Girl says Florida school threatening expulsion over her ‘natural hair’

Billnew

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Girl says Florida school threatening expulsion over her ‘natural hair’ | Fox News

According to WKMG, Faith Christian Academy has rules governing student hairstyles. The student handbook reads: "Hair must be a natural color and must not be a distraction," and goes on to state examples that include, but are not limited to, mohawks, shaved designs and rat tails.

First: This is a private school, so they can set almost any limitations they want and can expel a student for any infraction they want.

So, the family says the hair is not a distraction, the school says it is.

From the picture, it appears(pictures can be misleading) that the hair:
is about 6-10 inches above her head, billows over both shoulders on the sides, seems to protrude 8-12 inches behind her. I don't think length would be a problem. So there is a wall that is 2'x4' of wavy hair.

If this isn't distracting what is? At minimum she should have to sit at the back of the class(then the school would be called racist).

I know someone will bring up her ethnicity. She is celebrating her heritage with this hair. Who her ancestors were has no bearing on something being distracting or not.

I believe this hair is a distraction in class.
 

Cearbhall

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This is racism, plain and simple. The rules were written with a white girl's hair in mind. Not every girl's hair is going to fit that mold. To call her natural hair inappropriate is just terrible. If it's a distraction, deal with it. It's who she is. She shouldn't have to get a buzz cut just to be considered acceptable.
 
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Billnew

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So it wouldn't be wrong if the girl was white and had the same hair?

The problem is "distraction" not race.

She has a 2 foot by 3-4 ft wall of hair to block the view of other students.

No one said it had to be a "buzz cut". She just needs to control her hair. Like we teach children of every other ethnicity. Just because its natural doesn't mean its not a distraction.

Yep, this is racist, this would not even be a news story if the girl was white, probably not even if she was Hispanic.

People must adjust their appearance to fit the work enviroment. School is a work enviroment, the job is learning. If a persons hair is interfering with the work at hand, either it must change or they will be removed from the work enviroment, ie kicked out of school.

How many kids can get away with letting their hair go wild in school? But for this one girl it is a racial issue?
A simple hair tie would fix the problem. She could stay in school, keep her friends, and not be a hindrance to learning with one(maybe two) hair ties.
I see it as "I can do anything I want, because I'm a minority." Attitude.

oh, wow. Calling anyone with reasonable hair a white girl? Most Hispanics, Orientals, European, girls have what you call "white girl" hair.

I also think I saw a "White girl" with this girls hairstyle on a comercial for unmanagable and frizzy hair, they have a product for it. (It did stick out just like hers.)
 
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Glass*Soul

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Let me get this right. The students are so everlastingly awed by her hair that they cannot help but still be distracted from their classwork months into the term?

Hmmmmm.

I used to attend a Ozark Bible College in the '70's. The male students were constantly harassed about the length of their hair, as the style that was popular at that time was to wear it full and over the ears. Think Bee Gees circa Saturday Night Fever. The older, married students, some of whom were ex-military, were held up to them as examples of clean cut correctness. A few of the students, fed up by the constant scrutiny, had their hair cut into crew cuts over midterm. When they returned the rules were changed to state that one could not sport a crew cut unless it was his accustomed hairstyle prior to attending the school. It wasn't about the hair length as it turned out. It was about the sheer right to control hair length.

This leads me to ask what this is really about. I strongly suspect it is not about the hair length.
 
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Billnew

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Let me get this right. The students are so everlastingly awed by her hair that they cannot help but still be distracted from their classwork months into the term?

Hmmmmm.

I used to attend a Ozark Bible College in the '70's. The male students were constantly harassed about the length of their hair, as the style that was popular at that time was to wear it full and over the ears. Think Bee Gees circa Saturday Night Fever. The older, married students, some of whom were ex-military, were held up to them as examples of clean cut correctness. A few of the students, fed up by the constant scrutiny, had their hair cut into crew cuts over midterm. When they returned the rules were changed to state that one could not sport a crew cut unless it was his accustomed hairstyle prior to attending the school. It wasn't about the hair length as it turned out. It was about the sheer right to control hair length.

