Texas school staff colorful in the haircut of a black teen with a sharpie

Staff members from a colorful Texas high school in a black teenage girl with a jet black Sharpie to discipline him for breaking the dress code, according to a lawsuit filed by his parents.

Dante Trice and Angela Washington filed suit on Sunday against the Pearland Independent School District, Berry Miller Junior High School Principal Tony Barcelona, ​​Disciplinary Clerk Helen Day and Professor Jeanette Peterson. The three school officials are white, depending on the costume.

The suit says that their son, identified as the 13-year-old, was in seventh grade when, on April 16, he had a "faded haircut with a drawing line". The pictures show that the fade lines looked like an M.

"The haircut did not represent anything violent, gang-related, obscene or otherwise offensive or inappropriate in any way." JT did not believe that the haircut violated any school policy, "said the prosecution.

But the next morning, Barcelona, ​​then principal assistant, went to J.T. and told him to go to the discipline office because he was "out of the dress code."

Day gave J.T. the choice of suspension in the school, which would make him miss classes and could affect his position on the athletics team, or the color of the line on his scalp

He had never been in trouble before and he did not want to "be suspended for the first time from his academic record and be sidelined," says the trial.

And so, "under great duress", he chose to color his head, said the suit. His parents were not contacted while their numbers were readily available at school.

As Barcelona watched, Day began to color J.T.'s scalp with black jet marker, said the trial. The teacher, Peterson, finally stopped at the desk and finished his work. The three staffers made fun of the fading of J.T.'s haircut, as his parents claimed.

"The black marks did not cover the line of the pattern of the haircut but made the pattern more visible, which was obvious to those present at the very beginning of the process of blackening the scalp," said the combination.

J. T. found the process "very offensive," the prosecution said. "It is widely accepted among scholars and the general public that representing African Americans with jet-black skin is a negative racial stereotype."

The Sharpie ink did not escape JT's head for days and other students were laughing at him. One student described him as "thug", while others made him meme subject, causing him "mental anguish," the prosecution said.

J.T. also suffered from anxiety and depression after the incident, according to the suit, which claims monetary damages.

J.T.'s mother had tried to call and contact the District Superintendent by e-mail, but she had never heard him. His lawyer then sent a letter asking the three involved staff to take training. Nobody answered.

"Due to lack of training, inadequate policies, lack of discipline of employees, inability to return or reassign defendants, and tendency to racial discrimination, JT is likely to undergo new acts to discriminate against Pearland's ISD, "said the prosecutor. I said.

Barcelona, ​​Day and Peterson did not respond to requests for comments on Monday. The Pearland Independent School District said in a statement that the district "has not yet received notice of the lawsuit" apart from information provided by the media. "Upon receipt, it will be reviewed by our legal counsel.No other comments will be provided at the moment," said the statement.

A statement from the district in April reiterated the school's dress code, which stated: "The hair must be clean, clean and well-coiffed, and extreme hairstyles such as carvings, mohawks, spikes, etc. are not allowed. "

But the district said "fill the shape of the haircut with a marker … is not tolerated by the district and does not correspond to the appropriate measures for violations of the dress code".

The administrator who "mismanaged the disciplinary measures" was put on administrative leave. It is difficult to know which administrator the statement referred to. Barcelona was promoted to school principal at the end of the 2018-19 school year.

The Pearland Independent School District also changed its dress code at the end of the school year to "identify and eliminate any perceived insensitivity to racial, cultural and religious roots," according to the district. The restrictions on fade haircuts have been removed.