Update: Texas Teen Speaks Out After Judge Rules School Punishing Him Over His Locs Doesn’t Violate The CROWN Act: ‘I Can’t Get My Education Because Of My Hair’

Darryl George

Update: Texas Teen Speaks Out After Judge Rules School Punishing Him Over His Locs Doesn’t Violate The CROWN Act: ‘I Can’t Get My Education Because Of My Hair’

Update: (Feb. 22, 2024): A judge has ruled in the viral case surrounding 18-year-old Darryl George and his hair.

According to new reports, State District Judge Chap Cain III ruled today (Feb. 22) that George’s Texas school district did not violate the CROWN Act by sending the high schooler to a disciplinary alternative education program because he refused to cut his locs. Reportedly, the district of the Houston-area high school that George was previously attending has a rule that male students’ hair cannot pass their shirt collar, eyebrows, or earlobes when let down.

Despite George keeping his locs tied and twisted above his earlobes, the teen was removed from his normal school setting in August of last year and set to EPIC, an alternative education program, for what was deemed as “failure to comply” with rules while on school grounds.

The CROWN Act, which passed last year in Texas, “criminalizes the targeting of hairstyles associated with race and prevents employers, educators, and oppressors from imposing stringent ‘policies’ related to physical appearances,” according to texascrownact.org.

Reportedly, Judge Cain said the legislation doesn’t note anything about the length of the hairstyles that are protected by the law, including locs. George was reportedly emotional following the ruling. Through his family’s spokesperson, he expressed,

“All because of my hair? I can’t get my education because of my hair. I can’t be around my peers and enjoy my junior year because of my hair.”

The spokesperson for the George family added that they intend to fight the judgment.

[VIA: 1,2]

Original Story: (Oct. 13, 2023): A Black Texas high school student is headed to a disciplinary alternative education program after refusing to cut his dreadlocks.

Darryl George, 18, was sentenced to in-school suspension at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu on Aug. 31. School principal Lance Murphy reportedly informed him on Wednesday (Oct. 11) that he would be sent to EPIC, an alternative education program, from Oct.12 to Nov. 29 due to his “failure to comply” with various rules in the classroom and on campus.

Murphy‘s letter claims Darryl has consistently disregarded the district’s “previously communicated standards of student conduct.” In addition, the letter states that the high school junior may resume normal classroom instruction on Nov. 30 but may not return to the high school campus until then unless he needs to meet with administrators to discuss his behavior.

While there is no uniform requirement, the student handbook for Barbers Hill Independent School District states that hair that extends below the eyebrows, ear lobes, or top of a T-shirt collar is forbidden for males. All pupils must have neat, well-groomed hair that is geometric in shape and not an unusual hue or variation.

Darresha George, Darryl‘s mother, and the family lawyer refute that the teenager’s hairstyle is against the dress code. In a federal civil rights lawsuit against the state’s attorney general and governor, the family filed formal complaints with the Texas Education Agency last month, claiming they were not enforcing the state’s CROWN Act, which was implemented on Sept. 1 and outlaws discrimination based on hairstyles.

The school district also sued in state district court, requesting an injunction to determine whether the CROWN Act is violated by the dress code that limits male students’ hair length.

What are your thoughts on the entire situation? Let us know in the comments!

[VIA]