An Ohio school faced intense opposition after an issued dress code update that banned afro puffs and “small twisted braids” last week.
The Lorain Horizon Science Academy in Ohio posted the following information online in regards to the upcoming school year:
“Afro-puffs and small twisted braids, with our [SIC] without rubberbands, are NOT permitted.”
While it remained unclear on exactly what the administration meant by “small, twisted braids,” many in the community were concerned that this restricted box braids, a protective hairstyle that has been worn for generations. In addition, afro-puffs, as has been mentioned by multiple blogs and commenters including BGLH.com, are the “black version of the ponytail (when pulled back our hair puffs out instead of laying down”>, and yet the rules do not have a ban on ponytails for students of other ethnicities.”
As of June 21st, after a viral dialogue of sorts that spread the message of the dress code across the internet, involving many natural hair communities, the school has lifted the ban.
Focusing on their lack of intention to offend, the school stated:
“In the dress code information packet, a statement was made about not allowing a certain hairstyle. This information has offended many people and by no means did we have any intention of creating bias towards any of our students. We truly apologize for this mistake and want to thank everyone for their feedback about the information.”
In addition, the school posted that they have undertaken efforts to ensure that this never occurs again and that there will be a new dress code handbook issued in the coming weeks.
Keep an eye on this one. It seems that the situation is solved, but nothing will be proven until the final copy of the dress code is released. In the meantime, be sure to read through your entire copy of the dress code for your child’s school and as always, support the natural hair movement and those standing up for injustices.
When young girls are given the power to accept themselves for who they are and see beauty is every aspect of their natural selves, they will excel. Let’s ensure that happens.
