School Bans Student from Homecoming Because of Dreadlocks
Vicksburg, Miss., high school student Patrick Richardson (pictured above) will be banned from attending any of his school's homecoming festivities unless he chops off his dreadlocks.
High school officials did not mince words when they told the young man that keeping his dreads would result in his being unable to escort his best friend and junior class maid Sa'shia Jones to homecoming. According to Richardson, the principal told him to cut his dreads after he had just paid for a tux fitting to attend the event that was only a week away:
"When I decided to grow my hair, that's what I wanted to do. I thought my hair was acceptable, but my principal told me that homecoming was of a higher standard and that dreads are not acceptable."
Richardson has been growing his dreads since last October, and now they're about eight inches long. He had actually planned on braiding his hair and pulling it back for Friday's long-anticipated affair.
Tammi Mason (pictured above), the 16-year-old's mother, is highly disturbed that her son's decision to express himself culturally is being totally disregarded. She is also angry that the money he paid for the tux fitting will not be refunded. Mason told WLBT News:
"It's actually a form of discrimination to me, because if that's the case then everybody who's fat shouldn't be able to be in it on the court. They could say anything. Actually they could say you have to be a size 10 to be one of the maids," said Mason.
Another parent of a child who attends the high school, Lynda Jackson, is also upset that her son De-Marcus is also banned from escorting a sophomore maid because he, too, sports dreads.
Vicksburg School Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Swinford upholds the high school's decision to ban dreadlocks from Friday's homecoming ceremonies, although she admits that there is no written policy regarding dreads. Still she says that there is a practice that does not allow the hairstyle on the homecoming court.
School officials are now looking into drafting a written policy that would uphold the dreadlocks ban at homecoming.
Meanwhile, ticked off moms Mason and Jackson may be seeking legal counsel, although it is too late to at this stage to help their sons gain entry into this year's homecoming.
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