Captain Sharifi Senior High School student in Louisiana, Asia Simo, 17, loves American football, but she was expelled for a very trivial reason, as her family says her hair was too thick relative to the standard of hair size required by the player on the team, and she says Her mother, Rosalind Callaway, said that Asia was eventually dismissed from the team, although that was not a problem in previous years.
The Asia story is part of a larger trend across the United States, where more and more black students say they are only being punished for the form of their hair. Experts say the problem lies with school policies, which do not necessarily take into account the increasing ethnic diversity among students, often hurting black schoolchildren. Similar incidents occurred throughout the country, in Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Texas. In the past few years, these events have attracted the attention of social media and have appeared in media reports.
Punishment of black students in Britain has also increased because of the shape of their hairstyle, and the school system excludes black and mixed students, all over the country, from some activities, because their hair is too short, too long, too prolific, or too full.
"Extreme" haircut
In 2019, five-year-old Josiah Sharp was banned from the stadium at rest and was eventually sent home from school because of his "extreme" haircut. He was eventually allowed to return when his hair grew back to what the school deemed the appropriate length. In 2018 another student at Fulham School for Boys, the school chose him between cutting his hair strands or leaving school, and the school declined only after his mother launched a campaign supported by the Commission for Equality and Human Rights. Recently, student Robby Williams went out of a three-year legal battle with her school in Hackney, where she was repeatedly sent home because her Afro natural hair was preparing against the school's uniform policy.
And the first-ever study of racism in Australian schools revealed that one in three students reported being victims of racial discrimination by their peers. Researchers from the Australian National University and Western Sydney University surveyed 4,600 primary and secondary students in public schools in New South Wales and Victoria about their experiences of racial discrimination in schools. The study confirmed that 40% of students from the fifth to ninth grade levels, from non-Anglo or European backgrounds, reported that they were victims of racial discrimination from their colleagues. Nearly 20% of the indigenous and Torres Strait Islander students reported racial discrimination from their teachers. One in three students from non-Anglo or European backgrounds reported racial discrimination in the wider community. The report's lead author, Assistant Professor Naomi Brest, said the survey provided a first-of-its-kind data point on the spread of racism in Australian schools.
Racism is part of the experience
"I think the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and ethnic minority groups have been telling us for a long time that racism is part of their daily living experience," she told The Guardian Australia.
The survey revealed that 78% of students say they are able to make friends with their peers from a different ethnic background, and most students surveyed said that they would feel comfortable to intervene if they saw a counterpart suffering from racial abuse. While Brest says racial discrimination is a "reflection of the wider community," she stresses that his presence in schools can have an impact on student achievement and development.
Earlier this month, the American Academy of Pediatrics published a paper on the role of racism in the health of children and adolescents, describing it as a "fundamental social determinant of health" and "a source of health inequality", and other results have proven that "the emotional pain caused by racist experiences appears Very similar to the patterns of brain activity caused by physical pain. "Schools are microcosms of the wider community, and of course there are other structural issues," says Brest.
The survey included 55% of students identified as from the Anglo-Celtic or European background (55%), 22% from South, East, or Southeast Asia, 5% from the indigenous population and the Torres Strait Island, 5% from the Middle East, 4% From the Pacific Islands and 3% are Africans. East Asian students reported the highest rate of insults with regard to their names and backgrounds by 44%, while 30% of the indigenous or Torres Strait Islander students surveyed reported that other students spit, push, or beat them based on their race. Among the Anglo-Celtic students, 15% said they were insulted on the basis of their background, while 6% said they were subjected to violence only.
• The results of a study have proven that the emotional pain caused by racist experiences seems very similar to the patterns of brain activity caused by physical pain.
• The first study of its kind on racism in Australian schools revealed that one in three students reported being victims of racial discrimination by their peers.