RACE RELATIONS

Black Texas Student & Family Continues To Fight Hair Suspension

The 18-year-old has been repeatedly disciplined regarding his locs. School drops full-page ad defending their decision.

Left to Right: Candice Matthews, Darryl George, center left, a 17-year-old junior, and his mother Darresha George, begin their walk across the street to go into Barbers Hill High School.

Darryl George, an 18-year-old Black student at Barbers Hill High School, has faced disciplinary action all school year because he wears dreadlocks and has refused to cut them.

The teen’s family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit saying the punishment violates the CROWN Act, an acronym for “Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” which became law in Texas in September.

The law is intended to prohibit race-based hair discrimination. However, the school said the law does not address hair length, which is the reason for George’s suspension.

District superintendent Greg Poole published a full-page ad that appeared in the Houston Chronicle on January 14th. Poole defended the school’s decision, citing the suspension was over his hair length, not…