Texas school district sued for coloring hair

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AFP PHOTO / KALLINEN LAW PLCC / DOCUMENT

Parents of a teenager whose hair was styled with a black marker pen filed a lawsuit for violation of civil rights of the Texas School District.

In April, a 13-year-old identified as JT was introduced to Berry Miller High School with a shaved M on his head.

The school principal, accompanied by two colleagues, "took the jet black Sharpie and started coloring JT's scalp" without his consent, the suit says.

The haircut would have violated the school's dress code policy.

At the time, according to CBS News, the code stipulated that hair "should be clean, clean and well-coiffed, extreme hair styles such as sculptures, mohawks, spikes, etc. are not allowed." .

But the lawsuit says that the teenager felt "extremely degraded" after the incident, which he described as racist.

"The haircut does not portray anything violent, gang, obscene or anything that is offensive or inappropriate in any way," the lawsuit says, noting that a discolored haircut "is common among young African-Americans".

JT's parents filed their lawsuit against the Pearland Independent School District, as well as Principal Tony Barcelona, ​​Helen Day, clerk-disciple, and Professor Jeanette Peterson.

The three school officials would have laughed using the permanent marker to color JT's scalp.

But the trial notes that the pen "made the pattern more visible" and said that his parents would have had the haircut changed if they had been notified.

The Pearland Independent School District changed its dress policy in May.

Earlier in August, in the nearby town of Galveston, police apologized after mounted police took a black man handcuffed with a rope, which many criticized as reminiscent of the time of the day. slavery.