An African-American girl in Louisiana was banned from classes at a Christian school because her “unnatural” hair extensions are against the rules. A new hairstyle didn’t satisfy school bosses and her parents removed the child.
An Instagram video that has gone viral shows the girl packing up and leaving Christ the King Parish School with her parents after she was reportedly told her braided extensions were “unnatural,” WGNO reports.
The girl, whose name and age have not been revealed, was reportedly sent away as the school does not tolerate anything other than “natural” hair. According to American writer and civil rights activist Shaun King, who posted the video to his social media account, the school said the girl’s hairstyle is not in breach of their handbook but that they made a new rule this summer “to prohibit it.”
“The new hairstyle was still not in compliance with the new hairstyle policy,” said Archdiocese Catholic Schools Superintendent RaeNell Billiot Houston.
“At that point the parent made the decision to remove her child from the school.” The video, which now boasts more than 130k views, was picked up by King.
Blasting the school’s treatment for “humiliating and removing” the girl because of her hair, he said: “Let's be clear - this is Christianity as White Supremacy."
It is the second time in less than a week that a black kid has faced what could be discrimination at a US Christian school over issues with hair.
A six-year-old boy from Florida was banned from attending his first day of class last week unless he cut his dreadlocks, his father said on Facebook.
“My son just got told he could not attend the school with his hair,” Clinton Stanley Sr. said in a Facebook video about his conversation with officials at A Book’s Christian Academy near Orlando last Monday morning.
Stanley eventually withdrew his son from the school as he could not come to terms with the school’s long-standing short-hair policy.