Texas judge rules school district can discipline Black teen over hairstyle

23/2/2024 12:24

        A Texas judge ruled on Thursday that a Houston-area school district did not violate a newly enacted state law when it punished a Black student for refusing to change his hairstyle, local media reported.
        
        The case involved Darryl George, who wears his dreadlocks braided on top of his head, and Barbers Hill Independent School District, which had claimed the 18-year-old's hairstyle violated its dress code, Houston Public Media reported. It suspended him in August and sent him to an off-site disciplinary program for the entire school year.
        
        During the first day of the trial, Chambers County Judge Chap Cain III ruled that Barbers Hill did not violate the state's Crown Act, which prohibits race-based discrimination on hair, the news outlet reported.
        
        "There's been a lot of emotions on me - anger, sadness," George said as he entered the courthouse on Thursday, according to Houston Public Media. "It feels very lonely when you're the only one stuck in a room for a whole semester, a whole year."