This leads me to ask what this is really about. I strongly suspect it is not about the hair length.
I'll give you that one(bolded).
Why now? Maybe they've been trying to work around it?
They also might have started at a different time then standard schools. (Maybe year round?)

I'm pretty sure this one isn't about hair length, but hair bulk. Think about sitting one desk length behind her. Her hair would hang over at least 1/3 to 1/2 of your desk, and block out an inch past her shoulders on each side and 6inches above her head.
It is not a small thing.
 
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wintermile

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In no way would her hair be a distraction if those around her understood her background! Day 1 learn about her background. Day 2 accept that the last thing her hairstyle is is a distraction.

The Politics and Poetics of African American Women's Identity Performance... by Eunice Angelica Whitmal.

A Section About Ayoka Chenzira


In her animated films Zajota and the Boogie Spirit and Hair Piece: A Film for Nappy-Headed People, Ayoka Chenzira examines how African American hair has been constructed as a "problem" devoid of aesthetic value since the first Africans arrived in the New World. Zajota and the Boogie Spirit is a folk narrative about Zajota, an African ancestral Spirit that follows the Africans from their native lands to the New Wold. Chenzira wants her audience to understand and embrace the notion that Zajota is alive and well in the Africans' memories, drums (which are later refashioned as a boom box), dance, language, creativity, and hair. Chenzira uses hair to illuminate the prideful and creative side of African Americans by showing a myrid of hairstyles ranging from Afros, dreadlocks, and asymmetrical cuts, to high top fades that reference Africans in their aesthetic. Chenzira suggests that wearing a natural hairstyle is one way to pay homage to the Boogie spirit and the sacrifces and sufferings of Africans in the New World.
 
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wintermile

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If she blocks the view of students, she should be seated in a way that she doesn't. Other then that, I don't know what the fuzz is about.

Do classrooms still have seating rows?

Hairstyles...


images
 
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FreeSpirit74

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In no way would her hair be a distraction if those around her understood her background! Day 1 learn about her background. Day 2 accept that the last thing her hairstyle is is a distraction.

The Politics and Poetics of African American Women's Identity Performance... by Eunice Angelica Whitmal.

A Section About Ayoka Chenzira

Such pretentiousness!

The only "meaning" my own hairstyle is this: I wear my hair cropped because I have better things to do than waste time in front of my bathroom mirror (I used to have hair like my avatar). I color it red because I look better with hair that is darker than my skin tone (I am a natural blonde), & I use henna for that because it is safer than chemical colors and doesn't fade. No mythical meaning involved.
 
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Glass*Soul

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Such pretentiousness!

The only "meaning" my own hairstyle is this: I wear my hair cropped because I have better things to do than waste time in front of my bathroom mirror (I used to have hair like my avatar). I color it red because I look better with hair that is darker than my skin tone (I am a natural blonde), & I use henna for that because it is safer than chemical colors and doesn't fade. No mythical meaning involved.

Would you readily change your hairstyle if someone were to complain that it was distracting, perhaps someone who finds cropped or colored hair in a woman aesthetically unpleasing or improper?
 
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Glass*Soul

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I just clicked the link at the bottom of the article that takes us to a more detailed article:

Update: African-American girl won't face expulsion over 'natural hair' | News - Home


It looks like her hair blocking a classmate's view is truly not the issue. She is a twelve-year-old who has been teased by her classmates regarding her hair. Though she has had her hair in this style all year, she was not threatened with expulsion until her mother complained about the teasing. This would send a horrible message to the students who were teasing her, but it looks like the school has backed down.
 
