Black students who challenged Texas school dreadlocks policy lost battle Monday which most would call discriminatory practices .
The Barbers Hill Independent School District voted unanimously to keep grooming and dress code policy in place, denying students demand. Now they’re looking to challenge the policy in Texas legislature.
According to Houston Public Media Since pre-kindergarten, Kaden Bradford has attended Barbers Hill ISD, about 40 miles east of Houston. Similarly, his cousin De’ Andre Arnold was a longtime student in Barbers Hill schools. Both grew out their hair in dreadlocks in honor of their family’s West Indian heritage.
But in their sophomore and senior years, respectively, they were suspended for wearing their natural hair in dreadlocks earlier this year. The school’s discipline sparked national attention, as the students and many advocates called it an example of hair discrimination.
Then a senior, De’ Andre was told he couldn’t attend prom or graduation unless he cut his locs. Instead, he attended the Oscars — where a documentary celebrating Black hair won an Academy Award — visited the Ellen DeGeneres show and got support from a Houston Texans wide receiver.
The two young men are still pushing for Barbers Hill ISD to change its hair policy. Kaden just wants to return to school for his junior year, and De’ Andre doesn’t want any retaliatory action from the district. Both transferred last year.