MONT BELVIEU, Texas — A mother and several Houston-area activists demanded answers from Barbers Hill High School after they said a student was wrongly punished for his hair.
It's the same school that made national headlines for the same issue a few years ago. In the latest instance, the student's family said the school violated the new Crown Act.
It said school district dress codes can't discriminate against "protective hairstyles," including braids and locks, which are historically associated with race.
Darryl, 17, is a junior at Barbers Hill. His mother, Darresha George, said the school put him in in-school suspension, or ISS, for weeks because his hair, when unpinned, is longer than his eyebrows. She provided photos of what appeared to be disciplinary records.
The records also show disruptive behavior, like using profanity, during ISS. Activists said punishing "black hair" breeds white supremacy and Darryl shouldn't be suspended.
"As long as hair is not below the lobes, below the eyelids, hiding his eyes, on the nape of the neck or at the collar, he’s fine. And it doesn't matter if he twists his locks up," attorney Allie Booker said.
The Crown Act was born in 2020 when former Barbers Hill student Deandre Arnold was suspended for his hair.
This year, the bipartisan Crown Act was overwhelmingly passed into law. Activists said if Barbers Hill doesn't end Darryl's ISS over his hair, they want the federal government to pull its funding of the district.
We reached out to Barbers Hill for comment but hadn't heard back as of 6 p.m. Thursday.