Black student suspended over his hairstyle to be sent to an alternative education program
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
Maybe try teaching the guy more, and caring about his hair less.
But that completely defeats the purpose! (which is the racism)
I don't think it's racism, just a school with fucking insane rules that should never be allowed:
Why the fuck schools give a single shit about how kids dress themselves or wear their hair is beyond me.
Those rules are there to be racist, these types of dress codes were literally invented to be exclusionary and/or erase culture to """assimilate""" populations of native people.
So... Where is the catalog of approved haircuts for students to pick from? Fucking fascist ideas being masked in bullshit like avoiding fake "distractions" in classrooms.
I'd like to see a catalog of edge cases that would theoretically be up to code but still look outrageous.
I'm sure we could get creative here. Like, you could go with the Friar Tuck look with the top part shaved and that would be fine. I guess it depends on what they consider "geometrical"
I’m more of a Manchu queue style.
The approved hairstyles:
The approved hairstyles
The bottom left guy looks a little like a North Korean Tom Hanks.
Principal Lance Murphy is literally just going to die on this hill apparently. Between the massive cost the school district took because of the 2020 court loss over this exact same thing, and this giant L the school district is about to take for not only being now in Violation of Federal Law but also Texas literally passed a law, because of this asshat and the 2020 loss, indicating that he's not legally allowed to do exactly what he's doing.
Which if you are unsure if your policy is violating a law or not, you should likely not have the policy until the court gives you more clarity. Because if the Courts do indeed indicate that the school is in violation of Texas' CROWN Act, they've just handed this kid millions of dollars in restitution, which I guess they can just pile on top of the millions this school district has blown so far on litigation.
You would think that at some point taxpayers would be up in arms, but nope it's Texas, blowing billions on stupid lawsuits is their thing.
How does a previous case not automatically make the current situation unacceptable? Do they have to retry the exact same situation over and over again?
Because principal is a bully and willing to use his powers to destroy lives. The methods to protect people are very slow and so he gets away with it for years until the district loses a major lawsuit. Then he quietly gets reassigned or retires and we pretend the entire thing never happened.
Bully and Bigot, a very iconic duo.
I don't trust principals
On principle?
A previous case is certainly a good argument in court, however the opposition may be able to argue material differentiating circumstances that may not be immediately obvious (in general, not in this case). That is why it isn't considered an automatic win.
if I understand correctly, it's actually more illegal now, because Texas passed the CROWN act after the previous 2.
I suppose there may be differences that make a difference to the outcome, but it seems unlikely here.
To be fair being racist has long been a winning strategy in Texas so you can imagine that their bag of tricks isn’t particularly deep in matters like this
That and blowing money on highschool football stadiums.
And apparently blowing more money bussing people out of their state.
Naw? That’s just… you know, a hobby.
I'm not a kid, but looking back on this type of situation as an adult, I'd settle for half of whatever they offer as long as the administrator(s) driving this were also banned from all public education jobs in the state, permanently. Fines to the district aren't a deterrent to bad administration on their, but fear of job security absolutely is.
Unfortunately in the eyes of racist Texans, they encourage him to take racist actions against literal children.
That’s our Fiscal Conservatives. Ready to spend endless money on stupid bullshit but very upset about spending that actually helps the populace.
What is the state apparatus for if not funding private interests through frivolous lawsuits?
Fuck it makes me so mad when schools make boys cut their hair. My little brother had to cut his hair that he had been growing since he was in his single digits. It was devastating. This was back in the early '00s
Nah, they're not asking. This is a setup for a challenge of the CROWN Act and a possible reversal. Just watch, they'll appeal it all the way up to Texas Supreme Court if they need to.
I get that this was an angry post, but it gave me a strong positive energy boost. Thank you.
So their guidelines are openly discriminatory at best, and openly racist otherwise...
It's mind-blowing how quickly the US is regressing because we're kowtowing to a miniscule minority.
I'm openly curious how well a "liberal" minded individual who isn't afraid to be an asshole would be received.
Largely, the problem is that the far-right shows up.
No matter how tiny the power grab, they'll have someone there to grab it, often unopposed.
The problem is largely the structure of our democracy. The left shows up, they showed up more in the last decade than they ever have. And we're still sliding backward.
Because the way our idiotic system works, the number of people that show up matter less than the zip code they show up in.
