For as long as schools have policed hairstyles as part of their dress codes, some students have seen the rules as attempts to deny their cultural and religious identities.
Nowhere have school rules on hair been a bigger flashpoint than in Texas, where a trial this week is set to determine whether high school administrators can continue punishing a Black teenager for refusing to cut his hair. The 18-year-old student, Darryl George, who wears his hair in locs tied atop his head, has been kept out of his classroom since the start of the school year.
To school administrators, strict dress codes can be tools for promoting uniformity and discipline. But advocates say the codes disproportionately affect students of color and the punishments disrupt learning. Under pressure, many schools in Texas have removed boys-only hair length rules, while hundreds of districts maintain hair restrictions written into their dress codes.
Schools that enforce strict dress codes have higher rates of punishment that take students away from learning, such as suspensions and expulsions, according to an October 2022 report from the Government Accountability Office. The report called on the U.S. Department of Education to provide resources to help schools design more equitable dress codes.
I don’t believe in dress codes being of benefit, but this is strictly Texas being a dick.
I was in the Army (for school, the cause sucked), and African American soldiers were often CORRECTLY given a shaving profile, aka a waiver due to ingrown hair shaving issues especially in field conditions, and it wasn’t a deal. At all. In the fucking military, the (understandably) pedant, rule follower, uniformity kings.
The Texas government just doesn’t want to make reasonable accommodations because they’re racist pieces of shit who believe they can legislate those outside their rigid, white nationalist, stepford aspiring in-group out of existence.
I’ve never had a school uniform but someone told me that it could help hide “class” differences if someone were not able to dress their child as well. I’m not sure how well I buy that but it sounded like a possible benefit.
It doesn’t work. You can still always tell the kids who have new uniforms vs those who had to buy second hand, or those who have designer backpacks or shoes from those who have Walmart versions. The rich kids who were raised to be assholes will still find something to look down on the poor kids about. Best friend was stuck in private school for years and hated it because of this.
Uniforms for me weren’t explicit but more “polo shirt and pants” so it was less a uniform and more a very strict dress code - this was also only in middle school so that kinda tracks with when kids can be some of the most vicious about it
I could see how ot could hide class but then now you have to buy more clothes
sorry can you expand a bit on the ingrown hair part? It doesnt make sense to me why one race would have issue with that while the rest doesnt
It doesn’t make sense to you that different hair types might have different likelihood of ingrown hairs?
Good question! Would that we were all comfortable expressing our ignorance and asking for edification.
As I understand it, black people (and others with similar hair type) have a tightly curved hair follicle. The hair grows out of the follicle springy because it kinks before growing out. Like an extreme version of people with curly hair (who also have a curved hair follicle). This means that if the hair is shaved completely it is more likely to become ingrown.
"Pseudofolliculitis barbae (razor bumps) is a common condition of the beard area occurring in up to 60% African American men and other people with curly hair. The problem results when highly curved hairs grow back into the skin causing inflammation and a foreign body reaction. Over time, this can cause keloidal scarring which looks like hard bumps of the beard area and neck. Shaving sharpens the ends of the hairs like a spear. The hairs then curve back into the skin causing pseudofolliculitis barbae.
A 100% effective treatment is to let the beard grow. Once the hairs get to be a certain length they will not grow back into the skin. For most cases, totally avoid shaving for 3 to 4 weeks until all lesions have subsided, while applying a mild prescription cortisone cream to the involved skin each morning. Shaving every other day, rather than daily, will improve pseudo-folliculitis barbae. If one must use a blade, water soften the beard first with a hot, wet washcloth for 5 minutes. Then use lubricating shaving gel (Edge, Aveeno), and the Aveeno PFB Bump Fighter Razor or the Flicker razor. Shave with the grain of the beard and do not stretch the skin. Use only one stroke over each area of the beard."
https://www.aocd.org/page/pseudofolliculitisb#:~:text=Pseudofolliculitis barbae (razor bumps) is,and a foreign body reaction.
It’s not just black people, it’s just more common with them.
I have curly facial hair and I have to leave a few mm instead of shaving, or else I get ingrown hairs.
To expand on the other response, the Army doesn’t deny shaving waivers to white guys either. I had one every time I went overseas because my face is right on the line. With a weekend to rest it, hot water and all the products, it goes okay. But without all that I get rashes. So allowances were made.
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People from the outside see stuff like the drill teams and forget that we’ve been known to fight in body armor, helmet, and our underwear. They think uniformity has some magical property and miss all the real reasons behind it.