A six-year-old boy was barred from his school on the first day because of his hair. In a video shot by his father, C.J. Stanley, Jr, a student at A Book’s Christian Academy in Apopka, Florida, can be seen getting stopped from attending class on the first day of school because of his dreadlocks. The video went viral after social justice warrior Shaun King shared the video on social media.
C.J. can be seen dressed properly for school in a button-down shirt and pants, but he was denied because teachers said that his hair was too long.
His father can be heard in the video holding back emotion as he tries not to react to the disappointing stance and decision from his son’s school and teachers.
“I respect their rules, but it’s not right,” said Clinton Stanley Sr. “Allow kids to come as they are. You are a Christian school. In the Bible it says, come as you are. You deny a kid an education on his hair?”
“No dreads,” A Book’s Christian Academy administrator Sue Book responded. “All of our boys have short hair. We don’t allow it. We never have.”
The six-year-old is now attending a public school.
You can see the entire interaction between C.J. senior and the school administrators and teachers below.
This is absolutely infuriating.
This sharp young Black boy, clean as ever, gets kicked out of school because he has dreads.
His father rightfully struggles to maintain his emotions at the disappointment of it all. pic.twitter.com/WOpUGLqg8l
— Shaun King (@shaunking) August 15, 2018
Book has since said that she is receiving “unfair backlash” from outraged parents who believe the school’s policy against dreadlocks is racist. There have even been negative Yelp reviews posted online, with one reading: “Discriminatory practices towards children of color due to their *hair.* You couldn’t PAY ME to send my child there.”
