UPDATE: Vanessa VanDyke Can Keep Her Natural Hair But… | HelloBeautiful.
I am so tired of schools trying to regulate the hair of little black girls. The latest expulsion case is of Vanessa Vandyke who attends Faith Christian Academy in Orlando, Fl.
Apparently, in addition to a standard dress code policy, this school also has a policy on proper hair styling. The school administrator had this to say ““I am going to strongly encourage you to consider the school’s request and at least shape or have her hair cut. That I believe would resolve the issue.””
The issue of Vanessa’s hair came up when she reported to school officials that she had been experiencing bulling due to her hair. The school’s response was to in turn expel Vanessa rather than correct the students who were bullying her.
Again another school system fails to focus on what is truly important, that is educating today’s youth rather than showing them first hand the post racial injustice facing all people of color.
Vanessa Vandyke like many African American women today wears her hair the way it grows out of her head and she or no other black girl should have to tame her hair for the sake of making others around her more comfortable. Gone are the days where African Americans bowed and curtseyed to massa’. I applaud Vanessa’s mother for not bowing under the pressure of an unjust school administration.
Reblogged this on Naptrually Beautiful and commented:
I love my hair and I wish someone would tell me that I need to change it or straighten it to do anything. My natural is BEYOND beautiful and so is her’s. I am glad that she didn’t change and isn’t willing to change.
The school should not have expelled her but…. I hope she was not going to school with her hair the way it is in that picture. I am 100% for black females being free to wear their hair natural, and I’ve said so on my own blog. But in a school or work environment, natural hair can still be worn, but in a way that is neat, tidy, and not attention grabbing. I mean anyone could get up from bed, and not bother to brush or do anything with their hair and then claim that they are just wearing their hair in their natural state, and therefore no one should say anything at school/work. But that little girl’s hair could have been put in a bun, corn-rowed, twisted… the possibilities for neat and simple hairstyles are endless.