Legislation would bar hair rules in school
Braids, dreadlocks, cornrows couldn’t be disallowed
When state Sen. Mike Simmons learned about Gus “Jett” Hawkins, a 4-year-old Chicago boy who was told to take out his braids due to his West Side school’s dress code, it sparked memories of his own childhood.
The rookie lawmaker, a North Side Democrat who now wears his hair in free form locs, said he has encountered societal challenges with styling his hair throughout his life.
Simmons is sponsoring legislation that would prohibit schools from issuing policies on hairstyles including those traditionally associated with race and ethnicity such as braids, dreadlocks and cornrows.
The bill passed the Senate on May 12 and is in the hands of the House, which would have to pass it before the General Assembly’s scheduled May 31 adjournment.
Simmons said for him, the legislation represents “the tip of the iceberg” of the challenges that young Black people face both in school and in interactions with law enforcement.
“We’re living through the Black Lives Matter movement right now, and I think as a country we’re rising up and trying to turn the page on a lot of injustices that fall on Black people,” he said. “This is ground zero for that.”
Jett, a student at Providence St. Mel in Garfield Park, had asked his mother, Ida Nelson, to braid his hair in early March, she said. He went off to school excited to show off his new hairstyle to teachers and friends.
Nelson said she got a call the next day from Providence St. Mel informing her that the braids were against the school dress code. As she took the braids out of Jett’s hair, Nelson said she couldn’t help but cry.
“I thought that it would be fun to allow him to explore a hairstyle that he specifically wanted and picked out,” Nelson said. “He should not be concerned, and nor should anyone else be concerned, about how he wears his hair. He’s 4.”
Nelson said Jett now associates wearing braids with “getting into trouble.”
Simmons said growing up, he was constantly receiving messages that there was something wrong with Black hair.
“It’s rooted in this respectability politics that says that for Black people to succeed, we have to conform to these really silly stereotypes,” he said, “We need to wear our hair a certain length, walk a certain way and when we speak, don’t speak too loudly. All of this is set up so as not to be perceived as a threat by others.”
Simmons refrained from wearing his hair long in high school because he felt the pressure to conform. When his mother did braid his hair as a child, it was family members who expressed concern that it would get him into trouble.
“My response now is I don’t want families to have that second-guessing, selfdoubt and self-policing.
I don’t want anybody to have to go through that,” Simmons said.
If Simmons’ bill gets through the House and is signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, enforcement would be up to the Illinois State Board of Education. Simmons said each year Illinois schools are required to update their handbooks, which ISBE would audit for “any discriminatory or policing language on Black hairstyles.”
The bill faced some pushback from Senate Republicans who expressed concerns that it pertains to all Illinois schools — including private schools such as Providence St. Mel. Simmons, a graduate of Catholic schools, said he doesn’t see that as an issue.
“I think it’s important when we do human rights legislation like this that it be broadly applicable to all institutions of learning,” he said.
The senator said the high level of societal scrutiny that Black hair undergoes oftentimes feels like an “obsession.”
“I don’t mind it so much personally, but what I won’t tolerate as a state senator is watching that type of obsession rear its ugly head in institutional policies ... where it can really threaten people’s livelihood and in this case, traumatize a 4-year-old child,” he said.
Like Simmons, Nelson said she grew up adjusting her hairstyle in an effort to assimilate. She recalled being called for a job interview shortly after having faux locs installed.
She ended up taking the hairstyle out, worried it could cost her an opportunity.
“I felt horrible for doing that. I felt like I wasn’t being brave,” she said. “But I took the different route and said I couldn’t risk them not hiring me just because of my hair when I am the primary breadwinner for my family.”
Following that incident, Nelson vowed to encourage her children to express themselves through their hair however they wanted.
“I’m trying to teach them early what I learned late: That you are beautiful. Your skin is beautiful. Your tight curls are absolutely amazing. It’s perfect. You have good hair,” she said.
Jett’s experience has already brought at least one change. Providence St. Mel Principal Tim Ervin said Friday the school has “listened, learned and adjusted.” The school will remove the hairstyle policy from the handbook effective in the 2021-22 school year.
“The original intent was part of the uniform decorum and protecting our students,” said Ervin who is Black. “The purpose was not to stifle anyone or to be discriminatory.”
Nelson expressed hope for more widespread acceptance.
“I would love for there to be a change, not only in the rules, but in the culture that allows this to exist for so long,” Nelson said. “I would love for people to ask themselves, ‘Why do we even care about how someone wears their hair? Why are you so offended by blackness or any representation of blackness?’ “