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High school student can't graduate unless he cuts his dreadlocks (3 Viewers)

gianmarco

gianmarco

Footballguy
Sigh

I though it was 2020.  These kinds of stories are so frustrating to read.
 

A black teenager in Texas said he had been suspended and told he can't walk in his high school graduation ceremony unless he cuts his dreadlocks to meet the school district's dress code.

DeAndre Arnold, a senior at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, about 30 miles east of Houston, told NBC affiliate KPRC of Houston that his hair had been in compliance with school rules until recently, when he faced in-school suspension after he refused to cut it.

DeAndre Arnold, whose father is from Trinidad, said he's worn dreadlocks for years like a lot of men in his family and always followed the school's dress code by tying them up.

"I really like that part of Trinidadian culture," he told the station. "So, I mean I really embrace that."

His mother, Sandy Arnold, said after Christmas break, three months before graduation, the Barbers Hill Independent School District changed its dress code as it refers to hair. Now the rules stipulate "hair must be clean and well groomed" and not extend on male students, at any time, below the eyebrows, the ear lobes or the top of a T-shirt collar — including when let down.

"They say that even though my hair is up and I follow all of the regulations, that if it was down, it would be out of dress code," DeAndre Arnold told KPRC. "Not that I'm out of dress code, but if I was to take it down, I would be out of dress code, which doesn't make any sense. I don't take it down at school."

Sandy Arnold said that, as a result of the rule change, her son is not allowed in school and can't attend graduation until he complies with the dress code. When asked if she would cut his hair, she responded, "Absolutely not."

"This is his belief," she said. "This is a part of who he is. This is his culture. This is what we believe."

Sandy Arnold could not immediately be reached at numbers listed for her.

On Wednesday, Houston Texans wide receiver Deandre Hopkins tweeted his support for the teen, urging him to "never cut" his dreadlocks.

The Barbers Hill Independent School District did not immediately return a request for an interview Wednesday.

In a statement posted on its Twitter account, the district said that it does allow dreadlocks. "However we DO have a community supported hair length policy & have had for decades," the statement said. "BH is a State leader with high expectations in ALL areas!"

As of the 2017-18 school year, Barbers Hill High School had a student body that is predominantly white, according to data posted online by The Texas Tribune.

The superintendent, Greg Poole, appears to have addressed the issue in a statement posted on the district's website, saying that it allows "any legally accepted religious or medical exemptions" to its dress code and have allowed such exemptions in the past.

Poole said the district's board of trustees, "which has included African American representation, takes their role of representing the local community as one of their chief priorities."

"We will continue to be a child-centered district that seeks to maximize the potential of EVERY child," he continued. "Local control is sacred to this country, and we will NOT be bullied or intimidated by outside influences."
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We've allowed public high schools to instill dress codes for a long time now.

I'm against them personally.

Politically, I see no problem with uniform standards given the state of certain educative districts today. 

 
rockaction said:
We've allowed public high schools to instill dress codes for a long time now.

I'm against them personally.

Politically, I see no problem with uniform standards given the state of certain educative districts today. 
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This isn't a dress code issue.  This is a discriminatory issue.

 
gianmarco said:
This isn't a dress code issue.  This is a discriminatory issue.
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Discrimination by a state actor for cultural reasons is generally not found to be actionable by courts.

I'd imagine it takes a stronger FIrst Amendment issue than that.

That's my guess. Is the ACLU involved yet? 

 
This is just me spitballing:

I'm sure that those of us looking outside-in can find discriminatory intent just in the status quo and machinations of it, but could it stand a court test?

That's the difference between a court-level discriminatory practice and a sort of de facto one.

Also, I always found it discriminatory that the poorer areas of MA and CT had dress codes for public schools where the richer areas didn't. Then some of the middle class suburbs adopted it as a way of not limiting expression, but limiting the relentless sort of peer pressure that came along with branding and labels and the Keeping Up With The Joneses type thing. 

 
Ditkaless Wonders said:
The only prohibited hairstyles should be dreads on effete white boys and manbuns.  Otherwise, let your freak flag fly. 
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About two years ago, one of our nephew's friends visited our home with a manbun in tow. I think I was intoxicated at the time and managed to give him complete #### about it. 

 
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Insane. A school I worked at awhile ago had a rule against “unnatural hair color”. There argument was that it creates a distraction in the class. Is that the argument against the dreads? Just beyond absurd in both cases.

 
That's a stupid argument. The kid had it before the rule changed, he's followed the rule prior to said change, he should get to graduate. Why do schools constantly do stupid things just to make both teacher's and student's lives miserable?

 
Not to worry -- now that this has gotten press, the school district will back down instantly.

