*Author and mother-of-three Tiffany Brown said her six-year-old son was sent home from Spring Valley Elementary School in Hewitt, Texas, with a note instructing the first grader to have his dreadlocks cut.
Brown says the hair policy is “racist and gendered,” and opted to keep her son’s dreadlocks long for his return to school this week.
She posted about Midway Independent School District’s dress code and hair policies on Twitter after her son, Jonathan Brown, brought home a flyer which outlined the policies.
On the flyer, a portion on hairstyles was highlighted and a handwritten note instructed Jonathan to “please cut” his hair by January 8, when school resumed, per kwtx.com.
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Retweet, so this won’t happen again!
This is the note the school sent home in my son’s backpack. I will not cut his hair. He does not want it cut, so why should I cut it? How does his hair affect his ability to learn? #notmyhair pic.twitter.com/kv5e9EOSaY
— RogerBrownBooks (@books_roger) January 5, 2019
According to the school’s policy: “Hair must not be lower than the bottom of the ears or collar on the back. Hair must not touch eyebrows.”
The flyer also said hair “volume” cannot “exceed 2 in. away from head.”
Brown noted that students of color are often targeted by hair regulations.
My 1st grader was asked to have his hair cut before returning back to school on Jan. 8th! #notmyhair pic.twitter.com/Qk2fhFy6jL
— RogerBrownBooks (@books_roger) January 5, 2019
“Because of these norms that are blinding people in our society, some people have stated that dreadlocks are a fashion statement and my child should conform and express himself when he’s older,” she told Yahoo Lifestyle. “Dreadlocks are part of my African culture, not a fashion statement. Dreadlocks have been a symbol of beauty and strength for many years.”
Brown, who also wears her hair naturally, said cutting her son’s hair is a form of “control and bondage.”
“Only recently, people of color/African descent have come to accept and love their natural hair. To hear someone say it’s not enough or that my hair should blend with others, that’s not right,” she told Yahoo.
Brown told KWTX that Jonathan returned to school on January 8 still rocking his dreadlocks.
Midway ISD released a statement to Yahoo denying that the hair policy is discriminatory because it “applies to all students.”
The statement read: “Midway ISD has implemented dress and grooming standards for decades. The policy is established to teach grooming and hygiene, prevent disruption and minimize safety hazards. Even when the policy has incrementally evolved through revisions over time, the length of male students’ hair has been a subject of periodic debate over several decades. In other words, male students wanting to have long hair is not new.”
