“Stay out of my hair!”
Black students need the federal government to tell schools to leave their hair alone
he federal government and the Department of Education need to start taking their responsibility for prohibiting discrimination seriously and crack down on schools that punish black people for their hair and hair styles. It’s past time the DOE issued guidance, telling schools to leave black students’ hair alone.
When 16-year-old twins Mya and Deanna Cook went to Mystic Valley Regional Charter School with braided hair extensions in 2017, the school issued several infractions to both of them and asked the black girls to step out of class. The school, located just north of Boston, had previously banned hair extensions, which were deemed “distracting” by school administration officials. Since the girls refused to “fix” their hair, they were barred from extracurricular activities, prom, and threatened with suspension. The girls’ mother claims that other black girls with hair extensions have also been pulled out of class and given detention. Parents of the twins pointed out to administrators that white girls wearing extensions, as pictured in the school’s year book, were not punished.
Hair bans do include hair styles worn by (few) white students — blue hair, two-toned hair — but the bottom line is these prohibitions are very subjective, driven by a negative view of blackness, which CONTINUE READING: Responsibility for hair discrimination in schools falls on federal government