In today’s hypersensitive age, victimization is power and political activism hip, as seen last week in Pasadena, Calif., when high school students walked out of class to protest a ban on do-rags.
Students at John Muir High School took part in a walkout to protest a dress code by the school district that bans head coverings to include do-rags. Making it all about race, the students claim the ban criminalizes young black men and takes away from black culture, according to the Pasadena Star-News.
More than 100 students reportedly participated in the protest, with some chanting, “I am not dangerous.”
Reporter Chris Lindahl was on hand as the walkout unfolded and said in a tweet that students claimed school administrators believe do-rags signify gang culture.
Students say the ban is in place because admin believe durags signify gang culture. But students say durags are a part of black culture and bans unfairly target and criminalize young black men
— Chris Lindahl (@cmlindahl) February 20, 2019
Lindahl quoted Reggie Myles of the Black Student Union in a tweet: “The main reason we’re protesting today is because we’re trying to stop the criminalization of black men on campus.”
Reggie Myles of the Black Student Union: “The main reason we’re protesting today is because we’re trying to stop the criminalization of black men on campus.”
— Chris Lindahl (@cmlindahl) February 20, 2019
Myles, 17, is seen below addressing students.
Reggie Myles, 17, of the @JohnMuirBSU, helps lead a walkout protesting John Muir HS’s ban on #durags @PasStarNews pic.twitter.com/S4sVJRoWIu
— Sarah Reingewirtz (@sarahimages) February 20, 2019
Amid the fluidity of gender among today’s generation, the students offered what may be a more viable argument, noting a double-standard that allows female students to wear headscarves, according to the paper.
Do-rags, also called wave caps, were popularized by rappers and gangsters as a fashion accessory. The head gear, when worn while sleeping, creates and protects a wavy, curl pattern hairstyle.
John Muir HS students walkout to protest the school’s ban on #durags. Black Student Union students say the school tells them durags perpetuate gang culture but they say it unfairly continues the criminalization of black men. Durags are used to create #360WAVE hairstyle. #durag pic.twitter.com/xFEBb7wrPU
— Sarah Reingewirtz (@sarahimages) February 20, 2019
Yet, students see the banning of do-rags as an affront to their culture and ethnicity
“They’re trying to take away who we our — our culture,” one student says.
— Chris Lindahl (@cmlindahl) February 20, 2019
Never mind that the Pasadena Unified School District’s dress code does not single out do-rags in saying that “hats, caps and other head coverings shall not be worn indoors.”
Principal Lawton Gray denied that the ban had anything to do with do-rags being seen as gang-related apparel.
“The administration’s feeling is that, once again, do-rags are not to be worn at school,” he told the Star-News. “It does not have to do with gang affiliation. It has to do with the values we have for how we present ourselves at school.”
Gray added that the time to wear a do-rag to protect waves is when you’re asleep.
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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