I'd love to see what a liberal asshole politician would look like, but i can't see it working out today. As much as the right blows wokeism out of proportion, PC culture is still a thing in a lot of liberal areas, and if you're not PC as a liberal politician I imagine you'll offend the more sensitive parts of your own base. Didn't Bernie Sanders get hit with some of that? And he wasn't even that assholeish, he just showed a spine.
Ilhan Omar's treatment of a woman asking for her political support in opposition to female genital mutilation was pretty close to being a liberal asshole politician (or it revealed her to be trying to have her cake and eat it; namely, that she takes positions designed to get liberal support, and simultaneously strategically acts like a regressive when it comes to FGM to get support from African hijabis and other Islamists).
Carlin died an old man rich and successful
Speaking from experience here, people will actively, and sometimes collectively, attack you for it. They'll gang up on you online. They'll openly and often violently bully you in real life. They'll even abuse the legal system to get rid of you if they are angry enough at you.
Being an asshole towards shitty people (and the vast majority of humans are shitty people, myself included) is very VERY enlightening on how our rights and our laws are just a thin veneer covering what really governs our lives, and that is our feelings. Most humans could give a fuck less about logic, facts or the truth; they only care about their emotions and what they want because they are only connected to the real world through their emotions, not their minds.
Humans are no better than base animals and being willing to be a horrifying House-level dick towards those you think are deserving demonstrates this, really handily.
It doesn't surprise me that poor young man was forced to go to an alternate school where the diploma he'll get won't be as respected by the colleges he'll apply to. He probably told them off for being so blatantly racist and, in their hurt, they kicked him out.
Are we kowtowing to a miniscule minority? The only kowtowing I personally observe are academic institutions within states with GOP-dominated legislatures and courts. K-12 schools in progressive areas within such states have to tread carefully to keep the man off their back, and public universities have to carefully craft their language relating to research and programs. But largely it's a semantic game, where the substance doesn't change but the language used is toned down to avoid attention of asshats. Similar to any research related to human sexuality when there's a Republican president in the White House and the NIS/NIH leadership is dominated by GOP appointees - they don't change the research, but they absolutely rework the language used to describe the project.
Pure, unadulterated racism.
That's Texas for ya
Texas actually passed a law banning this. Yea... the State and current governor think this is wrong. Let that sink in.
Jesus Christ, I suppose that goes to show just how fucked up it is
But I was told America is the land of the free. Have I been misinformed?
Whoever told you that is your enemy.
best reference i've ever witnessed
The finger to the land of the chains
You're perfectly free to do things exactly as you're told. Capiche?
Land of the "free to tell you what to do."
It's just the accent, it's actually: "land of the fee, home of the brave racist."
Land of the fee, home of the slave.
If you are already privileged you probably are experiencing freedom.
What does that mean?
If you're a rich white Christian and a man AND good looking, then you can do pretty much whatever the fuck you want.
Not rich, not white (for America's standards), not Christian, not good looking.
I think I'll enjoy my life here in Europe.
I'm planning on starting the emigration process within the next few years because it's starting to become obvious that the US will never get its shit together. Too many selfish hypocrites holding things back. I understand that the grass isn't always greener, but I'm confident that it will at least taste better with those sweet sweet European social services.
Nothing, but at least it sounds deep
The entire US culture that the world sees is a lie. Anyone who lives or has visited is aware, but all these other people watch movies and think American is some magical land.
Nah, wealth is just built on slavery and opression.
Modern day slavery in jails and low wages tied to healthcare.
yes.
Fuck, dude, that is painfully racist of the school.
It's just hair. Why is the school district so interested in restricting hairstyles?
It's not just hair though. It's the fact that a black student challenged a decision they've made.
Specifically, it seems the school was explicitly told to target a single student in order for opening a way for the Governor to challenge the CROWN act in courts. It's pure political maneuvering. Picking scapegoats and destroying individuals to advance racists agendas.
I can hear the shrieks of "uppity" from over here.
You know why.
I'm wondering if there's more going on but the story is focusing on the most absurd detail. Its America though so I wouldn't be surprised either way.
It sounds like there have been a few other code of conduct violations and the schools issue with his hair style was the final straw. Who knows if the previous "violations of the code" were also rooted in racism, but either way, a hair style should never be the ultimate reason someone is expelled unless they've purposefully shaved an offensive slurr into their hair.
