Hair Length Is Still an Issue in Texas Schools

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Sometimes it feels as though the last sixty or seventy years just did not even happen in places like Texas.  I thought the ridiculous "hair" wars in schools ended back in the 1960's when principals were often tasked with measuring the length of male students' sideburns to insure that they did not extend below the midpoint of the students' ears.  Sideburns which exceeded that length, by even a fraction of an inch, could - and no doubt, did - lead to unwanted pregnancies, drug use, and even socialist tendencies.  So hair, especially after the kids went crazy listening to those "Beatles" and other bands from Britain in the '60's, became a big issue - a very big issue - and the schools were the front line in the defense of society's important norms.

But all of that crap eventually went away.  Long hair for men crossed style barriers, and generational barriers, and before long even well-healed grandfathers were sporting hair over their collars and earrings.  The world changed - but just not in Texas.

There is a seventeen-year-old black student in a suburb of Houston, Texas, who has been serving in-school suspension (which means he does not get to sit in on his regular classes) since August 31st because his school district does not like the cut of his hair.  No, the student is not sporting some twelve-inch Afro that would interfere with the classroom view of students sitting behind him.  He has a very fancy, and undoubtedly expensive, set of dreadlocks which appear to be plastered tightly to his head and not interfering with anyone's line-of-sight, including his own.  (And there is not even a hint of sideburns!)

But the school authorities say that if those dread locks were freed from their tight knots and the plastering effects of hair care products, the lad's hair would then extend beyond the school's length limits for boys' hair.

The seventeen-year-old's mother, who claims that the school's treatment of her son is causing her emotional duress, has filed a complaint with the Texas Education Agency claiming that the school's dress code (hair code) violates the state's new legislation called the CROWN Act (Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) which outlaws racial discrimination based on hairstyles.  The CROWN Act went into effect on September 1st, one day after the student began his prolonged in-school detention. 

The boy and his mother this week also filed a federal civil rights lawsuit claiming that student's suspension is a violation of the state's CROWN Act, and that the state's  governor and attorney general have failed to enforce the act.

The school district, which believes that the CROWN Act does not address the length of a student's hair, has filed a lawsuit in state district court asking for the law to be clarified.

The student was released from detention briefly one morning this past week, but was promptly taken back into detention by the school's principal for wearing an earring (which his mother says he did not do) and again because of the length of his hair.

The school superintendent has said that he believes the school's dress code is legal and "teaches students to conform as a sacrifice benefiting everyone."

It seems unclear at this point as to what sacrifices white students are being asked to make.  But hey, it's Texas.

Regarding the school district, a spokesman for the family said, "The hammer of accountability is coming.  You will no longer discriminate or be racist or ignorant to children on our watch."

Swing that hammer!