Maddox Cozart, an 11-year-old boy, was given an in-school suspension at Raymond Mays Middle School in Troy, Texas, for wearing his hair braided to celebrate his Black heritage.
Daily News reported that Maddox’s mom, Hope shared that her son had spent more than a week isolated in a cubicle while on campus because he went to school with a braided hairstyle.
However, Mom Dukes will not be silent about her son being punished for having pride in his cultural heritage. She decided to take it up with the school board.
Hope shared on her Facebook page,
“My son got ISS for wearing his hair like this today. They didn’t even send any documentation home because they know how dumb they are for this,”
My son got ISS for wearing his hair like this today 🙄 they didn’t even send any documentation home because they know how dumb they are for this 😒
Posted by Hope Cozart on Monday, April 5, 2021
Upset that the school was discriminating against her son for a hairstyle, Hope told News 6 that having a Black father and a White mother made Maddox and his sisters curious about their African heritage, including braided hairstyles.
She said, “We try to teach our kids about all of their culture. Black, white, Native American, everything.”
“They like to explore their culture. We looked at African tribes and how they braid their hair up. Bantu knots and all the meanings of all that.”
According to Raymond Mays Middle School, the braided hairdo isn’t allowed, and the hairstyle Maddox wore violated a rule in the student handbook that says “4. In grades 2-12, hair: May not be worn in a ponytail, top knot, bun, or similar styles.”
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Waukeen McCoy, the attorney representing the Cozart family, told 6 News that he was giving the school district until noon on Thursday to let Maddox go back to class, or they’d file a complaint with the Texas Education Agency.
McCoy said, “I think that their dress code policies are outdated.”
“There’s a lot of Texas independent school districts that have outdated policies which prevent male students from having ponytails, pigtails, buns. It has no legitimate basis at all. It has nothing to do with educating the students. Clearly, to me, it’s discriminatory to his race and his culture,” he added.
Hope agrees with the lawyer and wishes that the school would realize that times have changed. She said, “Middle school is the hardest years for a lot of kids. For you to single them out because of their hair. That, that’s crazy. Kids should be able to express themselves, and hair does not affect your education.”
In response to an email addressed to Superintendent Neil Jeter, he told 6 News, “It would not be appropriate for me to discuss disciplinary action involving specific students.”
He also shared that the dress code would not be discussed in the school board meeting planned for this week.
Jeter said, “The dress code is not on the April 19 board agenda. The board could take action before the next school year, but there has been no discussion to do so at this time.”
Despite the school board being nonchalant about the issue, the Cozart family isn’t going to let them slide with the discrimination they had against Maddox. The family and their lawyer plan to continue pursuing change in the dress code for boys and girls to showcase their heritage proudly.