Looks like it's part of a uniform requirement. It's part of the "make them all look the same, that will stop bad behavior".
Public school shouldn't be that way and it's stupid in general. I went to "management school" for most of my middle school years and they did that to stop kids from fighting over colors and shit. Kinda made sense there though because we were all "bad apples".
Dammit I'm busted! Thanks for being the smart one and reading the article.
Land of the fucking free.
Call me when the HOA allows you to plant clover on the front lawn.
Hair in the photo doesn’t even seem to break any of those rules??
The South is quite a disgusting place.
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:
And that should be it (this list includes my limitations on hair styles and tattoos as well)
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.
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.
Why is it acceptable some places but not others to you?
LAND OF THE FREE? whoever told you that is your ENEMY! -rage
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.
The fact you have a law about lawns is funny and sad at the same time.
What's sad is to think how unlikely it would be to get passed in today's political climate.
I hope the family successfully destroys the finances of the people involved in these super racist decisions.
Usually it's taxpayers money.
And in this case it shouldn't be.
Yes it should. The school administration answers to elected officials who represent the tax payers/voters. If the community doesn't like spending money on racist bullshit they should vote for someone with a god-damned lick of sense.
I don't think it's racism tbh. I went to a Texas highschool and they tried to make me cut my hair when I was younger. I am biracial and never did I consider it racial. Is it a dumb rule? Yes. It was created during the hippy era as a stand of some sort.
It won’t, it’s not a racist policy. The people enforcing it probably are but if anything it’s a homophobic policy
The problem is hair length not hair style
Though some religious beliefs prevent cutting hair so there may be something there
By implementing a hair policy that excludes styles and lengths which are clearly a part of black culture and a way of expressing identity in America, the policy is racist. Whether or not the intent was racism, it still has the effect, making it a racist policy. It can also be discriminatory towards queer people and other cultures.
I’ve seen a lot more white people with long hair than black people
But the punk/metal movement has always been progressive
The word you were searching for is sexist. I've been saying since the initial article that this might be unconstitutional under Bostock v. Clayton County.
You are saying the language of the written policy is not racist. It's ultimately for a jury to decide whether the policy in action is racist.
You hold a higher opinion of the American public than I do if you think a jury will find something racially motivated that isn’t overtly so
Juries are peak society.
There is no higher power coming to decide things for us, it's only us.
A good trial attorney can explain complex and even uncomfortable things to random people in an engaging way that anyone can understand. Don't have to rely on the jury's ability to understand something for themselves, just their ability to learn, and the lawyer's ability to inform.
This is how america is destroying its youth and their future just because they refuse to comply with their racist demands. This is how the entire world sees america.
Especially non-white youth. These 'rules' are designed specifically as a bludgeon to use against poc.
I keep hearing America is the land of freedom and that Europe is way more racist than America.
This story would have never happened in Europe. Suspended because of a hairstyle, wtf.
This is a newsworthy isolated incident. It's newsworthy because of the ridiculous stance of the principal.
Can we talk about France's stance on hijabs in school?
Not isolated at all. Black kids (especially girls) get targeted all the time. It's usually ignored or doesn't make the news.
Lol if you think banning hijab as a good whataboutism example wait till you hear your hair is banned and must wear hijab to even attend public school.
Just here to point out that UK schools have also illegally forbidden some students from wearing afro hairstyles. In that case and this one, it's against the law. The hope is that this treatment will not continue in both cases. We don't need to resort to playing the suffering Olympics or whose country is worse pissing contests
lmao, what?
ANY religious clothing is banned in France. This isn't Discriminatory, as it applies to Christians, Buddhists, Hindus etc just as it does to Muslims.
Maybe actually inform yourself before you start with whataboutism?
Actually the French law allows for students to wear crosses. So it doesn't really apply to Christians.
The law in its majestic equality forbids Christian, Atheist, and Muslim alike to pray facing Mecca, to wear hijabs, or dresses that look a little too "ethnic."
Bro, did you read my Comment? ANY religious Activity or Clothing is banned, no matter which Religion these Activities come from. Stop trying to somehow shoehorn discrimination into this.
That's literally how every discriminatory law in a country with protections against descrimination works. It bans anyone from doing something that primarily is done by the group you're trying to target.
