The same week his state outlawed racial discrimination based on hairstyles, a Black high school student in Texas was suspended because school officials said his locs violated the district’s dress code.
Darryl 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. George, 17, wears his hair in thick twisted dreadlocks, tied on top of his head, said his mother, Darresha George.
George served the suspension last week. His mother said he plans to return to the Houston-area school Monday, wearing his dreadlocks in a ponytail, even if he is required to attend an alternative school as a result.
Unless they have the exact same standards for hair length for all students, regardless of gender, that’s plainly discriminatory.
Of course, in reality, hairstyle rules are stupid. As long as it doesn’t cause a disruption (think smelly, or formed into the shape of a helicopter), whatever you wanna do with your hair is fine.
There was a kid I went to high school with in the 90s. His hair was what the punk kids called “Liberty Spikes,” IIRC. His hair was easily 2.5 to 3 feet long. If my backwards ass hick highschool in the middle of the Midwest didn’t have issues with that, then I see no reason that anyone should ever have to defend their choice of hair. Seriously we had kids that brought their tractors to school.
I myself was wandering around with golden locks that got down to my shoulders every year, till I shaved my head for the swim team. Balding sucks 😞
There’s always racism, the oldest standard in the US.
Wait, what makes “shape of a helicopter” disruptive?
If the answer is something like “outrageous style that would get too much attention”, then that sounds like the argument for a ton of these kinds of rules. The main difference would just be subjectively where the line is drawn.
Hair shaped like a helicopter probably makes if difficult for people behind them to see.
So did beehives but those were perfectly fine for women when they were in style.
I would like to see schoolgirls (or boys) with beehives please
Plus it would likely blow all the papers off the desks of students around them.
I can certainly imagine a hairstyle which would block the view of other students. I know that’s not what I was originally implying with the word “disruptive,” but it’s something.
The constant playing of fortunate son in class gets really annoying I’m sure tho
That only happens when he’s learning about 'Nam.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-raGp4kSxSvQ/UJRBUdNfrzI/AAAAAAAACz0/is9FReGPc5g/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/tumblr_m3q1gkjwDA1rvs4qvo1_1280.jpg
She’s built for speed.
I would suggest that in almost all cases a unified standard would actually be guaranteed to be discriminatory, in much the same way a unified standard for how tall you’re allowed to be would be. The only thing I can think of that wouldn’t would be if everyone had to have their heads shaved as “the standard”.
Biologically/genetically, and socially, different (protected!) groups have different hair and expectations about how that hair can be styled.
Even the “head shaved” thing, while possible with any hair no matter what the underlying biology and genetics, would be torture for a sizable number of women in a modern society.
If there is any appearance standard, it must apply to all students in the exact same way. If girls are allowed to have hair which “falls below the eyebrows or earlobes,” but boys are not, that is discrimination based on gender. If girls are allowed to wear “skirts below the knee,” but boys are not, that is discrimination based on gender.
I’m in no way suggesting that girls be held to the appearance standards that boys are held to; rather, boys should be held to the appearance standards that girls are held to.
With the right tattoos a shaved head can be more disruptive than any haircut
Smelly I get, but formed into the shape of a helicopter? Hell yes I’d love to be distracted by that.
It will make you say “soi” repeatedly in your head in Microsoft Sam’s voice, hence the distraction.
I don’t think you could get away with smelly, and I don’t see a problem with any non-dangerous haircut really.
Smelly is subjective too, as someone using the proper oils for their hair could be called smelly.
Smelly has been used for properly maintained dreadlocks that are far less noticeable than Axe body spray.
Yeah. I know I have no way of knowing if it’s something that could be attributed to culture in some cases.
If my dreads smell of anything then it’s of janitorial lemon because I use washing-up liquid (excellent degreaser, very skin friendly, and aside from that scent completely residue-free, also, unlike specialised products (which are the same thing with different scent) dirt cheap).
Dreads don’t take on more odour than ordinary hair, if you were at a BBQ and don’t wash you’ll get complaints from hungry people either way.
I meant “smelly” in a personal hygiene kind of way, and school administration can most certainly take action to remedy a situation where a student is not hygenic.
In a very specific personal hygiene way, sure. But there are situations where you’d end up with similar complaints if a white administrator approached a non-white student.