A Texas high school is under fire after a student was placed on academic punishment for his hairstyle. A Barbers Hill High School junior named Darryl was suspended after allegedly not following the school’s hair and dress code regulations.
The high school placed the 17-year-old on in-school suspension for weeks because his hair was not tied and the length passed his shoulders. His mother, Darresha George, shared pictures of her son’s hair and feels the punishment was unnecessary after the Crown Act was installed. The Act prohibits school district dress codes from discriminating against “protective hairstyles,” including braids and locs.
This is the second time Barbers Hill High has been in the news for discriminating against Black hairstyles. According to KHOU, the institution had the same incident with another Black student named Deandre Arnold last year.
Activists said punishing “Black hair” breeds white supremacy, and Darryl shouldn’t be suspended. They also want Darryl’s ISS to end; if not, they want the federal government to pull its district funding.
“As long as hair is not below the lobes, below the eyelids, hiding his eyes, on the nape of the neck or at the collar, he’s fine. And it doesn’t matter if he twists his locs up,” attorney Allie Booker said.
The school has not addressed the incident.
