Jamaica’s Supreme Court rules school can ban child with dreadlocks
“I will not be cutting my daughter’s hair,” the child’s mother said following the court’s ruling.
On Friday (July 31), news broke that Jamaica’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of banning students that have dreadlocks.
Two years prior, leadership at Kensington Primary School alerted a 5-year-old young lady that she should cut her dreadlocks so as to go to classes. The minor was informed that it was for “cleanliness” purposes. Subsequent to hearing the court’s decision, the young lady’s mom clarified that she will filing an appeal. “I will not be cutting my daughter’s hair,” Sherine Virgo, mother of the now 7-year-old, said. “If they give me that ultimatum again, I will be moving her.”
The young lady’s legal advisor Isat Buchanan included that dreadlocks are a type of self-expression. “I am more than surprised. It is most unfortunate,” the attorney explained. “It is a most unfortunate day for Black people and for Rastafarian people in Jamaica. ” Sharing a similar sentiment, the girl’s father Dale Virgo explained that the court’s ruling is a form of systematic racism. He pointed out that the decision comes amid the social uprisings in America, calling for racial equality.
Sharing a comparative conclusion, the young lady’s dad Dale Virgo clarified that the court’s decision is a type of deliberate bigotry. He brought up that the choice comes in the midst of the social uprisings in America, calling for racial correspondence.
“A child was declined in view of her Black hair, you know?” said Dale. “It’s so weird that right now in the current climate of the world, in 2020, we are having protests, and Black people are fed up. This is an opportunity the Jamaican government and the legal system had to right these wrongs and lead the world and make a change. But they have decided to keep the same system.”
Tragically, this is not the first occasion when that a minor has confronted pushback with respect to their natural hair. Back in January, news broke that a Texas teenager DeAndre Arnold was suspended in light of the fact that his dreadlocks didn’t meet the school’s clothing standard. A month ago, the foundation uncovered that they will not change up their new strategy. “The school district had the chance to examine systemic racism and change its discriminatory policies, but instead chose to continue spending taxpayer dollars to maintain this grooming code,” lawyer Brian Klosterboer said in a statement.