In states like Georgia where lots of black churches assist their congregation with overcoming the hurdles republicans set in place to make it harder for black and brown people to vote they ban religious organizations from assisting in the exact ways the black churches were assisting. Voter ID laws disproportionately affect poor and minority voters who often have difficulty obtaining and maintaining a current ID and often don't drive at all due to the high cost of car ownership. These laws don't explicitly state "people with dark skin aren't allowed to vote" but surpressing black voters is both the goal and effect of these laws
If you literally write "no hijabs" the law will be struck down in a heartbeat, so instead they write a law that says "no religious clothing" because what religious clothing do people wear? Hijabs.
But I'm sure you already knew this, because you either have to be extremely dense or pretending to be extremely dense for the sake of supporting discrimination to make the argument that you did
So basically, all your post can be summarised into "we don't like democracy and blacks are not really people, but at least we're not France"?
My god I didn't know about the voter ID thing, that's Draconian!
I think you need to re-read the thread I had responded to. I was providing examples of racist laws that have painfully obvious goals without explicitly stating the racist part out loud.
🤔
So if we Americans ever write a second Constitution, it will require an amendment banning that practice.
That's where the design of the US government was somewhat ingenuous. Rather than explicit rules that may become outdated or prevent needed action in a timely manner, it was designed as a framework to allow the government to flex and change as times change.
The one thing that wasn't foreseen was a consolidated takeover of both a significant portion of government and journalism by the same vested interests, combined with intense consilidation of private businesses into unfathomably massive and powerful monopolies
Which of those religions considers it a requirement to wear certain clothing?
We all know who it was aimed at.
all of those religions have enforced religious garb for some members. priests, monks, nuns, bishops, the pope...
They also perform rituals on babies and young adolescents.
Cool story
Then that school policy is fine too, as it bans Anyone from wearing dreadlocks. This applies to the white Texans, the Hispanic Texans, the Black Texans etc.
That reasoning doesn't work. It's targeted against a certain group of marginalized people just like the Hijab law and the same principle.
No. it'd be comparable if all Hairstyles were forbidden.
Since only one type of Hairstyle is forbidden, it's not the same.
The post being replied to said this would never happen in Europe, do no whataboutism here.
Yeah. I support it. I also support this young women's choice to hair style.
Your false equivalency says more about you then anything else you wrote.
Get every fucking church out of public school and tax them.
Okay, so how much money would it cost to get you to openly admit what happened to this dude is wrong and it's irrelevant what happens in other countries?
$10 via Cashapp? Venmo, perhaps?
Hijabs in France.
Texas is a GOP-strangled shithole, but Europe isn't squeaky-clean, either.
Admittedly quite a lot of Brits would prefer not to admit that we are, in fact, in Europe. But Ruby Williams: No child with afro hair should suffer like me
I was suspended for my hairstyle on a number of occasions, in the UK. Bald now... the final humiliation.
What a shithole.
Hope he gets into a college as far away as possible.
It's baffling to me, that the US always claims to be the champion of freedom, but runs most of their education like part-time prison camps. My school here in Germany didn't give a crap about anyone's appearance. If you're street legal, you're fine in school.
Well, it’s because they have to prepare us for prison as an adult. Wait until you find out that American schools are largely funded by property taxes. Which means rich neighborhoods that pay more in property taxes have generally way better schools than poor neighborhoods.
The United States is like a villain from a scooby doo episode. In every episode the “monster” is a person of color, or illegal immigrant, or an LGBTQ person. But when they catch the “monster” and pull its mask off. It’s old man US government every god damn time.
That's because you were raised to be a functioning member of society with enough tools to potentially succeed or excel.
They were raised to fail upward while grifting and scamming on the side while fighting for the opportunity to be a wageslave and entering a lottery to be successful. Or risk prison and become an actual slave as allowed in their constitution.
Ooh! I've got a thing about this!
In an Episode of the Youtube series Under the Blacklight, David Blight, a Yale professor brought something up that I think brings the American idea of "freedom" into a different context. He says “This whole new idea of what’s liberty and liberty for whom, can also kill. Especially when it replaces the idea of Liberty as that which has to be shared in some kind of common good.”
The idea isn't really new and is actually deeply rooted in America's past through to it's creation. Freedom should be a group concept in which we maximize freedom for the populace. Instead it's seen as individual freedom only. When you combine this with the idea that freedom is the most important thing, it results in people coming to the conclusion that they are justified in anything in the process of attaining what they want. And they'll use whatever tools they have available to attain this in as straight a path as they can.
