A Texas high school student has been suspended over his locs just days after a state law banning hair discrimination went into effect.
According to CNN, Darryl George, a junior at Mont Belvieu's Barbers Hill High School, received multiple disciplinary action notes and was suspended after wearing his locs in a ponytail, his mother, Darresha George, said.
“He’s very anxious, very aggravated right now because he keeps getting punished for something that’s irrelevant to his education, Darresha said of her son.
School officials told Darryl his hairstyle violated the district's dress and grooming code, which prohibits male students from having hair that extends "below the eyebrows or below the ear lobes.”
“Male students’ hair must not extend below the top of a t-shirt collar or be gathered or worn in a style that would allow the hair to extend below the top of a t-shirt collar, below the eyebrows, or below the ear lobes when let down," the policy also states.
Darryl's mother said the school told her son that he needed to cut his hair. When he didn't, Darryl was placed on in-school suspension.
The 17-year-old could be placed in a Disciplinary Alternative Education Program at an alternative school if he doesn’t cut his hair by the end of this week, Darresha added.
The mother noted that her son was suspended the same week that Texas' CROWN Act went into effect. The Texas Legislative Black Caucus has condemned his suspension and urged the school district to update its policies to “reflect compliance” with the new state law.
“Without remedial action from you, this unacceptable situation will continue a dangerous precedent against students who may face undue disciplinary actions despite codified protections passed by state lawmakers,” Texas state Rep. Ron Reynolds, caucus chairman and an author of the state’s CROWN Act, wrote in a letter to the school district.
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