Black Lee Co. High School students kept after class for ‘unkempt’ hair, mother says

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - A group of Lee County High School students were told by a substitute teacher that their hairstyles looked “unkempt.”

The “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair” Act, better known as the Crown Act, is meant to protect against race-based hair discrimination. The Crown Act has been passed by 21 states but Georgia is not one of them.

Hairstyles that include, but are not limited to braids, locs, and curly afros, are all protected by the Crown Act. One of the styles gaining the most controversy recently is dreadlocks as a teenager in Texas was suspended from school because of them.

Now, a Lee County parent is outraged by her son being discriminated against by a substitute teacher for his hairstyle choice.

“It looks really bad. Its bad for optics that you called out 4 or 5 little black boys in your class to talk to them about their appearance and their hair,” Kerri Davis, mother of the Lee County High School student, said.

Although disappointed in the overall incident, Davis commends Lee County High School on the actions they took to rectify the situation.

”I think the school did an excellent job as far as reaching out and letting the parents know exactly what had happened.” she said.

Lee County School System released a statement that reads:

“Lee County Schools subcontracts their substitute teachers through a third-party company called ESS. Substitutes are not school system employees. After learning of the incident today immediate administrative action was taken. The actions of the ESS employee were unwarranted and unacceptable and do not reflect the values and beliefs of the Lee County School System.”

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