America has always been a champion of personal freedom, whatever they say. It's founding was about a bunch of business men who didn't want to pay taxes so they staged a rebellion. There's still a heavy bent against taxes with the main argument being people don't want the government to have any power, but really it's because individuals just want to keep their money while disregarding the ways in which that money would improve the good for all people. At it's core America is a Selfish nation built of selfishness and getting yours before someone else takes it.
It gets more a little complicated when talking about motives of those in power, but boils down to the same, and they retain that power primarily by banging the "personal freedoms" drum.
To quote famed Discworld philosopher Granny Weatherwax,
"There's no grays, only white that's got grubby. I'm surprised you don't know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. Including yourself. That's what sin is." "It's a lot more complicated than that--" "No. It ain't. When people say things are a lot more complicated than that, they means they're getting worried that they won't like the truth. People as things, that's where it starts." "Oh, I'm sure there are worse crimes--" "But they starts with thinking about people as things..."
Thank you for coming to my TED talk
I generally agree that that freedom in the US is mostly seen as 'my personal right to do anything I want'.
But that's exactly what is being restricted here. An individual's personal freedom to wear the hairstyle they want.
So how does that explain the restrictiveness of US schools?
Because it's bad even by our standards.
Because that individual doesn't have the power to enforce their personal freedom. The Principal does have the power to enforce their idea of what the "correct" look is. The principal isn't concerned about raising conditions for the group in actuality, they just want reality to conform to their idea of what they desire it to be. For them, it's within their rights to their own freedom to bring everything that makes them uncomfortable to heel. Anything that they don't like is an affront to their personal freedom to make everyone do what they want.
Tell that to the French who ban all religious symbols
Good, religion has no place on a public education setting.
Not relevant. You don't have less rights to free expression when skydaddy is involved.
Except skydaddy psychos think they do have more rights to impose their rules and beliefs over others, which is an active attack to other's rights. So no, on publicly funded institutions, skydaddy has no place and shouldn't be allowed in.
Really? Did you interview each and every single one? I was a theist and I had zero interest in doing that.
Sorry you don't believe in freedom of expression
Get out of here with your stupid “freedumb of eshpreshon!” Separation of church and state is a pillar of democratic, tolerant and peaceful societies. That means, no religion in public schools. No one is stopping anyone from being as religious and practice whatever they want in their home, or even in public on the street. But as soon as they put a feet on a publicly funded institution, they must abide by the law above all. Not the mandates of their imaginary friend. Freedom of expression doesn't mean free from public responsibility.
Man this is one school run by just a few people, all it takes is one goofy bastard to suspend a student. This isn't an "US" issue
Yeah, because this is the one case where this happened. Never before and nowhere else.
My school had a uniform for about two years before they gave up on it. Of course, like everything else they did, they failed to plan.
They don't want to be communists and they're literally doing what the communists in my country used to do
They are being authoritarian, likely your country was also under an authoritarian regime in the past based on what you're saying. Systems of economy are kinda separate
Or, both.
They want to be authoritarians, whatever flavor they have to be to have power.
They don't want anyone else to have power over them.
So when they're in the out group, they'll ramp up the persecution narrative, and when they're in power, they'll ruthlessly repress everyone else.
All makes internal sense, if you're an asshole.
Not remotely communist nor were the folks in "your country" communists regardless of what anyone claims. Always apply the "Is North Korea really a Democracy" test to any such labeling.
Nobody else got downvoted a bunch except you, because you know Hexbear is reading
Imagine being sent to the school with all the unruly and undisciplined kids because of your hairstyle. Crazy and so fucking racist.
Isn't this in Texas or somewhere equally as shitty? They would have sent him to prison for his hair if they could have. School to prison pipeline is real.
Texas passed the CROWN-act to combat hair-based racial discrimination because that very same school already lost two cases where they discriminated black youths because of their hair.
For once Texas is on the right side.
Even Texas said this was too far
Imagine being more bigoted than Texas
"Failure to comply"
There it is, that's the entire purpose of the modern education system, to beat us into submission to arbitrary socioeconomic roles, to curtail independence and creativity, rendering us fodder for corporate masters. Mind all the rules and maybe tomorrow you'll get the extra nice table scraps.
Good for them not complying, they literally harmed nobody including themselves. The suspension is clearly a punitive measure to heal the administration's wounded pride, which is also an essential aspect of the education system.
