Second black Texas teen required by school to cut dreadlocks, according to his mom
A second teenager at a Texas high school was suspended and told he could not return to class until he cut his dreadlocks to be in compliance with the school's dress code.
Kaden Bradford, 16, a sophomore at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu in Southeast Texas, has been on at-home suspension since last week, according to his mother, Cindy Bradford.
Kaden's cousin, DeAndre Arnold, is a senior at the school and also wears dreadlocks. DeAndre was recently told by administrators that he is not allowed in school and cannot walk at his graduation unless he cut his hair , his mother, Sandy Arnold, told NBC affiliate KPRC of Houston. DeAndre, whose father is from Trinidad , said the men in his family often grow their dreadlocks, and that it is a part of his identity and culture.
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Both women, who are sisters, said they will not cut the boys' hair.
Bradford said in an interview Friday that like DeAndre, her son has worn dreadlocks for years and it only recently became an issue at the high school. Last year, Kaden would wear a headband to keep his dreadlocks off his shoulders, his mother said. The school told her that if Kaden kept his dreadlocks pulled back, he would not be in violation of its hair policy, she said.
But shortly after Christmas break, she said the school's principal, Rick Kana, told Kaden that he would need to cut his hair. Bradford said she paid last week to have Kaden's dreads cornrowed, or tightly-braided, so that they lay flat against his scalp. But that did not appease administrators, who placed him on at-home suspension because he refused to cut his hair, his mother said.
She said she is now considering taking legal action so he can return to school.
Bradford said she believes the hair policy is racist. The school district dress code states male students cannot have their hair “gathered or worn in a style that would allow the hair to extend below” the collar, earlobes and eyes when let down.
Seems discriminatory all around. I wonder how Native American boys with long hair would be treated?
visit the web site,
I guess I don't feel like that answers my question, but I would probably find it discriminatory even if it did. A dress code that allows a hairstyle for girls that is disallowed for boys is discriminatory. If girls can have long hair, boys should be allowed to, as well.
Some of it was a bit open to interpretation, too. Low necklines? According to whom? Some schools disallow necklines that display a girl's collarbones, even though many crewneck t-shirts would do so.
Seems discriminatory all around. I wonder how Native American boys with long hair would be treated?
I’ll have to take look; I think Kavika posted an article about that very thing.
way back in '67 or '68 when I was in jr. high, the PE teachers enforced our school hair length policy. it couldn't touch the ears or the collar or they would give you a haircut. a new kid with long hair from NY joins the class later in the year and gets the haircut warning in class. new kid shows up the next day without a haircut. 2 PE teachers give him a crude haircut in class. oops, new kids dad is a corporate attorney. a few weeks later, no more hair or dress codes in the entire school district.
bonus: 2 sadistic ex-PE teachers get drafted almost immediately.
There have been numerous cases Sandy. One in Texas a few years ago in Seminole, Texas (oh the irony) a Native boy wasn't allowed into his first day of school until his hair was cut.
That isn't the first nor will it be the last in Texas and many other states.
Wow.
One would note that the two black women "manning" the tables at some school function in the gym
are adults with decidedly God given hair doos,
one Afro
and one "stovepipe"?
but a black minor male with relatively short locks has been singled out in a school
where blacks are, like 3% of the Admin and student body...
not cool.
It's not the first time that kind of thing was being done:
The first thing done to Native children when they were forced into ''Indian Boarding Schools'' was to cut off our hair. It was the first step in taking away our Indian identity.
''Kill the Indian save the Child'' was the motto of the US Government.
Yes, and that did predate what the Nazis did to Orthodox Jews.
It predated what happened to the Orthodox Jews and continued into the 1960/70's.
I was stationed in Texas. This bs does not surprise me at all.
Schools still have dress codes? Wow.
I have a feeling this has very little to do with his hair and a lot to do with his ethnicity. IMO.
again the dress code issue seems to be a stretch, looks like a typical high school
ironic the the school is named "Barber" Hills
and they are fighting about hair cuts
Well, it's just my opinion is all. I would love to believe that I am wrong. I took a quick glance at the handbook and dress code, unless I missed it, I didn't see anything forbidding dreadlocks.
I don't think it was dreads per se, but more the length of the dreads. I've seen some dreads that were pretty short, and I assume they would be in compliance.
It is strange that his dreads were ok for so long, and then suddenly it became an issue.
Agreed.
yup, all the cheerleaders looked knocked up /s
Ironic indeed. This is an opportunity to post this video: (I'll snap it up!)
Barber speaks on teen unable to graduate unless he cuts dreadlocks
And this (the issue is not just about dreadlocks):
NOTE: Please click on picture to got to story and video.
Great sourcing CB; well done and, thank you sir.
You're welcome and thanks!
Ditto CB!
Aw shucks.
I can only imagine what they would say about my avatars hair.
I hope he gets to keep them. I love the dreaded look.
Okay, you got me with this one. As impossible as it is to believe, I can see that happening. HA!
It is just hair. Texass really needs to get over itself!
The people there may well be racist, but I doubt very much that policy was aimed specifically at black students. It’s not as if long hair is unique to black people. I’m white and I used to have hair half way down my back. It sounds more like a socially conservative concept of neatness and modesty.
It would be nice though, if they could just rethink the policy. It’s hard to see the harm in letting a young man wear his hair long.
If anything, I think you could argue the policy is sexist if girls are allowed to wear their hair long.
Yes, seems conservative 'clean cut" orderly young "academy" boys and men are what this school is after. If they are going to be controversial about it, may be they should explore being a private school? I don't know.
Other white and Hispanic students, especially the football team were also targeted for collar length hair and had to get two trims to meet compliance ( which will grow out in a week)
Several complained that girls could wear their hair as long, or as short as they like, as in high and tight........
It should not be an issue.