The student, Darryl George, was suspended for 13 days because his hair is out of compliance when let down, according to a disciplinary notice issued by Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas. It was his first day back at the school after spending a month at an off-site disciplinary program.

George, 18, already has spent more than 80% of his junior year outside of his regular classroom.

He was first pulled from the classroom at the Houston-area school in August after school officials said his braided locs fell below his eyebrows and ear lobes and violated the district’s dress code. His family argues the punishment violates the CROWN Act, which became law in Texas in September and is intended to prohibit race-based hair discrimination. The school says the CROWN Act does not address hair length.

  • Weslee@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Why do schools care what length someone’s hair is anyway? Are they just power mad control freaks?

    • ivanafterall@kbin.social
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      11 months ago

      It’s Texas, so my money is on a few good ol’ boys who 1.) don’t appreciate the kid’s skin color, 2.) don’t love that he’s nationally embarrassed them for the fools they are, and 3.) are dense enough to believe they can still “win” this thing.

    • Mango@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Yes. Schools exist to make your kids into little workers for their kids.

    • Radioactive Radio@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      Because everyone should look like everyone else. Like clones. After all working in the factories needs co-ordination.

    • Dudewitbow@lemmy.zip
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      11 months ago

      Its generally conservative viewpoints of fitting people into “the norm”. Conservatism/traditionalism doesnt stop in the U.S, japan has schools for example that require students dye their hair black and conform to a very atrict uniform. Although that requirement was dropped very recently in tokyo(like 2021), it likely still exist in some regions.

    • interceder270@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Are they just power mad control freaks?

      Yes. Schools have cultures just like anywhere else. Once the administration has a sufficient number of power-hungry losers, this is the end result.

      They can never do anything wrong. It is always someone else’s fault for everything. And all of them reinforce this mentality in each other.

      It’s disgusting.

        • Additional_Prune@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          I had some punk students with non-natural hair colors when I was a high school teacher in California, and that was a long time ago. Nobody cared. This story is from Texas, though.

    • ApexHunter@lemmy.ml
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      11 months ago

      It is even worse than that. He wears his hair in a way that the it does not go below his eyebrows and ear lobes. But the school is mad that it could . It makes my blood boil.

      • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        It’s absolutely terrible, they’re setting him back while he stands up for his rights.

        That hair is awesome too. Fuck them.

        I hope he wins a lot of money from the delays he’s received and punitive damages beyond that.

        • interceder270@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Yeah. They’re preventing him from getting his education for some racist bullshit.

          Everyone who has a hand in this pie needs to be fired and future wages garnished to repay him for what he’s lost.

          We can even do the math to find out how much it costs to educate 1 student for 1 day and then multiply that by how many days he’s been suspended.

  • Diplomjodler@feddit.de
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    11 months ago

    It never ceased to amaze me how US schools are being run like concentration camps. How very land of the free.

      • Steve@startrek.website
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        11 months ago

        Pestering a kid about his hair style is literally the same as starving him in a prison camp

        • squirmy_wormy@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          The comment isn’t phrased like sarcasm though. Sarcasm would be something like:

          God, American schools are just like concentration camps, how do you handle it?

          And even then, being sarcastic here with a phrase like that would mean that this is a dumb thing for people to complain about, which also isn’t true.

  • mx_smith@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    How can anyone blatantly break a law and not get charged? The state has a law prohibiting what these school admins are doing so why aren’t the police called and charges filled against them? I’m guess the police are fine with whatever racist authoritarian bullshit the school does.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Yes, it is time for the school to decide that. And then decide that his education is more important than what they think about his hairstyle.

      • ares35@kbin.social
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        11 months ago

        it’s texas, in a county entirely run by ®acists.

        you already know what they ‘picked’.

        • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          The state has, at least in cases like this. Texas passed the Crown Act. This racist district is ignoring the law.

            • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              From the article:

              State Rep. Ron Reynolds, a Democrat and chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, said he planned to file an amendment to the law during the next session that “specifically addresses length to stop their pretextual argument to not comply with the Crown Act.”

              I’ll note that there’s no federal equivalent to the Crown Act. Does that mean that congress is more racist than Texas?

              Would explain a fucking lot, to be honest.

      • doublejay1999@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Because he’s missed 80% of his classes, which won’t help with the challenges he will already face as black man, and because this would be a silly hill to die on.

        • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Because he’s missed 80% of his classes

          Looking at other articles it looks like that missed classroom time was for continued suspensions over his hairstyle.

          This effort has apparently been backed by the district superintendent.

          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.”

          Just for bonus points the school district’s policy is not only racist but sexist. This policy only applies to males.

          Barbers Hill Independent School District prohibits male students from having hair extending below the eyebrows, ear lobes or top of a t-shirt collar, according to the student handbook. Additionally, hair on all students must be clean, well-groomed, geometrical and not an unnatural color or variation. The school does not require uniforms.

          I have no idea what “geometrical” hair would be.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            “When you are asked to conform … and give up something for the betterment of the whole, there is a psychological benefit,”

            We want you all to be good little soldiers so when you graduate, you can go off and be good little soldiers.

            • AA5B@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              I can’t believe I had to scroll this far to find this quote - anyone else horrified that a school superintendent can say this and think it’s ok? Military school, sure, it serves a purpose that may save your life, but this doesn’t appear to be a military school, and conformity is not an educational value

              Put that together with this kid missing 80% of the year so far over hair and there’s something seriously wrong with that school.

              I mean, it’s a weird hill for the kid to die on, and I don’t see how it’s in his interest to do this, but it’s a serious failing of the school to impact his education like this

    • 1847953620@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Do you mean that worrying about someone’s hairstyle is completely outside of the scope of- and detrimental to the resources of- education? Or that someone’s specific hairstyle can be detrimental to the quality of education received itself?

    • nomous@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Everyone decided, it’s education. The dumbfucks on the schoolboard haven’t gotten the memo, but they will…