A Texas high school black student who has been disciplined and kept away from his classroom for months for refusing to change his hairstyle is not likely to be back with his regular classmates anytime soon.
Efforts by Darryl George’s attorney to ask a judge to pause his punishment by his Houston-area school district over his locs as well as a civil rights lawsuit he and his family filed in September remain on hold in federal court.
George, 18, returned to in-school suspension at his campus, Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas, last week and for now he will remain there. Before that, he had spent a month at an off-site disciplinary programme.
Here are some things to know regarding why George’s discipline over his hairstyle has continued for months, why his school district believes its actions have been justified and how various legal issues are complicating George’s situation.
George was first pulled from his classroom in August after school officials said his locs fell below his eyebrows and ear lobes and violated the district’s dress code. His family argues his hairstyle does not break any rules.
Allie Booker, the attorney for George’s family, said after a hearing Wednesday on the federal lawsuit, that people have been trying to tell George he should give up and cut his hair.
“But he’s not going to break. He’s strong … He’s like, ‘I’m not going to cut my hair, but I just can’t believe I’m going through this,’” Booker said. But Booker added she fears George could ultimately be expelled.
George’s family has argued his punishment is discriminatory and violates the CROWN Act, which became law in Texas in September and is intended to prohibit race-based hair discrimination and bars employers and schools from penalising people because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including Afros, braids, dreadlocks, twists or Bantu knots.
In court filings, attorneys for the Barbers Hill School District have said students don’t have a protected right under federal law to wear their hair at the length and style of their choice while attending school.
During Wednesday’s court hearing, Jonathan Brush, one of the school district’s attorneys, said Barbers Hill has for decades had a hair restriction policy for male students related to length.
“Locs have always been permitted,” Brush said.
Jaleesa Reed, an assistant professor at Cornell University whose research focuses on the intersections of beauty culture, identity and place informed by human geography, said repeated attempts to control Black hair expression through such policies shows the need for the CROWN Act at the federal level.
“Rather than punishing students, providing opportunities to learn more about cultural hairstyles could enrich the learning environment and foster acceptance of differences,” Reed said.
William Sherman, an attorney in Washington, DC, and the legal strategist for the CROWN Act, said that George is being denied an education.
“Why? Because his hairstyle does not fit the Eurocentric ideal of neat and clean,” he said.
