The same week his state outlawed racial discrimination based on hairstyles, a Black high school student in Texas was suspended because school officials say his dreadlocks violated the district’s dress code. Darryl George wears his hair in thick twisted dreadlocks, tied on top of his head, and therefore his mother says he isn't violating rules about hair length for boys. The incident recalls debates over hair discrimination in schools and the workplace and is testing the state’s newly enacted CROWN Act, which took effect Sept. 1. Employers and schools are barred from penalizing people because of hair texture or protective hairstyles.
