Today a school in the state of Texas is being accused of enforcing grooming policies that mainly affect the small number of black students in the school.
The teen in the middle of it all is currently being prevented from graduating unless he capitulates to district policy that prohibits males hair from going past the ears.
Deandre Arnold would like nothing more than to complete his senior year and walk the stage with his fellow classmates, but Barbers Hill Independent School District in Mont Belvieu is refusing to budge on a rule school officials claim has been in place for 30 years.
According to Deandre Arnold’s family, his mother Sandy Arnold often styled her son’s dreadlocks in an attempt to make sure Deandre’s hair adhered to the rules on hair length, eventually, the school decided her efforts were in vain. Going into winter break Deandre Arnold and his family were informed that they had only two options in regards to his dreadlocks, cut them or go to in-school suspension.
The Arnold family disputes Greg Poole, and the school’s stance on this rule being in place spanning back 30 years, they claim the rules were changed in the middle of the year and subsequently made their son Deandre Arnold in violation of dress code.
Sandy Arnold feels the rule is sexist, as it only applies to the males who attend the school, which cancels out the usual excuses given in regards to longer hair lengths as being a sanitary issue.
Deandre Arnold thus far has refused to acquiesce to the demands from Barbers Hill Independent School District officials to cut his dreadlocks, instead, he has been forced out of his regular classes and must weigh the decision to attend an alternative school nearby, all because of his hair.
This is not the first time an issue involving a black male student has raised concerns about racial insensitivity in regards to African American hair, a New Jersey wrestling referee was highly scrutinized after forcing a black student to cut his dreadlocks before being allowed to compete in a wrestling match.
The Arnold family seems determined to hold steadfast and fight back against what they feel is a discriminative policy, activist Gary Monroe would like to take the battle all the way to Federal Court should the school continue to refuse to let Deandre Armold graduate based solely on an out of touch hair policy.
Flip to the next page to see the reaction from around Twitter and Houston Texans Deandre Hopkins to a teenager being held out of normal school activities because of his dreadlocks.