*An 11-year-old middle schooler was targeted by administrators at Christ the King Parish School in Terrytown, Louisiana due to hair extensions.
Video of the incident was shared across social media and shows Faith Fennidy appearing to fight back tears after being told her extensions violated school policy.
Her brother Steven posted a Facebook video showing her leaving school with relatives, and it prompted outraged across social media. Some accused Christ the King Middle School of racism, including social activist Shaun King and rapper T.I.
Watch the clip below.
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After arriving for her first day of 6th grade at the Catholic school, where she attended the two years prior, Faith didn’t know a change had been made to the dress code — suddenly her hairstyle was a problem for the school’s principal.
A notice sent to Fennidy in class led to her crying in the main office before she was eventually escorted out of the building alongside her parents and brother.
“My sister Faith and many little black girls wear extensions. She’s been attending this school for two years and wearing extensions. Over the summer the school has sneakily added in a policy, that no extensions, clip-ins or weaves are allowed,” her brother wrote on FB. “Faith got a notice on the first day of class and it’s ridiculous that these schools that we are PAYING for, will go in and make policies without consulting or trying to figure out how this will affect your life or your child’s life. Extensions make the hair easier to maintain. It allows my sister to have access to the swimming pool without having to get her hair Re-done every night. How do you make a policy without even having a discussion. It’s because you don’t care and it’s just one more barrier to entry for black people. This decision is going to affect black children more than white children.”
“The video shows Faith Fennidy appearing to fight back tears while adults around her can be heard in a brief, contentious discussion. ‘I don’t want this to happen,’ a woman is heard saying. A man who refers to Faith… https://t.co/IYPTeUTt1I
— LV May Day Coalition (@LVMay1Coalition) August 22, 2018
The Christ the King Parish School didn’t immediately reply to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment. However, the Archdiocese of New Orleans released a written statement on Tuesday from Superintendent RaeNell Billiot Houston to WGNO, which read:
Archdiocese of New Orleans schools develop policies appropriate for their respective schools. Christ the King Elementary School has a policy that states: “Boys and Girls: Only the students’ natural hair is permitted.”
This policy was communicated to all parents during the summer and again before the first day of school, and was applied to all students. Furthermore, the school leadership worked with families as needed to ensure compliance.
School administrators also noted that the child’s parents were informed a week before the school year started of their daughter’s violation. And although Faith had her hair re-done, it still wasn’t in compliance with the dress code when she arrived at school the following week. “At that point the parent made the decision to remove her child from the school,” an administrator said.
“How do you feel that this is a proper representation of what Jesus Christ the King & how he would want us to treat our children?” T.I. wrote on Instagram. “You should be ashamed of yourselves…”
Meanwhile, Shaun King called the school “deplorable” in an IG post… see below.
The family told WWL-TV they are considering a discrimination lawsuit.
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