Texas school district said a 4-year-old boy had to braid his hair or cut it off

[ecstatic]

Tink's long hair is in violation of the school district's dress code, his grandmother says she was told.

Woodley said she argued that transgender students were granted an exception to the rule, and that similarly, her African-American grandson should be able to wear his natural hair.

The superintendent responded that if she was so passionate about keeping Tink's hair long, she could put him in a dress and have her grandson tell others that he was a girl, his grandmother recounted. That way the child would be treated as a transgender student and protected by federal law.

She said she was floored. Woodley and other parents in the school district are now challenging the Tatum Independent School District to change its dress code policy, arguing that the current rules discriminate against African-Americans.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/13/us/tx-school-district-boy-long-hair-trnd/index.html

This is insane!

[Anon-C]

1. Any caucasian boys with similarly lengthened long hair harrassed and demeaned...

...or their hair is all cut to standard?

[Igel]

11. Neither.

Tatum ISD's handbook, like all handbooks, is online and a Google click away.

"Student’s hair shall be clean and well groomed at all times and shall not obstruct vision. no extreme style or color(neon,etc…) shall be allowed. No symbols, letters, or extreme designs cut in the hair shall be permitted. No ponytails, ducktails, rat-tails, male bun or puffballs shall be allowed on male students. (In its unaltered state, hair cannot extend past shoulder length).ALL male hair of any type SHALL NOT extend below the collar(t-shirt/button-down collar/Shoulder length). " https://docs.google.com/document/d/1scpjVlpNl4Js2q1wReF04871dgFfwSbhl-FehldRM2I/edit

It's the primary/elementary school handbook that was quoted, but it sounds like it's really the same handbook for all grades. It's not "cut to standard" (if that means specifying how long it must be).

That's the text. How it's enforced may vary from building to building, grade to grade, or even administrator to administrator. And it certainly doesn't rule out racial bias in implementation.

[Anon-C]

13. Fair enough, and thank you for taking the effort to post.

It is a form of bias to suspect selective enforcement in these cases; but a lifetime of experience vis-a-vis white people's reactions to black people's hair makes that bias on my part rather hard to overcome. I work at it.

[Staph]

16. Their policy should read

"Student’s hair shall be clean and well groomed at all times and shall not obstruct vision."

That's all that is necessary!

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. Yeah, I figured.

Let me guess, a white school board wants to decide how a black student should look. Maybe spend time making sure kids get a proper education? What a concept!

[Skittles]

3. body shaming, hair shaming

what's next? WTF is wrong with people.....if long hair is OK for a girl it should be OK for a boy.......what lessons are they teaching these kids when they pull stunts like this?

[DFW]

5. Whatever it is they are teaching

It seems to be far from anything having to do with literacy or math skills.

[lpbk2713]

4. At least he wasn't wearing a revealing swimsuit.

School boards should have more to concern them than a child's personal appearance.

[Bettie]

6. How did I know that the kid would

be black when I read the headline?

Second: The length of anyone's hair should never be an issue. IF a girl can wear her hair long, so can a boy. If boys have to have short haircuts (FFS, why?) then girls should have to as well.

Dress codes are generally kind of stupid. Beyond blatant indecency (butts/boobs/genitalia showing), it shouldn't matter what anyone is wearing or how they are wearing their hair.

[demigoddess]

7. my handicapped daughter went to school in texas. We were never so glad

to be assigned to another state. (my husband in Air Force)

[brush]

8. What is with this widespread obsession with black peoples' hair?

Mind your own business.

[ecstatic]

9. I know. It's so weird! nt

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

10. I honestly thought the picture would be of a kid

with hair down to his knee This is barely shoulder length.

However, the actual code is clear. I guess I'm missing something if the prohibited styles for boys are aimed at African Americans. I've seen my share of white males wearing those styles.

[tblue37]

12. We fought and won these hair length battles in the 60s. Just like all the other

battles we thought we'd won, we have to fight them all over again.

[Hortensis]

14. Cute kid, and I really like his hair. Good thing. One of our

13-year-old grandsons, who takes after his tall, strong Danish mother, apparently fancies himself as a mythic god or Viking, and his very thick blonde hair is just as long as Tink's. The school district isn't bothering him. This is Georgia, but the student body is very diverse.

[brooklynite]

15. When I was 9, my hair was so long...

...after my appendectomy I was put into the girlls’ recovery room (ah, the 60s).