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MISSION, Kan. — A Kansas grade college compelled an 8-year-old Native American boy to chop off his hair after he grew it out for cultural causes, the American Civil Liberties Union mentioned.
In a letter despatched Friday, the ACLU demanded that the Girard College District rescind a coverage on the elementary college that bars lengthy hair for boys, alleging it violates state and federal legal guidelines.
The boy, who’s member of the Wyandotte Nation, attended an annual tribal gathering geared towards youngsters over the summer time. He noticed many males with lengthy hair and was impressed to undertake the frequent cultural observe of chopping hair solely when mourning the lack of a liked one, in keeping with the ACLU.
However in August, college officers informed him that he wanted to chop his hair to adjust to the gown code, the ACLU mentioned. His mom went to the college in September and defined that he grew out his hair for cultural causes and provided to point out documentation of his tribal affiliation. The ACLU mentioned she was informed there have been no exemptions.
The assistant principal then emailed the mom on a Friday, telling her she had till the next Monday to get her son’s hair minimize or he could be despatched residence.
Unable to achieve the superintendent, she minimize her son’s hair over that September weekend, satisfied it was the one strategy to preserve him at school. However she mentioned it brought on him misery as a result of it violated his religious custom.
The superintendent, Todd Ferguson, mentioned in an e-mail that he can’t focus on particular person college students, households or workers due to confidentiality legal guidelines. However he added that the board of training would overview the gown code coverage throughout a December assembly.
“Nothing issues greater than making a protected, respectful and caring college for each pupil,” he mentioned.
The ACLU’s letter mentioned the nation’s historical past of “multifaceted efforts to separate Native American youngsters from their households and tribes and to disclaim them their rights of cultural and spiritual expression” makes this significantly problematic.
It famous that Native American youngsters typically had their hair minimize once they had been positioned in boarding faculties, which systematically abused college students to assimilate them into white society.
The letter mentioned there isn’t any reliable motive for imposing the requirement, noting that women are allowed to have lengthy hair. The coverage additionally promotes “inflexible views of gender norms and roles,” the letter mentioned.
Girard has a inhabitants of round 2,500 and is positioned about 115 miles (185 kilometers) south of Kansas Metropolis.
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