Wake schools want to protect Black students against race-based hair discrimination
Wake County school leaders want to ban discrimination against the hairstyles worn by some Black students.
The Wake school board’s policy committee on Tuesday discussed adding protections for natural hairstyles — such as tight coils, cornrows and afros — to the student dress code and anti-discrimination policies.
Board members said the changes would send a message of acceptance to Black students, particularly females.
“This is really about creating a culture in our district where we are telling students from a strength-based approach of what we believe and also how we believe in them,” said board vice chair Monika Johnson-Hostler.
Superintendent Robert Taylor told the board that he’s glad they’re discussing the policy changes. He said it’s in line with the district’s equity policy.
Committee members asked staff to do additional edits to the policies before they vote on them.
Movement to adopt CROWN Act
If the policy changes are approved by the full school board, Wake would join a growing list of groups adopting The CROWN Act, which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.
The CROWN campaign is part of a national effort to include hair and hairstyle as part of discrimination protections. Supporters of the campaign say it’s in response to how Black women have endured discrimination due to wearing their natural hairstyles.
“A substantial percentage of Black women and teens report experiencing hair discrimination from a young age impacting educational attainment and self-esteem,” said Clint Robinson, Wake’s chief of staff and strategic planning.
Johnson-Hostler, who is Black, said it took her until she was 35 before she felt comfortable wearing her natural hairstyle because of societal norms.
There have been several highly publicized cases involving hairstyles with racial overtones. In April 2021, a Black softball player at Hillside High School in Durham had to cut out her beads to continue playing in her team’s senior night game.
County governments in Wake, Durham, Orange and Mecklenburg as well as cities such as Raleigh, Durham, Carrboro and Greensboro have adopted non-discrimination policies based on the CROWN Act.
Legislation to make the CROWN Act state law has stalled in the General Assembly. But hairstyles have been added to state agencies’ racial discrimination protections.
Expanding permitted hairstyles
Durham Public Schools had already adopted wording protecting natural hairstyles in its student dress code. Wake is considering using Durham’s wording in its policy.
“Students may dress and style their hair for school in a manner that expresses their individuality and culture, including length, braids, locs, twists, tight coils or curls, cornrows, Bantu knots, afros, geles and headwraps,” according to Wake’s proposed dress code revisions.
The policy also adds wording that certain programs such as Junior ROTC and the N.C. High School Athletic Association may have more restrictive requirements for hairstyles. Those programs require signatures of students and parents consenting to these restrictions on grooming and dress.
Taylor, whose wife is a retired colonel, said that the U.S. military has relaxed its hairstyle policies. School board member Tyler Swanson asked Taylor to pass that message to the JROTC units.
Protection against bullying due to hairstyle
Wording prohibiting hair discrimination is also proposed for inclusion in Wake’s policy against bullying, harassment and discrimination.
“Race and ethnicity include traits historically associated with race or national origin including, but not limited to, hair texture, hair type, or protective hairstyle,” according to the wording in the revised policy. ‘”Protective hairstyle’ includes such hairstyles as braids, locs, twists, tight coils or curls, cornrows, Bantu knots, afros, and headwraps.”
Johnson-Hostler said you won’t find a long list of complaints that Black students have made to principals about people discriminating against them due to their hair. But Johnson-Hostler said there are a whole host of Black parents like herself who’ve heard their children talk about the discrimination.
“As a Black mom, students don’t go to their principal about things we’ve normalized as a culture,” Johnson-Hostler said. “We get to hear them at home. We get to hear what people say about their hair being in the way or being problematic.”
This story was originally published March 12, 2024 at 4:42 PM.
