Setback For Black Student In Hair Discrimination Case Against Texas School

A judge denied the request of student Darryl George for a restraining order against Barbers Hill Independent School District.

U.S. District Judge Jeffery Brown denied Black high school student Darryl George’s request for a restraining order against Barbers Hill Independent School District.

The Texas teenager’s legal battle over his hairstyle is ongoing, and the order would have shielded him from punishment if he returned to school with his dreadlock hairstyle.

According to NBC DFW, the 19-year-old George, now a senior, spent the majority of his junior year serving in-school suspension (ISS) over his hair, which officials argued had the potential to violate their dress code against shoulder length or earlobe length hair if he wore it down or it were to fall down. Brown denied George’s request, saying that the teenager and his lawyers waited too long to file their petition.

George’s request for a restraining order followed Brown’s dismissal of most of George’s claims in a federal lawsuit against the school district officials which claimed that they committed racial and gender discrimination against George in August.

Although Brown allowed the gender discrimination claim to stand, in his denial of George’s request, he also indicated that he believes the district will win in the remaining claim on the lawsuit.

The district has defended its dress code, saying that it teaches students “grooming and hygiene, instill(s) discipline, prevent(s) disruption, avoid(s) safety hazards and teach(es) respect for authority.”

Meanwhile, George’s lawyers argued in the federal lawsuit that the school’s dress code violated the CROWN Act, a Texas state law that prohibited race-based discrimination of hair, but a state judge ruled in February that the district’s punishment did not violate the CROWN Act.

According to the Houston Chronicle, George left the district because he did not want to endure another year of ISS.

As Allie Booker, George’s attorney, told the outlet, “After just two days of school, Darryl was placed in ISS and told he’d have to spend another year there,” Booker said. “This led to an emotional breakdown and we couldn’t keep sending him back. He had no choice but to withdraw, but he’s not giving up on returning.”

Booker continued, “His mother sacrifices every day to get him to and from Sterling High School and while we’re grateful to Sterling for accepting him, it’s not where he wants to be. We won’t stop fighting until he’s back at Barbers Hill. His mother made significant sacrifices to move to the neighborhood specifically for the school and the education it offers.”

Dylan Drummond, another of George’s attorneys, told the Chronicle that he eventually expects the case to end up before the Texas Supreme Court after alleging that the school district has a “long and documented history of discriminatory and retaliatory treatment of its Black male students.”

Drummond continued, “This is our final brief at the intermediate appellate stage. I say that because, given the district’s super-litigious track record, I expect this case to eventually wind up before SCOTX (Supreme Court of Texas).”