To wonder how a school could get this so wrong

[Hingeandbracket]

And not admit it.
www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/newsbeat-45521094
I am not quick to shout racist but this seems pretty clear cut.

Also not all hair is the same so not all Afro hair will hold in plaits. Mixed Race hair can vary hugely. A school can not dictate that children can only have short styles which effectively they did. The family said in radio interview that her hair was too short to tie back and although the school admitted this, they did not give any solutions other than straightening hair or putting it in tights.

One of the many, many, many things MN has taught me over the years is the disproportionate amount of time and effort black and mixed race women have to put in, in order to meet current social expectations. Really? My mixed race daughter learned to look after her hair at an early age and it takes minutes.

Thanks for the links, Oulu
The Telegraph's behind a paywall, but if the claim in the Mail's correct the school must have been quite mad. If something's required then surely you require it of everyone ... what you don't do is single out just one race for comment (unless I suppose you have a perverse enjoyment of seeing the school's name in the papers )

@1forsorrow You know mixed race people don't all ways have the same hair? Even if they are related so are the same ethnic mix.

ColaFreezePop, funnily enough I do, that was why I questioned a post that told us that disproportionate amount of time and effort black and mixed race women have to put in, in order to meet current social expectations. because as you and I realise that might be true for some black and mixed race women but of course it isn't true for them all because as you so rightly say they don't always have the same hair. So it would be correct to say that some black and mixed race women have to spend a disproportionate........ not all of them.

@1forsorrow the natural hair movement started in the 2000s. So while some black women like me have learnt to ignore social pressure on our hair, others haven't.

It isn't helped by their parents and grandparents who still have memories of being discriminated against if their hair wasn't "acceptable". Two of my older sisters when they started working were discriminated against in the workplace which included their hair. One still has hang ups about hair so put loads of time and effort into her hair there as the other does her hair because she likes certain styles.

Puzzledandpissedoff, you can register for free access to the Telegraph on a limited basis. However, essentially it reports the same as the other article.

Thanks for the tip, Judy - I did try that, but having registered for a free "trial" before it won't let me do it again!!

As you say, though, it seemed to have been pretty well covered by the dreaded Mail

The school is racist and only have themselves to blame. GOOD they got fined- maybe it will teach them a lesson not to be so ignorant and discriminatory.

The school is racist and only have themselves to blame. GOOD they got fined- maybe it will teach them a lesson not to be so ignorant and discriminatory.

You will find even as I type, the record of the incident is melting like arctic ice. With no court ruling against the school, they did nothing wrong (and people need to be careful if they suggest they did). The Google takedown notices will be flying, and all will be polished nicely in time for the catalogues prospectuses for next years intake to be sent out.

I'd bet money that the £8,500 is listed as "misc expenses" in the Diocese accounts, so no heads (in all senses of the word) need roll.

I doubt it since the school have had to fairly prominently reference this on their website!

And the case was supported and funded by the EHRC.

Happily, Ruby has done very well in her GCSEs

I doubt it since the school have had to fairly prominently reference this on their website!

Give it a few months.

Never underestimate the "We've never had any complaints before" tactic deployed by big organisations to intimidate people and stifle debate.

A lot of white privilege on this thread and just goes to show that schools here are only really geared for white beauty standards.
I don’t have an afro but do have ‘tribal’ Indian hair which grows out in a similar way only without the body or shape so called ‘medusa hair’. It takes me 1 hour to straighten it enough so I can scrape it into a ponytail. I imagine Ruby would need to chemically treat and scrape it back which causes the same type of damage as bleaching hair.

A lot of white privilege on this thread and just goes to show that schools here are only really geared for white beauty standards.

Presumably there are beauty salons somewhere that are geared up for teaching ?

I am white caucasian and I have naturally VERY curly hair - it is as big as hers in her school ID photo there. It could be tied back just about but is actually really quite short so it just sticks up and out in ringlets. technically their rule wouldn't have applied to me!

When I was at school (admittedly predominantly white kids) there were plenty of occasions where someone couldn't see the board because someone taller was in front or whatever. We half stood, craned necks, waggled heads around; in dire circumstances we'd arrange with the person to swap seats. I don't really see why blocking the view of the white board couldn't have been dealt with simply and without fuss as it has always been for decades, if not centuries.

I think the school were very stupid.

Never underestimate the "We've never had any complaints before" tactic deployed by big organisations to intimidate people and stifle debate

Absolutely this ^^

Really? My mixed race daughter learned to look after her hair at an early age and it takes minutes.

I find that quite sad. Nobody would expect a white girl of 3-8 to completely do her own hair yet many mixed race girls have no choice because their parents either don’t want / can’t help them (or afford to buy in people who can).

My kids were forced to wear their hair in plaits or a pony tail, how is that different? If school rules are tie your hair back why should she be exempt. Hair rules are for safety

This is awful. Would schools not be better off concentrating on more important stuff than hair. The pupils are not in the army FGS. Such a waste of time and effort put in to "enforcing the rules". And yes, totally discriminatory. Schools are so hung up on rules.

My daughter goes to a IMO more enlightened school. No uniform, no rules on appearance - and guess what, they save so much time punishing the pupils, and no, there is no anarchy, just freedom to express themselves and for them all to respect each other, embrace individuality. Appearance becomes an expression of personality and identity. No-one comments on appearance, the only rule is to be respectful to others, which covers everything really. Schools need to come out of the dark ages. But I guess I will get roasted for this opinion on here!

Ps myself and my DD's have crazy wild curly hair, but I adhered to the tie hair back rule

If you look at photos from the 1970's a lot of black women had 'big hair'. It was natural to have it , products to make black hair like white people's hair were not readily available. Ther'es a very good book about a girl's experience actually, and how the focus on her hair affected her self-esteem and identity. I'll see if I can find a link.

My kids were forced to wear their hair in plaits or a pony tail, how is that different?
Did you ever wonder why they were forced to do that?

If school rules are tie your hair back why should she be exempt.
It's not fair if it's imposing a ridiculously difficult burden on some students just because of how their hair naturally grows.

Hair rules are for safety
What do you consider was unsafe about Ruby's hair? Even the school didn't try this line.

Clearly and insanely racist. I can't even see how the school thought this could ever be a reasonable rule. It's her natural hair!

@Sarah510 No roasting from me, There seem to be significant numbers of people who insist there should be petty and pointless rules for all sorts of things and that such rules should be blindly followed.

Any thread about ID cards or (as a recent example) a person in their 30s being refused a single pack of paracetamol without proof of age.
All the calls to "ban it" without thinking about how that would actually work.
Glad you have found a school that is more enlightened.