The Wake County School Board will vote to welcome and protect students using natural black hairstyles

Growing up in Thomasville, North Carolina, Monika Johnson-Hostler remembers how some of her classmates made her feel uncomfortable about her hair.

Currently, as vice president of the Wake County Public School Board, she supports the efforts of the state’s largest school district to combat discrimination against black people.

Dreadlocks, Afros and other natural hairstyles will not only be protected from discrimination in Wake County schools, but will be embraced, Johnston-Hostler said.

“The anecdotes are pretty simple – parents feel like their kids are being discriminated against because of their hairstyle and are asking them to change or move their hair, when most people don’t understand our style,” Johnston-Hostler told WUNC.

Last week, the Wake County School Board’s policy committee added new language to its student dress code and anti-discrimination policy, impacting both students and staff.

The school board will give a first reading of the updated policy documents at its meeting Tuesday afternoon before voting on them.

“It highlights a culture where students can say, ‘I feel supported,’” Johnson-Hostler said. “They can feel supported knowing that if they experience discrimination, they can report it and that there are policies and protections in place to help them address their experiences.”

According to Johnson-Hostler, the school board’s curriculum committee unanimously supported the measure, all but ensuring approval by the entire board.

The language changes in Wake County policy stem from the statewide CROWN Act movement, which stands for “Creating a Respectful and Inclusive World for Natural Hair.”

The movement promotes state-level legislation to protect black and brown people – mostly women – from discrimination based on the way they style their hair.

“By enshrining non-discrimination protections, our policies also allow students to feel seen, heard and supported,” Johnson-Hostler said.

New language has been added to the student dress code that clearly supports the CROWN Act.

“Students are free to choose their hairstyles, short, long, shaved, braided, curly, twisted, knotted or other,” the updated policy reads.

“Specifically, schools must allow protective hairstyles, whether natural or cultural, including, but not limited to, hairstyles such as braids, dreadlocks, locs, twists, tight curls or braids, Bantu knots, afros, gels, and other culturally expressive hair bands or headbands on head.”

According to Julie Crain, the school district’s director of strategy and policy, the school board has made changes to proposed policy documents that will be read by the full board tomorrow.

According to a 2021 Dove-CROWN study, 86% of Black teens who have experienced discrimination say they experienced discrimination based on hair by age 12.

In the study, all black elementary school girls in majority-white schools reported experiencing a “hairstyle mistake” and discrimination by the age of 10.

In 2021, Durham Public Schools adopted the CROWN Act nondiscrimination policy.

The governments of Wake, Durham, Orange and Mecklenburg counties, as well as Raleigh, Durham, Carrboro and Greensboro, have also adopted this policy.

The Raleigh News & Observer reports that there has been no progress in the General Assembly on enacting the CROWN Act into state law.