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<\/div>\nSince last August Darryl George has been separated from his classmates<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Houston: <\/b><\/p>\n
A Black teen who was punished at high school because of the way he wears his hair lost a court battle Thursday when a judge upheld the disciplinary action against him.<\/p>\n
Darryl George, 18, wears his hair in rope-like strands called locs, which are pinned to his head.<\/p>\n
Since last August he has been separated from his classmates and faced other punitive measures at Barbers Hill High School, outside Houston, on grounds his hair style violates a dress code.<\/p>\n
The school says his hair is out of compliance because it is of a length that extends “below the top of a T-shirt collar, below the eyebrows, and\/or below the earlobes when let down.”<\/p>\n
His lawyers say the hairstyle is protected by a law called the Texas CROWN Act, which says a school district policy “may not discriminate against a hair texture or protective hairstyle commonly or historically associated with race.” It does not mention hair length.<\/p>\n
George’s family filed a lawsuit and in a court hearing Thursday Judge Chap Cain said the Barbers Hill policy does not violate that law.<\/p>\n
“The CROWN Act does not render unlawful those portions of the Barbers Hill dress and grooming restrictions limiting male students’ hair length,” Cain said, according to news reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It means a lot to me. It’s my roots, you know. It’s how I feel closer to my people, closer to my ancestors,” George said before the hearing.<\/p>\n
“I started my dreads for a reason, and that’s just to feel closer to my people,” he added.<\/p>\n
Barbers Hill High School denies discriminating against the youth.<\/p>\n
His lawyer, Allie Booker, announced plans to appeal at a federal court.<\/p>\n
Candice Matthews, a spokeswoman for the George family, said the boy left the courtroom in tears after the hearing.<\/p>\n
“Darryl made this statement, and told me this straight up with tears in his eyes, ‘All because of my hair? I can’t get my education because of hair? I cannot be around other peers and enjoy my junior year, because of my hair?'” Matthews said.<\/p>\n
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n