A Black Texas high school student has been suspended again for wearing his hair in locs on campus.
The school, which has made international headlines since 2020 for not allowing African-American boys to wear the hairstyle, said the teen continues to violate the school dress code policy and will be held on a 13-day in-school suspension.
Darryl George has now spent over 80 percent of his junior year at the Barbers Hill School in Mont Belvieu, Texas, on suspension because he refuses to cut his locs.
He was first taken out of class on Aug. 31 and placed in in-school suspension. While participating in the school disciplinary program, he was accused of acting out and not complying with school directives, violating the dress code, arriving late, violating the tardy policy, and disrupting the classroom. As a result, Principal Lance Murphy issued a notice to his family on Oct. 11 for the 18-year-old to be sent to the Disciplinary Alternative Education Program.
“As the School Principal, I have determined that your child has engaged in chronic or repeated disciplinary infractions that violate the District’s previously communicated standards of student conduct,” the notice read.
Allie Booker, the lawyer that represents the George family, believes sending him to the school was retaliatory because of the federal lawsuit they have filed against the school district, the governor, Greg Abbott, and the state’s attorney general for not protecting the teen’s rights under the state’s CROWN Act.
The complaint alleges that the school’s rigid interpretation of the policy and the punishments that come along with it violates the young man’s civil rights.
Earlier reports suggested that George could have returned to school on Nov. 30, however, his first day back was on Dec. 5.
Within that first school day, George was placed back on suspension.
“While in class, he was told he was in violation of the school dress code policy for not cutting his hair and was again referred to in-school suspension,” said Candice Matthews, a spokeswoman for the teen’s family, according to The New York Times.
Officials maintain that the policy does not violate the young man’s civil rights and is actually in compliance with the CROWN Act as it currently is written.
Language in the act states that no one can be discriminated against for wearing hairstyles “commonly or historically associated with race.” The school is clear it is not focused not on the locs style, but the length of George’s hair.
State Rep. Rhetta Andrews Bowers, the author of the law, argues that this move by the school is an attempt to circumvent the legislation. In 2020, the same institution suspended two other Black male students for wearing locs, a case in which their mothers claimed there was an implicit display of gender bias. A federal judge granted those students an injunction that barred the school from enforcing the rule as their still-unresolved Title IX lawsuit proceeds through the court system. Bowers asserts that this current action is another effort by the school to “find loopholes and skirt the law.”
Bowers’ fellow State House of Representatives member, Ron Reynolds, who also chairs the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, announced his intention to introduce an amendment to the recently enacted CROWN Act in September. The proposed amendment aims to clarify that the CROWN Act safeguards not only hair texture and styles but also length. Reynolds plans to present this amendment in the upcoming legislative session.
In the interim, George’s mother, Darresha George, says she and her son are focusing on getting through the school year despite the obstacles and are standing firm on their convictions.
“We are just trying to take it day by day. That’s all we can do. We do not see the light at the end of the tunnel,” the mother said, according to The Associated Press.
While the family anticipates the resolution of their federal civil rights claim, the school district has initiated a legal action. They are currently seeking judicial clarification on whether their actions violate the young man’s rights protected by the CROWN Act.
“We are not giving up,” the mom says regarding her son’s fight.
