UPDATED: 1/31/20 5:18AM
MONT BELVIEU, Texas – A Southeast Texas teenager was gifted $20, 000 to attend college during an appearance on the Ellen show.
18-year old Deandre Arnold of Mont Belvieu, about 30 minutes east of Houston, has been at the center of controversy over the length of his dreadlocks.
Barbers Hill ISD says Arnold has to cut his hair to participate in graduation. The district says the length of his hair was in violation of the dress code.
Deandre told Ellen that he pulled his hair up for school:
“Everyday I would go to school I would always be in dress code but the issue with them is, if it was let down, I would be out of dress code, and this all escalated after Christmas break.”
The teen says that his hair is important to him because his father is Trinidadian, and that it’s part of his culture.
Rather than cut his hair, Arnold transferred to a new school.
Singer Alicia Keys presented the big check, telling Arnold that she could not believe his story when she heard it, and that she was proud of him “for standing up for what he knows is right.”
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(Copyright 2019 WBAP/KLIF 24/7 News)
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Original post: 1/24/20
MONT BELVIEU, Texas (AP) – The family of a black high school student in Texas says he won’t be allowed to walk at his graduation ceremony if he doesn’t cut his dreadlocks as school officials have asked. Deandre Arnold is a senior at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu in Southeast Texas. He attended a district meeting Monday to protest the hair request. Family members and several activists accompanied him. Deandre’s family is from Trinidad. He says many men in his culture wear dreadlocks. The Barbers Hill Independent School District says it allows dreadlocks but has rules about length.
