Black parents forced to shave son’s head because of objections to his hairstyle

Parents of a five-year-old kindergarten student have accused their son’s Catholic school of racial discrimination after his mother was asked to take him home because of his ‘distracting’ haircut.

In December, Jalyn Broussard, who was one of five African-American students at Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Belmont, California, was excited to show off his ‘modern fade’ haircut, where his hair was longer in the middle and shorter on the sides. However, 30 minutes into the school day, Jalyn’s mother Mariana was asked to pick him up because his hairstyle was in violation of the school’s policy.

But according to Mrs Broussard, other white and Asian students were wearing similar hairstyles without ever being reprimanded. And the Broussard family have since filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

Mrs Broussard noted that school principal Teri Grosey had complimented Jalyn and his brother Noah, who had shaved his entire head, on their new haircuts that morning before she was asked to take her younger son home.

After receiving the call from Immaculate Heart of Mary School about Jalyn’s haircut, Mrs Broussard told Yahoo that she ‘looked online and reread the haircut policy to make sure we were talking about the same language’.

And while the school’s handbook banned extreme hairstyles including hair dye, highlights, extensions, faux hawks, tails and spiking, among other things, Mrs Broussard did not believe Jalyn’s haircut was disobeying the policy.

When she called Mrs Grosey, who maintained that Jalyn’s hair was similar to a faux hawk, which is forbidden, Mrs Broussard explained that her son’s hair is short, neat and tapered – as required by school policy.

Mrs Broussard requested that Jalyn be allowed to stay in school for the day; Mrs Grosey relented but allegedly told the mom: ‘In these situations, it is best that the child be removed from the school environment so that he does not unduly influence the student body.’

The concerned mother said Jalyn left school that day feeling self-conscious about his haircut because all of the other kids were talking about it. Despite them disagreeing with Mrs Grosey, Mr and Mrs Broussard shaved Jalyn’s head so he would be able to attend a Christmas concert that night and his class holiday party the next day.

More at the DailyMail