Student suspended, told he would not walk in graduation over dreadlocks

A Texas teen and his family are protesting his suspension and demands that he cut his dreadlocks or be banned from his high school graduation.

Last week, Deandre Arnold, a Houston senior at Barbers Hill High School, was resigned to in-school suspension due to the length of his dreadlocks, according to several media reports. The school system changed its dress code policy during the Christmas break, according to Click2Houston.com.

Arnold and his family have addressed the school board about the threat that he won’t be allowed to walk at his graduation if he does not cut his dreadlocks. Arnold said he refuses to cut his hair because it represents his Trinidadian roots.

Several advocates, from Houston Texans star DeAndre Hopkins to representatives of Black Lives Matter, have spoken out about the school’s decision.

"This is a black and white issue," Gary Monroe of the United Urban Alumni Association told KHOU 11. "Deandre (and) his family should not have to go through this. But I expect it from a board that has zero diversity."

Hopkins, who wears his hair in dreadlocks, showed his support for the teenager on his Twitter page Wednesday morning, telling Arnold to “never cut your locks.”

The district’s superintendent said the revised policy does not discriminate against hairstyle or race. Superintendent Greg Poole said though the policy was tweaked last semester, the length requirement has been in place for decades.

“There is no dress code policy that prohibits any cornrow or any other method of wearing of the hair,” Poole said. “Our policy limits the length. It’s been that way for 30 years.”

This isn’t the first time a student’s dreadlocked hairstyle has caused a ripple of reaction and backlash.

A New Jersey wrestling referee forced student-athlete Andrew Johnson, then a junior at Buena Regional High School, to cut his hair before a match or it would be forfeited. The footage of the haircut was shared and watched hundreds of thousands of times when the incident happened in winter 2018.

In September 2019, the referee, Alan Maloney, was suspended for two years for demanding the lock cutting.

According to Monroe, the family will move the issue to federal court if it is not resolved this week.

"They have 48 hours to come up with a resolution or we're taking this to federal court," Monroe said.