Mass. Charter School Sends Multiple Black Students to Detention & Bans Them From Prom Because of Braids

According to The Boston Globe, Black female students at Mystic Valley charter school, located in Malden, Massachusetts, are facing detention and suspension by administrators that say their braiding hairstyles violate the school’s dress code.

The girls seen above are Deanna and Mya Cook, twin 15-year-olds that have GPA’s well over 3.0, just in high school. Colleen Cook, the mother of the twins spoke out about the dress code, but the twins aren’t the only students to be punished. Two other mothers have  said that their kids have also been punished because of their braids.

“They teach them at a very high academic level and I appreciate that,” says Colleen. “And that’s why they go to the school. But unfortunately, they don’t have any sensitivity to diversity at all. They marched black and biracial children down the hall and inspected their hair,”

Mystic Valley is defending their actions by stating that its rules are meant to promote education rather than style, fashion and materialism—thus reducing visible gaps among those of different means.

“One important reason for our students’ success is that we purposefully promote equity by focusing on what unites our students and reducing visible gaps between those of different means,” the school said in a statement, according to the Globe. “Our policies, including those governing student appearance and attire, foster a culture that emphasizes education rather than style, fashion, or materialism. Our policy on hair extensions, which tend to be very expensive, is consistent with, and a part of, the educational environment that we believe is so important to our students’ success.”

After two weeks of daily detention for refusing to take down their braids, the girls were told they could not attend the prom and were removed from their sports teams according to their mother. Colleen who, is white and adopted the twins along with their three other siblings, said that the braided hair “gives them pride. They want to partake in their culture.”

According to Kathy Granderson, her biracial daughter, Jaden, was one of about 20 girls taken to the administrator’s office last week and asked whether their braids had any “fake” hair. Granderson said that half the girls ended up in detention, but her daughter did not.

“This is not right, and you have to take a stand for your children,” Granderson said. “I don’t want my daughter and son [to] think they aren’t good enough.”

Lauren Kayondo, 15, was initially told that she would have to serve detention, but when she refused to take out her braids this week, she was suspended, her mother, Annette Namuddu, told the Globe.

“It’s discrimination,” Namuddu said. “I see white kids with colored hair, and you are not supposed to color your hair, and they walk around like it’s nothing.” Namuddu, who feels that the school is picking on black children, said that Lauren has been returning home from school in tears.

“My daughter is a good student. Never gets in trouble,” Namuddu said. “Lauren was having difficulty in mathematics, but they should be helping her out instead of putting her in detention.”