Black teen 'humiliated' after school colored his hair with marker, parents say

[Eugene]

Source: Agence France-Presse

Black teen 'humiliated' after school colored his hair with marker, parents say

Agence France-Presse
Wed 21 Aug 2019 03.09 BST Last modified on Wed 21 Aug 2019 14.05 BST

Parents of a black teenager in Texas are suing their Houston-area school district after three white middle school personnel used a marker to blot out a design on their son’s scalp.

The federal civil rights lawsuit was filed Sunday against the Pearland independent school district (ISD) and the three staff members of Berry Miller junior high who used the marker to color the student’s scalp.

The three claimed that his “common African American ‘fade’ haircut violated the Pearland ISD dress code policy”, the lawsuit reads.

The school’s assistant principal threatened to suspend the boy if he did not have his scalp design colored. The design stood out even more when that was done, so school personnel proceeded to color his entire scalp with black marker.

“They laughed as they took many minutes to color 13-year-old JT’s scalp which took many days of scrubbing to come off. JT was immensely humiliated and shamed,” the lawsuit states.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/20/texas-teenager-hair-colored-marker-school


A photo courtesy of Kallinen Law PLCC in Houston, Texas, shows the 13- year-old student. Photograph: HO/AFP/Getty Images

[RKP5637]

1. I hope they throw the F'en book at them!!! n/t

[Croney]

2. This is sickening child abuse.

[Sapient Donkey]

3. Why would the school care about that?

ridiculous authoritarian nonsense.

[tblue37]

4. Because so many racist authorities and institutions are committed to policing black hair. nt

[rogue emissary]

5. +1

[Boomer]

6. So many different types of abuse

On top of the psychological abuse, markers are usually toxic. Covering that much of his skin with marker is physical abuse as well.