Seen similar stories over the last 20 years or so -- the schools ALWAYS lose out.

 
Doug B said:
Not to worry -- now that this has gotten press, the school district will back down instantly.

Seen similar stories over the last 20 years or so -- the schools ALWAYS lose out.
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Yeah I give it 48 hours max.  Not going to end well and a bunch of mid level bureaucrats are going to get an earful from some high paid high level bureaucrats.

 
They are not saying he cannot have dreadlocks.  They are saying they can only be a certain length.  It sounds like they have had a hair length requirement for boys for quite a while and the only change was that the restriction now also included whether or not the hair is down or not.  Before he could put them up to get them off his collar and it was ok.  Now it doesn't matter and any length beyond the collar is against the rule.  I believe all males have to follow the rule. 

It is a stupid rule and really has no purpose.  There should be a way to get a waiver if you have a legitimate reason (which they said they have allowed for religious reasons before) but I am not sure why they won't give it in this instance.  

In the end the district is trying to stick to their guns when in reality there really isn't a reason to do so. 

 
IvanKaramazov said:
DeAndre Arnold, a senior at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, about 30 miles east of Houston, told NBC affiliate KPRC of Houston that his hair had been in compliance with school rules until recently, when he faced in-school suspension after he refused to cut it.
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Why I am not surprised that Barbers Hill has rules about getting your hair cut.
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If only the kid's name was Figaro, it would be *perfect*.

 
Just so silly and emotionally draining that this has gotten this far.    How many balls have to be dropped to get to a board meeting about hair length?   What world does someone live in that this story is not resolved in 5 minutes. 

Concerned parent/coworker/citizen - "We are having some scuttlebutt about hair length and graduation."

Principal/Supervisor/Lackey/school board member -"Ok, well let's get this changed ASAP so that the entire country doesn't think we are racist!"

 
Serious question. Is it discriminatory that (I assume) female students can have hair below their neck but male students cannot?

 
kutta said:
Just so dumb. Who the hell cares?

Kids are pretty proactive these days. It would be good to see the seniors band together and refuse to show for graduation until this stupid policy is changed.
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Or, I wish they'd all grow their hair out.  Are they gonna not graduate anyone?

 
Not that any of this is good, but the worst part

They say that even though my hair is up and I follow all of the regulations, that if it was down, it would be out of dress code," DeAndre Arnold told KPRC. "Not that I'm out of dress code, but if I was to take it down, I would be out of dress code, which doesn't make any sense. I don't take it down at school."

:wall:

 
Tom Hagen said:
Serious question. Is it discriminatory that (I assume) female students can have hair below their neck but male students cannot?
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Without researching:

I think this exact thing has been challenged and defeated (many times?) in the past. School districts that aren't challenged about hair-length policies will keep old policies on the books, though.

 
-OZ- said:
Not that any of this is good, but the worst part

They say that even though my hair is up and I follow all of the regulations, that if it was down, it would be out of dress code," DeAndre Arnold told KPRC. "Not that I'm out of dress code, but if I was to take it down, I would be out of dress code, which doesn't make any sense. I don't take it down at school."

:wall:
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At my Catholic HS in New Orleans (Doug B will know it) we had a "hair can't be over the collar" rule.  One of of the boys (it was all boys) spent an hour each morning pinning his hair underneath itself so it stayed over the collar.  One of our **** teachers walked up behind him, ran his hands through his hair so he could pull it down and put him out of compliance.  They made him cut his hair.  Still hate that teacher.

Personally I'm pretty lenient on the hair thing as I figure if I crack down it may become a tattoo thing, etc.  My youngest has some pretty long hair, which my wife itches to cut.  I just remind her what her father looks like (cue ball) and tell her to let him enjoy it while he has it.

All that said the school needs to pick it's battles and this just does seem worth the hassle of fighting.

 
Gaining steam

As this continues in the national spotlight, hopefully this will get taken care of soon.  Even more ridiculous is that he can't even attend school right now unless he goes and serves in-school suspension.  He's been home since this started. 

 
The other crazy thing about this story and them doubling down on how it's a long-standing rule is the fact that they JUST amended it so that he can't continue to wear it up.  They specifically changed that part which allowed him to keep his hair this way for the last 10 years. 

 
In 1975 my step brother and I were both 16 and juniors at a Jax high school. He was white but had a huge black afro. One day we decided to give him a mohawk. It took me all afternoon to cut and shave his head but I left a spectacular strip on top. When we went to school the next day the place went insane. He was promptly suspended for two weeks for "causing too much commotion among the student body". Then he went to his busboy job at a nice steak house that night and was fired.

We still laugh about it to this day. If only he cleaned up with lawsuits against the school system and the restaurant. Unfortunately, we did nothing.

 
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