Narvie J. Harris Traditional Theme School in Decatur, Georgia is facing backlash for their display showing “inappropriate” and “appropriate” hairstyles — with all black models.
What We Know:
- The poster was taken down Thursday, but beauty salon owner Danay Wadlington, who is from the nearby city of Duluth, uploaded the now-viral photo to Facebook on Aug. 1.
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She told NBC News on Monday that she also posted the photo (with now more than 4,000 shares on Facebook) on Instagram and Twitter. It was sent to her by a client, whose child goes to the school (the client did not want to be identified). The children’s faces were shielded by yellow Post-It notes so it is unclear if they were students at the school, which has an almost entirely black student population.
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“It wouldn’t have been so bad had they included other races, but the fact that those are all little black faces and those are traditional black hairstyles, makes it worse,” Wadlington said. “They already have them wearing uniforms, why not let them have some individuality with their hair.”
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According to the poster, designs etched into a male student’s hair were “inappropriate,” while cuts featuring hair evenly across the head were deemed acceptable. The wearing of hair barrettes by female students was also labeled “inappropriate.”
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“This type of display of cultural insensitivity is due to a lack of oversight, accountability, professional decorum and quite frankly, care and concern for the social and emotional impact of black children by this school’s leadership and PTA,” Atlanta educator Jason Allen stated.
- The school is in the DeKalb County School District, Georgia’s third-largest school system, which has nearly 102,000 students.
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Despite the display, Dekalb County School District officials told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that this display was not representative of its grooming policy. “The images depicted in this post in no way reflect a policy regarding appearance,” officials said in a statement. “This was a miscommunication at the school level and is being handled by school leadership. Nontraditional schools at (the DeKalb County School District) sometimes have the option to enforce dress code and style standards.” They did not say who created the display.
Hoping the school learns from this giant mistake.
