Are hair rules black and white?

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Every society needs rules, or life would be chaotic in situations when you have to second guess the validation of rights. Yet, does freedom of expression infringe on uniformity?

The reported incident involving a Ardenne High School student, where it is alleged the student wore untrimmed hair to school and was barred from attending class, raises the question of blurring the boundary between rules and freedom of expression and individuality. Whether or not this incident took place, it invites important questions.

If, for instance, the dress code of an institution approves the wearing of long hair by certain races but denies the same privilege from another race, would that actually be enforcing justice or prejudice? I remember, when my mother moved to the United States, my niece said that she was going to tell my mother that I was wearing untrimmed hair in Jamaica. I remember saying that there a lot of white men who also wear long hair. She said to me “Yes, but that’s different, but you are not a white man”. She didn’t mean nothing bad nor was she trying to say I was any less than a white person, but the perception was overriding freedom of choice there.

Every institution has a right to make rules about their dress code, and, if the requirements are that anyone attending that institution is allowed to shave their eyebrows, or to wear hoodies or flip-flops, that’s their rule. Even if those rules are founded on prejudice or make allowance for exceptional cases, that’s their right. No one will be in a position to argue with them while having prior knowledge of their regulations. If anyone doesn’t agree, they can find alternative institutions elsewhere.

However, whether a rule is meant to instil discipline and order or has racial bias, when some are allowed to slip through the guardrail, is something that needs to be looked into. There are no groups of people or situations in which uniformity is absolute. The question is: Does a person’s individuality infringe on discipline or, is that it is only a branch of the same tree?

HOMER SYLVESTER

Jacksonville, Florida