After serving more than a month of in-school suspension over his dreadlocks, a Black student in Texas was told he will be removed from his high school and sent to a disciplinary alternative education program on Thursday.

Darryl George, 18, is a junior at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu and has been suspended since Aug. 31. He will be sent to EPIC, an alternative school program, from Oct. 12 through Nov. 29 for “failure to comply” with multiple campus and classroom regulations, the principal said in a Wednesday letter provided to The Associated Press by the family.

Principal Lance Murphy wrote that George has repeatedly violated the district’s “previously communicated standards of student conduct." The letter also says that George will be allowed to return to regular classroom instruction on Nov. 30 but will not be allowed to return to his high school’s campus until then unless he’s there to discuss his conduct with school administrators.

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.

George’s mother, Darresha George, and the family’s attorney deny the teenager’s hairstyle violates the dress code. The family last month filed a formal complaint with the Texas Education Agency and a federal civil rights lawsuit against the state’s governor and attorney general, alleging they failed to enforce a new law outlawing discrimination based on hairstyles.

The family alleges George’s suspension and subsequent discipline violate the state’s CROWN Act, which took effect Sept. 1. The law, an acronym for “Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” is intended to prohibit race-based hair discrimination and bars employers and schools from penalizing people because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including Afros, braids, dreadlocks, twists or Bantu knots.

A federal version passed in the U.S. House last year, but was not successful in the Senate.

The school district also filed a lawsuit in state district court asking a judge to clarify whether its dress code restrictions limiting student hair length for boys violates the CROWN Act. The lawsuit was filed in Chambers County, east of Houston.

George’s school previously clashed with two other Black male students over the dress code.

Barbers Hill officials told cousins De’Andre Arnold and Kaden Bradford they had to cut their dreadlocks in 2020. Their families sued the district in May 2020, and a federal judge later ruled the district’s hair policy was discriminatory. Their pending case helped spur Texas lawmakers to approve the state’s CROWN Act. Both students withdrew from the school, with Bradford returning after the judge’s ruling.

link: https://www.aol.com/news/black-student-suspended-over-hairstyle-220842177.html

  • SlikPikker@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    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.

    Land of the fucking free.

    Call me when the HOA allows you to plant clover on the front lawn.

      • Madlaine@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        To be fair it could maybe be counted under unnatural variations.

        He is styling it in a way that is not typical for the society he actively participates in.


        (second part not necessarily connected to your comment anymore)

        But I think it’s stupid to ban hair styles anyway. I often had some classmates with weird hairstyles and guess what, didn’t distract me from school.

        In my opinion the dresscodes for school should be:

        • cover your genitals generously, ass and boobies (regardless of gender. I think there isn’t place for shirtless guys in school outside of the gym). In general that means pants/dress/skirt and a shirt/top, but I wouldn’t care if they wear a toga or whatever.
        • don’t wear extreme political symbols or other obviously widespread offensive symbols (e.g. a swastika)
        • unless absolutely required by your religion, or physical reasons like a burnt face, never wear anything that covers your face. (medical masks in case of illness or pandemics excluded)

        And that should be it (this list includes my limitations on hair styles and tattoos as well)

        • canuckkat@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I know the Western world still isn’t into it, but kids should be allowed to wear masks if they’re sick or trying to prevent illness. Like they do in Asian countries.

          Especially by the point they’re in high school.

          • Madlaine@feddit.de
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            1 year ago

            Thanks for the input. honestly I forgot about masks, I would allow them as well.

            I’m more against wearing a bandana mask for fun and edgyness; or to not be identified if you trash the elevator, etc.

        • Emerald@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I think there isn’t place for shirtless guys in school outside of the gym

          Why is it acceptable some places but not others to you?

    • PlantJam@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Texas actually has a pretty great law about replacing lawns with drought tolerant alternatives. This article gives a good summary: https://greenrightnow.com/hoas-must-consider-drought-tolerant-landscaping-under-new-law-passed-by-texas-legislature/

      The article mentions some concerns about still allowing HOAs to require homeowners to submit plans for approval, but in my experience just mentioning the state law is enough to get any denial overturned.

      • pascal@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        The fact you have a law about lawns is funny and sad at the same time.

        • PlantJam@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          What’s sad is to think how unlikely it would be to get passed in today’s political climate.