Dreading Dread Locks ???

OhDear · 01-07-2008, 08:38 AM

So here I was, simply browsing some blogs out there on the world wide web, when I came upon this one about a toddler being expelled from the Christian pre-school he was enrolled at, and that because he is sporting short dreads.

Hmmm. So it being a private school, do many here think that they have the right to disallow him as a student at "their school" for this reason? Or does that smack of a violation of the civil liberties all citizens should have?

Here is the link: HERE

And here is an excerpt:

Quote:

LP has been stoushing over whether schools are in the right to exclude devout students wearing a kirpan (Sikh short sword). Are expressions of ethnicity, race, identity and heritage more slippery - or less? What about when the expression is completely harmless and non-threatening? What about when one set of students’ natural bodily attributes are privileged over others - and that set is defined in racial terms?
A Maryland three-year-old has been threatened with expulsion from his preschool - over nappy hair.
Jayce Brown is an African-American boy with short, natural dreadlocks. Nothing was said when he first enrolled at the school. But the Southern Maryland Christian Academy has turned around and threatened to expel him now, over his hair, claiming that his hair violates this policy:

male students are not allowed to have ‘”extremely faddish styles including the use of rubber bands or the ‘twisting’ of hair.’”

What are kids whose hair naturally twists supposed to do? Women of colour are already spending a huge amount of time, money, and pain getting their hair straightened, or they risk facing sneering and sanctions for wearing “political hairstyles”.
Now the bigots are extending this to three-year-olds. If you’re not the default Aryan kiddo or military-regulation shaved, you get expelled - from PRESCHOOL. World gone mad.

The WaPo writes:

Since the dispute between the Browns and the school became public, the family has received hate mail from other residents. One letter said African Americans are “ruining Waldorf” and instructed them to “go back” to the District and Prince George’s County.
[…]
David Rocah, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, said, “I don’t disagree with [Brown] that specific prohibitions on locked hair or twisted hair have a racially disparate impact, but I can’t think of a specific law that would cover her.”
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In the newspaper advertisement, Southern Maryland Christian Academy administrators said that they hope the case does not go to trial but that they are confident they would win if it did. Meanwhile, Jayce is attending another Christian preschool in White Plains that has no restrictions on hairstyle.
“He has no idea what happened, but he keeps asking when he’s going to see his old teacher again,” Brown said. “I don’t really know what to tell him.”

OhDear

fxashun · 01-07-2008, 08:57 AM

If this school can't tell the difference between dreads and twists, they need help. I don't necessarily think "this" rule is racist though unless there are also rules against baldness and "wool-like" hair as well.

They just don't want male kids coming in with twists. And for a while there, there were white kids running around with fake dreads. So if you look at it from a "fairness" standpoint, if white kids can't have dreads, you would have to forbid all kids wouldn't you?

Dreads already can be questionable on some black people, but on a white guy, they just look wrong.

pensacola_niceman · 01-07-2008, 10:05 AM

Any private institution should be allowed to have their own standards of dress and grooming. It should, of course, apply to all students. Dreadlocks still carry the stigma of ganja smoking rasta men in Jamaica. Such schools should also ban ballcaps worn sideways too, and, especially bandanas. Bandanas are the symbol of men from New Jersey with snotty attitudes and rude habits.

fxashun · 01-07-2008, 10:14 AM

The whole section...
GENERAL GROOMING FOR ALL STUDENTS

Boys:
Extreme faddish hair styles are not acceptable at SMCA. This includes, among other things, tails, the spiking of hair, and unnatural coloring. Traditional and conservative tapered cuts are the standard. The back may be tapered, semi-tapered, or block-tapered. The sides and top must be tapered or faded so that no line(s) separate or distinguish the sides from the top. Hair must not touch the collar or eyebrows and must not cover more than half of the ear. The grouping of hair by or with any means is unacceptable. Hair height may not be any higher than two inches. Boys are to be clean-shaven every day. The administration reserves the right to make final judgment on all personal grooming standards, and shall determine the period in which to correct hair violations, usually 3 days to one week.

Girls:
Extreme faddish hairstyles, including unnatural coloring, are not acceptable at SMCA. No more than two earrings are permitted per ear. Hoops and dangled earrings that are longer than 1 ½” in size are not permitted. No more than two necklaces or two bracelets per arm are to be worn. No pins or buttons are permitted (unless they are official SMCA Spirit Buttons.) No body piercing. Students in the elementary grades may not wear make up other than lip balm or clear lip gloss. No Hats are to be worn inside

Violation
Students who do not conform to dress, hair, or grooming requirements, etc. will be issued a tally/demerit for every day they are in violation. If the violation is extreme and/or not rectified in a timely manner the administration reserves the right to not allow the student to attend class. If the violation is continual then the parents may be asked to find a new school for their child.

Uniforms are required, from a specific supplier as well. They are strict.

OhDear · 01-07-2008, 10:35 AM

Yes, they are very strict. But for me, I think that is okay. Surely the parents read the code before enrolling their son.

If it were a public school, I think that there would be more of a case to counter the expulsion. But here it was a clear choice to either enroll or not, or discuss any possible conflict concerning the boy's hair, BEFORE the enrollment.

Though I find certain fundamentalism and certain narrow-minded perspectives contrary, I believe it is the right of a private school, business, church, etc. to follow their own standards. And it is the right of others to not give them business if they do not like it.

Playing the race card on it seems to make a mockery of issues when true racism is the matter.

OhDear