Darryl George black student suspended by Texas school over dreadlock length loses case after judge rules Barbers Hill is not infringing on Crown Act as teen’s family now vow to continue their case.
Racist by stealth? A judge on Thursday ruled that a Texas high school was not violating the state’s CROWN Act for suspending a Black teen for refusing to cut his dreadlocks.
State District Judge Chap Cain III said the Barbers Hill Independent School District’s dress and grooming policies do not violate the CROWN Act, which prohibits race-based hair discrimination at work, school and in housing facilities in the state.
The decision left student, Darryl George in disbelief, after being ‘punished’ over the length of his hair, which the student and his supporters decry as discriminatory.
School insists policy isn’t discriminatory
In announcing his decision, Cain said the district’s policy ‘does not prohibit nor does it discriminate against male students who wear braids, locs, or twists.’
The decision has led to the teen and his family arguing he is being denied getting his education on account of his hair, adding, ‘I can’t be around my peers and enjoy my junior year because of my hair.’
Undaunted, Candice Matthews, the family’s spokesperson, said the boy and his family were determined to fight on, NBC News reported.
Thursday’s decision is the latest development in a months long battle between George’s family and the Barbers Hill Independent School District.
‘We appreciate clarification for the court because it’s an important question,’ Sara Leon, a representative for the district, said of the ruling. ‘We’re glad to understand what the law means.’
George, a junior at the school in Mont Belvieu, outside of Houston, has been in in-school suspension or at an off-site disciplinary program since August, when school officials said George’s hair violated a district dress code regulating the length of boys’ hair.
What is the Crown Act and is it being followed in good faith?
George and his family have refused to cut his hair, which family spokesperson, Matthews claims, wears neatly braided on top of his head, away from his face and neck. They argued that George’s punishment violates the state’s newly implemented CROWN Act. The district disputed the claim, holding that the law doesn’t address hair length.
According to the student handbook, male students’ hair cannot extend past the eyebrows or earlobes.
The district filed a lawsuit in September, requesting that a judge clarify whether that’s the case. Last month, Cain ordered the case to go to trial.
The case boiled down to whether the district’s length regulations were in violation of the CROWN Act. Cain ruled on Thursday that they were not.
‘The CROWN Act does not render unlawful those portions of Barbers Hill’s’ dress code, he said.
Leon, the district representative, said during the trial that the district’s policy is consistent with the CROWN Act and prevents the school from discriminating against George based on wearing dreadlocks, ‘but he can’t wear them at a length that exceeds the dress code.’
She reiterated the district’s claim that hair length is not covered by the law, and arguments that include length amount to ‘additional protections beyond the prohibition of discrimination, protections that would supersede other race-neutral school policies.’
Social media responds
Allie Booker, the George family’s attorney, disagreed. She said that protective styles often require length, achieved by adding synthetic or human hair to a person’s hair. Under Barbers Hill’s policy, it would be impossible for students to wear protective styles, Booker said.
‘There is no CROWN Act, not at BHISD,’ she said, referring to the school. She added later in her closing argument: ‘Their grooming code attacks the style.’
During the trial, Booker called to the stand state Rep. Ron Reynolds, who helped write Texas’ CROWN Act. He said that length is included in the law.
‘Length was inferred with the very nature of the style,’ Reynolds told the court. ‘Anyone familiar knows it requires a certain amount of length’ for most protective styles.
After the trial, Reynolds said that legislators will pursue more legislation ‘so that Barbers Hill cannot skirt behind a loop hole’ and continue to ‘discriminate against students.’
Booker said the family plans to appeal the decision.
This is not the first time the district has been at the center of a dispute over its hair policies. In 2020, two students filed lawsuits after they were suspended over the length of their dreadlocks. Both students withdrew from the school, and the lawsuits are pending. One of them eventually returned after a judge granted a temporary injunction for him to return to campus.
And then there were these comments on the web (below) that caught this author’s attention. See what think?
‘He appears to meet the criteria for above the collar, ears and eyes. He appears clean and groomed, why is this a thing??’
‘His people. His ancestors. How about just being like everyone else. Get off of this ‘black thang”.
