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Texas High School Suspends Black Student Again Over Locs Hairstyle

The district’s policy prevents male students from having hair “extend below the top of a t-shirt collar, below the eyebrows, or below the ear lobes when let down.”

A Black Texas high school student was sent back to in-school suspension on Tuesday for refusing to follow dress code policy and change his locs hairstyle. Immediately after returning from over a month at an alternative disciplinary program, Darryl George was suspended by Barbers Hill High School for 13 days. According to the Associated Press, George has spent over 80 percent of his junior year away from regular classes. CNN obtained the school’s referral, which states, “If Darryl corrects his dress code violation he will be allowed to return.” The district’s policy prevents male students from having hair “extend below the top of a t-shirt collar, below the eyebrows, or below the ear lobes when let down.” George’s family claimed the rule violates the Texas CROWN Act, which bans discrimination on the basis of hairstyles “commonly or historically associated with race,” but Barbers Hill says the law doesn’t address hair length. AP reported that the family has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Gov. Greg Abbott, the attorney general, and the school district.