And people wonder why books featuring black girls, black dolls and other affirmations are needed!
Recently, a principal at a school in the Bahamas sent a high school girl home for wearing her natural hair how it grows out of her God-given head! The principal said the Afro “puff” style looked “unkempt and untidy”, NB12 News in the Bahamas reported.
The principal of C.R. Walker Senior High School said the hair on the young 8th grader, Tayjha T Deleveaux, “is inappropriate, is not groomed and needs to be combed” *le sigh*
The ridiculous move lead Deleveaux’s mom to rant on her Facebook page.
I have a question.. Why would a high school principal tell my daughter that she cannot wear her hair like this anymore…
Posted by Kessa TD on Friday, February 5, 2016
The post went viral. When Deleveaux’s mom later met with the principal and vice principal about the reprimand, she explained that her daughter has a hair condition that requires her to wash it almost everyday and and the puff style is needed to accommodate that condition and manage her hair. She told the news channel that she was concerned the reprimand would negatively impact her daughter’s school records. Her daughter got an offer to join the school debate team withdrawn upon the debate coach learning about the recent reprimand, Delevaux’s mom told the news station.
Since then, the hashtag, #SupportThePuff erupted in social media. Many young girls and other women have been posting photos of themselves with their hair in super cute Afro puffs out of solidarity! Nice! Let’s normalize our hair so brainwashed and twisted thinking people and elders finally learn to leave natural hair wearers alone.
Oh and this is not the first time that has happened either!
Last November 2015 in Toronto, Canada, a school administrator told a black student there that her hair was too “poofy.” That girl’s aunt, Kaysie Quansah, also took to Facebook to complain about an educator calling her niece’s hair “unprofessional”. Towards the end of her rant, Quansah addressed the educator who made the offensive statements, Tracey Barnes.
To TRACEY BARNES: Why are you so occupied with my niece’s hair to the point that you would disrupt her learning? As the principal of the school, would you not be more concerned with her ability to learn undisrupted rather than her looks? What values are you passing on to my niece when you pull her out of class/pull her to the side and talk to her about superficial, shallow things like hair, instead of WHAT SHE IS THERE TO DO WHICH IS LEARN?! I would like to know what gives you the authority to be the decision maker on stunting my nieces’ dreams by telling her that she cannot achieve careers based off her looks? TRACEY BARNES why are you projecting your SELF HATE onto my niece?
“I didn’t see what the big deal was about my hair because it wasn’t bothering anybody,” the young girl told CityNews Toronto. “I was just doing my work, so I didn’t see why I had to be pulled out of the class.”
In 2013, a teen at a Florida Christian school was threatened with suspension unless she too “tamed” her natural hair.
Then 12-year old Vanessa VanDyke was told by educators at the Faith Christian Academy in Orlando, Fl., that her was considered a “distraction”. Previously, VanDyke had gone to the school to complain that other students were bullying her over her natural hair. Instead of support, she was told to style her hair or straighten it to conform.
hrmph!
“We’re not asking her to put products in her hair or cut her hair.” However, they’re by no means accepting her current look, either. “We’re asking her to style her hair within the guidelines according to the school handbook,” a statement to the Atlanta Journal Constitutionread.
More pics of #SupportThePuff hashtag movement supporters:
I am free to do whatever pleases me. Whether it's coloring my hair, wearing a certain color or not braiding my afro. I am the owner of my body so I do as I please. Don't tell me you don't like my lip color or that my lips aren't perfect, don't tell me my hair looks nappy or uncombed, or you do not like the way I style it. I didn't style it for you, but for me. Don't tell me you do not like my choice of colors because according to you, it does not match my skin tone. I love my kinky hair, I love my full lips and am allowed to show off just because I can! And your opinion doesn't matter. #blackbeautifulandbold #naturalhairbeauty #supportthepuff
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