School responds to public pressure after banning braids and afro puffs
By Naturally Moi
Black women love their hair as much as they love their men, their money or anything else. So, one of the worst things that anyone can do is to try to squash the freedom of expression that comes with allowing a woman to decide what hairstyle she’s going to end up “sportin” on any particular day.
But a school in Ohio did just that. Horizon Science Academy caused an uproar on the Internet by sending home a letter effectively banning natural hairstyles, especially small braids and afro puffs.
The fury from the decision by the school led to a huge backlash online, and the school sought to scramble and clean up the mess. After all, natural hair is Black hair in it’s natural form. So, telling Black girls that they can’t come to school with their hair in its natural form is another way of simply saying that you’re not good enough the way God made you. That’s a no-no.
School responds
In the letter, the school show-ed that it respects the controversy and those who are concerned:
“This information has offended many people and by no means did we have any intention towards any of our students,” the letter said.
The author of the letter remains relatively anonymous, surely to keep the backlash from falling onto any one individual. But the letter goes on to vaguely indicate that the school is taking the matter seriously and that they are going to do something about it. But they don’t exactly mention what they are going to do. But the school did invite the public to submit questions about the dress code, and said that they would be releasing a full version of the updated dress code soon. Hopefully, they will remove the ban on afro puffs, since an afro puff never hurt anybody.