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apache1

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I don't see a problem with her hair. My pet peeves are excessive tattooing and body piercing, but by golly, I ain't goin' to try to tell someone else they can't do it. Leave the girl alone. I am so sick and tired of people trying to dictate other people over trivial garbage. About haircuts, hairstyles, etc...... for military, yes; for jobs, depending on what job is, yes; for school kids, if not endangering anyone or him/herself in any way, HELL NO! Kids are required to go to school by law anyway, whether public or private school (unless home-schooled), so why try to regulate their expression? If don't interfere with grades, studies, or behavior, who gives a rats rectum? This reminds me of some schools "back in the day" (including in school district next to mine when I was a little shaver) that would measure length of boys hair, and if too long, would have to get haircut or get paddled and/or suspended or expelled, BUT would not allow students to shave head either, could not attend school until hair grew back in to close to "buzz-cut" proportions (thank God my school didn't have such crap). A side note.... if you are familiar with the history of the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, they named their band after an educator named Leonard Skinner at their high school in Jacksonville, Florida, who would give students holy hell for hair and dress code violations (they later became very good friends, but that is another story). Bottom line... hey teacher, leave that girl's hair alone! She don't want to be another brick in your stinkin' wall!
 
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Glass*Soul

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The school has issued a statement:

Update: School issues statement on hair controversy | News - Home

Thank you for the opportunity to respond. We are working with Mr. and Mrs. Kent. We regret that there was a misunderstanding that Vanessa would be expelled. We continue to look forward to seeing Vanessa at our school. We appreciate their kind comments regarding the school and education that Vanessa has received. The staff and faculty at Faith Christian Academy work to create a loving environment that accepts all students from all ethnicities.

It is a virtual lesson in the use of the passive voice.
 
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Paradoxum

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Why would hair, even big colourful hair, distract people? If hair distracts you that much then you probably have something mentally wrong with you. :D

If your hair is so big that people can't see past it, then that's different.
 
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WanderingBloom

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God forgive them their racism. The distraction here is clearly an African-American girls natural hair. A style unique to African-American girls, not processed so as to make her appear white for appearances sake.

I wonder if the ACLU has paid attention to this? Or if anyone has cared to bring it to their attention?
 
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Cearbhall

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Let me get this right. The students are so everlastingly awed by her hair that they cannot help but still be distracted from their classwork months into the term?

Hmmmmm.
It sounds similar to the reasons for many aspects of dress codes for girls in co-ed schools.
So it wouldn't be wrong if the girl was white and had the same hair?
I would have the same reaction if she were white, but it's much less common for a white girl to have hair that can naturally reach this volume.
 
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RDKirk

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Her hair was unkempt. I had a 'Fro nearly that large when I was in school (in the late 60s), and I say her hair was unkempt, at least in that picture.

She should have had it pulled back and tied for school or neatly cut and blown. But as it is in the photo, it is bedraggled and unkempt. It shows signs of not being cared for as it should be.

There are plenty of ways to make natural hair look good and healthy, and hers shows no attention to care and health.
 
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Cearbhall

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Her hair was unkempt. I had a 'Fro nearly that large when I was in school (in the late 60s), and I say her hair was unkempt, at least in that picture.

She should have had it pulled back and tied for school or neatly cut and blown. But as it is in the photo, it is bedraggled and unkempt. It shows signs of not being cared for as it should be.

There are plenty of ways to make natural hair look good and healthy, and hers shows no attention to care and health.
Is your hair textured (honest question, I have no idea)?
 
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RDKirk

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Is your hair textured (honest question, I have no idea)?

No, we didn't do that back then and I've never done it (although I wear my hair short now--it was a political statement when I was a teenager).

Wash, oil, comb out carefully. Cut broken ends. Of course there is a lot more "product" available for natural hair these days, but that girl's hair shows no sign of any of it, at least not in the pictures shown.

I know what well-kept natural hair looks like. I have it, my mother had it, my wife has it, my daughter has it.

And there's really no good reason she could not have pulled it back for school. If pulling it back was still unacceptable for the school, I'd talk about racism, but if her parents weren't even willing to pull it back, then the racism issue is clouded.
 
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