Poole said. “We need more teaching (of) sacrifice.”

Fuck right off with that. Your appearance (so long as it’s not designed specifically to distract) is yours. We have minimal ways of expressing ourselves and that is one of them.

[–] CeruleanRuin@lemmings.world 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Greg Tool, more like. What a regressive bag of dicks.

By "conform" I can only assume he means this kid should be using noxious hair straighteners and speaking with the Mid-Atlantic accent.

How weird is it that the school is called "Barber's Hill High School" and they're making a stink over hairstyles? But of course this was Texas, king of the shithole states.

[–] gregorum@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago

“it’s not discrimination, it’s brainwashing!”

[–] apis@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

Yup.

Would take this quote as highlighting the need to give this school a hard swerve.

If my children were already in it, I'd need extremely compelling reasons to not withdraw them immediately.

[–] idiomaddict@feddit.de 12 points 1 year ago

His hair looks awesome and non distracting. Pink and blue hair in fifth grade could be distracting, but lots of things are distracting in school. Teachers should be trained to deal with this situation.

[–] alyaza@beehaw.org 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

worth noting: it's been a trend in the past few years for Democratic-run state legislatures (take for example New York) to introduce anti-discrimination laws for hair--and stories like this are basically why. certain kinds of reactionaries (usually in schooling) have increasingly been using hair as a stand-in for skin tone in basically discriminating against people.

[–] HappyMeatbag@beehaw.org 6 points 1 year ago

Yeah. Younger, naive me didn’t understand why laws about hair were necessary. It didn’t make me angry; I just didn’t get it.

Now I understand what assholes conservatives can be, and the lengths they will go to in order to keep discrimination alive.

[–] Hirom@beehaw.org 9 points 1 year ago

George's hairstyle looks like it took a lot of work. I imagine it makes it especially frustrating to be told the haircut is wrong.

[–] storksforlegs@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Seems like clear cut discrimination, I hope they're able to fight this. The rules say "no hair below the eyebrows" and he's pretty clearly not breaking that rule.

[–] HappyMeatbag@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago

The publicity will help. Bullshit like this doesn’t usually benefit from wide exposure.

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 4 points 1 year ago

🤖 I'm a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles:

Click here to see the summaryDarryl George, a junior at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, received an in-school suspension after he was told his hair fell below his eyebrows and ear lobes.

Historians say braids and other hairstyles served as methods of communication across African societies, including to identify tribal affiliation or marriage status, and as clues to safety and freedom for those who were captured and enslaved.

Although the Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex and national origin, Black people continued to face professional and social stigma for not adopting grooming habits that fit white, European beauty standards and norms.

Viral video of the wrestler having his hair cut with scissors as the crowd watched prompted the referee’s suspension and spurred passage of the state’s CROWN Act.

Attorney Allie Booker, who represents the family, said the school’s argument doesn’t hold up because length is considered part of a hairstyle, which is protected under the law.

George’s situation has drawn solidarity from young Black people around the nation, who say they have long dealt with discriminatory dress codes and comments from adults about their hair.

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