... Do you really believe all that you just wrote here? Because that is just conspiracy theory level nonsense.
Yes, this school, and likely
toianynoyherstoo many others (typing at night is fun) have a bunch of asshole administrators that feel the need to show who's in charge. That doesn't mean all education is to shape us into slaves. Chill dude.Toianynoyhers. That might be the most egregious typo I've ever seen. I'm gonna hazard a guess at "too many others"? Hope I'm right, I've got $10 riding on it.
I just glossed past that word, thinking it was an old-timey insult
All those goddamn toianynoyhers and their asshole administrators! I think I've found my new insult of choice.
Why did the student just not simply turn into a white kid with non-threatening, non-geometric hair?
finally, someone has a workable solution!
Oh. It's Texas.
Here's the weird part. The Texas State Legislature JUST passed a law making this kind of discrimination illegal. I don't know what this school is doing. It's like they want to pay lawyers
I just have this feeling that they just created an activist/future politician with this stupid stunt. They'll forget tomorrow. He'll probably remember the rest of their life and fight for racial justice his whole life.
Ironic of this story to come out of a place called "Barbers" highschool. They take their haircuts pretty damn seriously up on that hill.
The man is 18. You can't make him do anything he doesn't want to do. He should just take his GED.
Hairstyle has been used TONS in the past as an excuse to be a racist pile of shit
buuuut 18, junior? That’s grade 11? I feel like there’s more to this story.
buuuut it’s Texas. So I have no idea.
Kinda hard to get a good education when the whole system is holding you back. Even if this kid had actual behavior problems, whose fault do you really think that is, the parents that are fighting for him or the system that is actively against him, trying to physically mutilate his identity, and seems to be putting him on a fast track to a for-profit prison?
Time for the students to protest by having hair that isn't "acceptable." I imagine suspending most of the students won't go over well
What does geometric even mean? Cubes? Dodecahedrons?
Can we call it a dodecahedron-o-do?
Edit: kids should start styling their hair into cubes, in protest. “The rules say it must be geometrical!”
I think they mean you gotta have a hairstyle that looks like it was directly pulled from a N64 era video game
wait... n64 characters weren't all just bald....?
Basically, take Ramiel's hairstyle as an example.
WTF is geometric hair, or rather, how does one have non-geometric hair? What, does it have to remain euclidean? It seems so arbitrary and pointless
Being arbitrary is often the point though.
It's like Guile from Street Fighter
Texas was a mistake.
Texas, in this case, is actually siding with the student through the CROWN-Act that was specifically adopted because of court cases over hairstyles that damn school already lost before.
The school has proven itself incapable of adhering to the law, the administration should be totally replaced.
Barbers hill, and they're picking on a dude's hair.
Can't imagine my school making international news, especially with something as pathetic. It reads like a bad Onion article. Barber High having a strict hair code? WTF. And this story goes for months, and it's not the first time, and it's real. How? Everything screams stupid fiction there, and yet that's what happens in a small town in Texas. Idk if they did that out of racism or boredom, but come on, I read about this comical idiocy from the opposite side of the globe. I can't imagine what's going through the mind of this school's admin.
Out of curiosity, how are the students and his peers taking it? Apathetic? Indifferent? Upset? Protesting?
I have been trying to get a better understanding of your generation as I am working with a lot of Gen Z right now. Sometimes I am frustrated when it comes to, at least to me, a lack of technological skills, but that isn't what I am really asking. I just wonder how things look socially.
Hah, I had two threads about edu and I wrote you an answer about russian ones. I'm not the best person to tell you about texan schools, sorry.
The other day I was walking into a bar with my partner. We're white, straight-passing, generally clean looking folk. The bar had a sign on it that said "No bandanas, no gang colors". They were wearing a bandana, and my t-shirt was blue, but I couldn't help but notice that we were able to walk into that bar, be served and settle our tab at the end of the night.
