When we as a society think about social justice issues, we tend to focus on the extreme situations. These may include racial shootings or lack of rights to certain groups. But social justice issues isn’t just that, it can be much smaller too. For example, a social justice issue could be a student being suspended for a certain hairstyle. And this is exactly happening in Texas right now.
Darryl George, an 18 year old Black student, briefly attended class at Barbers Hill High School before a school administrator referred him to in-school suspension. George will remain suspended for 13 days, the notice states, and his latest suspension follows three months of disciplinary action. Although this example of social injustice is not as extreme as ones we have seen recently and through earlier posts of my blog, this is still an example. The school is not allowing this student to style his hair in a certain way and preventing him from attending that school. This is a form of discrimination, as the school is separating him purely based on his hairstyle.
This can create a bigger discussion as locs, or dreadlocks, in Black culture symbolize a profound connection to African heritage and identity, embracing natural hair texture, spirituality influenced by the Rastafarian movement, and a commitment to resilience and strength. Wearing locs is often a deliberate rejection of Eurocentric beauty standards and serves as a political and social statement of resistance against oppression. The versatility of locs allows for creative expression, while the hairstyle fosters a sense of community and solidarity within the broader Black experience, connecting individuals to their ancestry and cultural traditions. With this, it may seem that the school is trying to silence the message that locs provide.
Overall, this is an interesting case with many different facets within it, making it hard to understand its severity of impact.
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