A Texas judge ruled on Thursday that a Black teenager’s suspension from school due to his dreadlocks does not violate the CROWN Act, which prohibits racial hair discrimination.
State District Judge Chap Cain supported Barbers Hill High School’s decision to suspend 18-year-old Darryl George, who has been on in-school suspension for months due to the length of his hair.
Despite George wearing his dreadlocks on the top of his head and away from his face and neck, the school implemented a rule stating that a male student’s hair should not extend below his eyebrows or ear lobes when let down.
“The Texas legal system has validated our position that the district’s dress code does not violate the CROWN Act and that the CROWN Act does not give students unlimited self-expression,” the school stated in a statement.
“The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that affirmative action is a violation of the 14th Amendment and we believe the same reasoning will eventually be applied to the CROWN Act.”
Allie Booker, George’s lawyer, had previously mentioned that the case is connected to a broader movement addressing discrimination against minority groups in general.
Booker noted that the school used to have a rule allowing longer hair, as long as it was tied up, and students followed that requirement.
“Well, if somebody’s hair can’t come below the eyebrow, it’s not gonna be long enough for you to braid. It’s not going to be long enough for you to loc, especially coarse, Black hair,” she continued.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass) made a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, labeling Thursday’s ruling as “anti-Black.”
“Black folks deserve to show up as our full selves without punishment or criminalization. Congress must pass & enforce the CROWN Act federally to ban race-based hair discrimination once & for all,” Pressley stated.
The Barbers Hill school district’s superintendent, Greg Poole, previously told that only Native American children’ hair length is guaranteed by the constitution. Neither the Texas CROWN Act nor any of the CROWN Acts in the 24 states that have one protects hair length.
“The Texas CROWN Act protects hair texture and the wearing of braids, twists and locs. Those with agendas wish to make the CROWN Act a blanket allowance of student expression. Again, we look forward to this issue being legally resolved,” Poole continued.