It's about selective enforcement. You can't say "No black people", so you say "no black people stuff". Or you make something everyone does illegal and then give the people in charge broad leeway as to when they can choose to ignore it. Or you set up situations that aren't open in their racism but just so happen to target one group over another, like setting up checks on the Mexican border and then claiming you're not targeting latino people because if you happen to catch white illegal immigrants you'll deport them too. In the words of Republican party strategist Lee Atwater (trigger warning: just lots of open, blatant racism and n-bombs)
::: spoiler spoiler You start out in 1954 by saying, “Ngger, ngger, ngger.” By 1968 you can’t say “ngger”—that hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff like, uh, forced busing, states’ rights, and all that stuff, and you’re getting so abstract. Now, you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites.… “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, uh, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “Ngger, ngger.”:::
TIL that the spoiler thing was a feature
::: spoiler spoiler thanks for showing me that :::
For those who come looking later it's a feature for the web frontend but wrt mobile apps Boost for Lemmy at least makes an absolute mess of both the spoiler tag and the asterisk as a standard character. The bold text, however, is my own emphasis and I believe the part that needs emphasized.
Why tf they even care about students' hairstyles? Tbh, looks like whoever came up with this brilliant rule is a bolding and jealous fossil :::|
My school added a hairstyle rule because it was being used to bully others. Kids with expensive perms mocked the poor kids with "trashy" haircuts.
Dress codes are more common in areas with rich kids to avoid isolating the kids who can't afford expensive clothes and haircuts.
Ban blonde straight hair and watch the racists squirm.
this whole situation is ridiculous
I really cannot stand this shit, I remember back in school we had to have approved hairstyles and uniform rules, it was all bs to me. None of that really had any corelation to how good a student was.
No, it's not.
Ah yes, lets punish and humiliate a person for expressing a completely harmless form of individuality at point in their lives where individuality is exceedingly important for healthy development. This won't have any negative consequences at all.
Ah, so Texas is pulling an Iran. Stay classy, lone star state.
I still don't get it
And his hair is rad anyways
Old fuddy white administration were just jealous.
Yet another reason on why Texas is so awful.
I'm the whitest dude you ever saw, and it's even obvious to me: black hair is different, at a molecular level. You can't mindlessly apply grooming standards to people who are not the same, physically. Not better, not worse (obviously), just different. These people are racist.
Well, much larger than molecules, at the strand of hair level. Very wavy or curly hair has an oval profile while straight hair is round.
Random thoughts:
Disgust at the principal.
How is this not race based discrimination?
Why is a state law protecting from race based discrimination even necessary when the constitution should do that already?
I'm impressed Texas passed an anti-discrimination law aimed at protecting an oppressed group.
How is this not sex based discrimination?
Kinda funny that its called Barbers' hill
Do hairstyles actually interfere with teaching?
I can't imagine how.
Teacher having a stroke trying not to spontaneously burn a cross when exposed to a black kid who "doesn't know their place"
I get the racist angle, what I'm asking for is how do they justify those laws/rules, as in how it harms education.
What literal excuse could they give to say that a hairstyle affects the education of their students?
Because it teaches kids to sit down and shut up.
This reads like 60s era rules that never got updated. Hell it sounds like big puffy afros from the 60s/70s were meant to maliciously comply with that haircut rule.
Again, what's their actual justification, what do they vocalize and express is the reason why they have this rule?
I'm honestly don't want to hear the other sides flames about it, I want to hear why they're doing what they're doing from their own mouths.
No, you’re missing it. That is their actual justification. Jim Crow bullshit.
Those actual words came out of their mouths, they said "We're implementing these rules because of Jim Crow"?
They explain it here: https://www.npr.org/2023/10/12/1205502505/black-student-crown-act-texas-hairstyles-alternative-school
Seems like his violations are a result of being asked to not wear his hair like that and him refusing, and one act of tardiness. So yes, it's his hair. That's the reason, and they don't feel the need to explain themselves.
That's basically what I was asking after, if they explained why the policy they have was needed, how it improves education and learning.
The article just says this...
Yeah, I think they were like this with him on purpose.
Disgustingly ridiculous
disgustingly racist...
Of course it's Texas.
MERICAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA (/s this is fucked up)
What’s up with that link? Not the article at all.
Fixed it, the main one was always the right one don't know where the mix up happened for the other one, thx
They are doing him a favour by excluding him from that backward school. Hopefully he is strong and has good people around him.
They're not doing him a favor by sending him to whatever passes for a "disciplinary alternative education program" in Texas though. Sounds like they're trying to stick him on the fast track in the school-to-prison pipeline.
18 year old junior ?
I mean if this is the kind of descrimination he's faced that makes it pretty hard to follow the normal life path that most people do
He experienced it at 18 years old. Don't most people graduate at 17 ? I know I did
He is 18 years old at the start of his junior year which means he will graduate at 19 or even 20 depending on his birthday
Graduation for most is 17 or 18 depending on when their birthdate is. It's also possible their parents held them back for a year (i know a couple of people whos parents chose that) which depending on when their birthdate is could entirely explain being slightly older than their peers
Each place has its rules, follow them or gtfo. I don't see a problem here. Schools are not fashion halls. When I was in school, we weren't allowed long hair, any alt hair style, using gels or other materials to style our hair etc ...
The rule itself is literally illegal. Texas passed a law specifically because if this one school district's bullshit.
man that hairstyle is ugly
People here dont seem to understand the principles behind education. Black teachers, whoever needs to enforce the styles so be it, but the component of adherence to uniform presentation (without compromising human individuality and genetic differences) is a robust and important part of teaching children how to conform to society, and in some instances learn that sometimes individuality has to be sacrificed for the good of a functioning society. The racism component is nonexistent in this example if you read the backstory.
Please also remember - if I'm wrong, I'm happy to discuss or learn something. Just upvoting views that you agree with is not a productive exercise.
If someone else’s hair bothers you that much, you’re doing a shit job of functioning in society.
Hair and presentation is a largely arbitrary proxy for wider adherence to rules and societal behaviours. School uniforms are, last I checked shown to work in this regard. If you have a giant pink pile of hair to draw attention to yourself, it flies in the face of the lesson of conformity.
Who hurt you? Who hurt you so badly that you consider pink hair a threat to civilization? This kinda fetish for conformity is on a level far exceeding what a normal person should have so this must be trauma related.
You just sound upset, you don't sound like you want to discuss anything?
No, the racism is built into the uniform standard.
Thus my first sentence
I am pretty confident American society can handle a single individual with a weird haircut. If it can't it deserves to die for being too weak to live.
You fundamentally misunderstand the premise, so you arent equipped to tell others how the world should be run.
Oh no! I don't understand the premise you invented for us. Everyone get ready the fashion judge jury is here to tell the rest of us what clothing we get to wear in a democracy.
Have fun with your facism
You just sound emotional here too. Would you like to discuss the issue? I don't agree with your expressed view so far, but it doesn't have to ruin the day.
I have asserted that uniform, and presentation conformity in a school environment is beneficial to children. Do you agree at all? Do you believe in total anarchy? Where would you draw the line?
No you have asserted that pink hair was a proxy for a breakdown in social order.
If you don't respect emotions you still have them you just don't know where they come from. You end up living a life where you alone have a perfect response to every situation while the people around you never match up to your standards. You think of yourself as the perfectly rational being but no one dealing with you would agree. You are never horny, she was hitting on you. You are never just in a bad mood, your coworker was driving you crazy. The emperor of never been wrong surrounded by people who whisper to each other "don't go near that guy he will umm actually you after his tantrum". Sound familiar doesn't it? It should, you aren't special.
Given that you do not respect emotions it is absolutely no surprise you do not respect the ability of people to change their haircut. An entire world refusing to bend the knee to your own greatness. Everyone must confirm to your vision or risk your ire.
You are doing exactly what you criticise me of. Your emotions are coming across like they are interfering your ability to discuss something rationally, so they are not a benefit. Emotion has it's place, it moves everything forward in the first place, and it sits in balance with calm, measured discussion. Otherwise it just turns into a nickelodeon show of increasingly impotent one-liners, and mental acrobatics, petty personal swipes and achieving absolutely nothing at all.
For discussions sake - I assume you aren't on this platform to hear your own opinion parroted back to you. Since you didnt reply to the other comment; do you not consider conformity a useful lesson for schools to teach, and why? At what point does individuality become separated from cultural uniqueness?
So part of the mission of public education is to create good little robots that will follow the rules? Isn't that how you get Nazis?
No... you can get all kinds of robots that way.
I need one that passes the butter.
Plenty of those, they're called
wage slavesservers, you may need to tip though.If you only think in extremes of course - you could also infer order of any kind leads to nazis with that mindset, which is of course, ridiculous. There is a line for conformity, and it should be established with buy in from everyone.
It does seem this has risen to the level of "free speech" and I suspect this student will get an education in constitutional law, as well as a fat settlement for his trouble.
Stfu
Does this normally work for you on the internet?
What now?