Comments on: 8 Year-Old Girl’s Hair Triggers Cries of Racism But Are We Jumping the Gun?

By: Gigi

Gigi — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 14:20:05 +0000

To the publisher of this article: You need to stop making excuses for racism, especially racism against defenseless children. Who in the hale is allergic to olive oil? How did the teacher know that it was that particular child’s hair product that “was making her sick”? Why did the teacher not speak with the girl’s parents or the principal BEFORE speaking with her? Little girls hair is usually in the complete control of the mother at that age. All of these incidents are racist, period. Black hair is something that White people know NOTHING about, so how can you form an opinion or stance on something that you know nothing about? And, a teacher actually cutting a child’s hair off—-now that takes the cake—this teacher should be charged with assault and battery for even approaching a child with a pair of scissors to cut anything physically belonging to that child—why is this teacher not in prison? Black hair (something White people know absolutely NOTHING about) is just being used as a ‘back door’ entry for their racism, period. These racist incidents are only known of because the actually made the news, I’m sure that there are thousands more out there; it is only the tip of the iceberg of racism that our children experience at the hands of cowardice racist adults on a daily basis throughout American public schools.

By: hah moan

hah moan — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:40:21 +0000

Being from Seattle I saw this story reported over the subsequent days after the incident, and noticed no interviews with the girl’s father, the top writer for Seattle’s best weekly paper The Stranger. The reports always ran clips of the girl’s white mother speaking. It makes absolutely no sense, as do a number of things in this bizarro world, until you consider our racial history in this country. Then it’s clearly par for the course.

By: clay

clay — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 23:21:43 +0000

What’s with the questioning ” whether the act of taking the little girl out of her class and putting her in another class ” was a racist move or not ? Answer me this . Would a Black teacher have the authority to remove any student from a classroom with-out the principals permission First . Even IF the Black teacher removed the kid from the class , would the white parents have to wait 2 weeks for the Black teacher to be fired ?? YOU HAVE THE ANSWER . Why is it soooo hard for us to understand what’s going on in this world ??? Will we let them keep on doing whatever they like to us ??

By: Desya

Desya — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 21:02:54 +0000

Like ThaDeborahGirl above, I am black and extremely sensitive to almost all scents. I also get reactions to quite a few. From air fresheners to deodorant to hair product to perfume. My mum recently used a accented carpet powder that woke me up multiple times in the night. Allergies can be very serious. And as one who wears my hair “natural” and uses many natural products (being careful of the smell of course lol) I have had people comment on the scent of my hair many times. Some positive, some negative. That being said, I do not think this was racially motivated at all. No one ounce honestly. The teacher handled it very poorly. The child should not have been called out in front of others and her parents should have been contacted immediately. She should not have been moved from the class without their knowledge. But this does not meant the teacher purposefully moved her due to her race. She could have been allergic to any child’s product, it just happened to be this one. And I think it’s very unfortunate that just because the girl is the only black one, people immediately jump to race. I don’t think there’s any indication that the teacher put her in a class with black students on purpose (is there a statement where she said “go here it’s where you belong”?). That really just could have been the only class available or the closest class. Or maybe the teacher chose one at random and didn’t think anything of it.

By: ThatDeborahGirl

ThatDeborahGirl — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 23:28:55 +0000

I’m African American and very sensitive to smells. My husband can put on cologne in the morning and it can wake me from sound sleep. Mind you I have slept through tornado warning sirens, ambulances, incredibly loud thunderstorms – sounds don’t wake me, but his colognes will.

I can only wear one scent that doesn’t give me migraines. I can tell a whiff of any type of Secret deodorant at 10 paces and it’s nauseating to me no matter how clean the person wearing it. Food smells can quite literally make me ill at times.

Recently I oiled my scalp, I’m wearing braids at present, and the white lady sitting next time remarked that she could smell it. Fortunately, she found it a pleasant coconut scent but what if, like this teacher, it had bothered her?

Would she be a racist?

This story is a bit different because this teacher seems to have gone out of her way to put the child in a class with predominantly black children as if to say this is where she felt the child belonged. That’s the only thing in the story that smacks of racism. And I’d bet quite a few of the children in the “other” classroom are probably gifted as well, only marginalized by their teachers.

I know what it is to be sensitive to scents, but it seems this teacher could have handled this a lot better.

By: ErzulieRedEyes

ErzulieRedEyes — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 09:20:03 +0000

This teacher was just being nasty because she was upset that a black person was in the honors class and wanted her out of there.

I was harassed and scat upon becuase i was the only black student in my old Art Advanced Placement class in high school. I know what this kid went through, typical pathetic racist crap that comes from some people.

By: Tisha

Tisha — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:09:38 +0000

Nice piece, Ms. Patton. Although I do think the teacher is racist for kicking the child out of the classroom and putting her in the mostly black class. The move had nothing to do with her hair and everything to do with where she thought a little black girl really belonged.

By: Bettie V. Beard

Bettie V. Beard — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:10:33 +0000

Whether intented or unintended, the racial overtones are a large part of the problem here. The teacher was racially intolerant when she chose to put an 8 year old child out of his classroom as the solution to her distaste of the hair product which this lone African American student was using. Many times racism may not be intentional, but when it is an incident perpetrated against a minority by someone in power it is still racism. There is no way to get under or around that fact. The teacher’s lack of sensitivity to the student also contribute to the racial overtones communicated. It is true that the teacher could have just reacted without thinking because the scent was repulsive but without a doctor’s diagnosis specifically addressing the said product, that teacher had no business removing the child. Then even with proof of an allergy to that particular product, there were still appropriate channels that she did not bother going through. And I am curious about how this teacher responds when she attends meetings where people might have scents which are offensive. Does she file complaints or ask the offending individual to leave or does she leave?

I have suffered – I mean SUFFERED- with allergies for years and I, too, have been offended throughout the years by all sorts of scents, materials (including just about every manmade material) animals, food, sun etc., but I have never made anyone feel uncomfortable about my reactions to their scents or animals which i would surely have a reaction to. Sometimes, i would react instantly and violently to animals or scents but would remove myself from the situation, take medicine and return. Never have I made any student feel badly because of my having a problem with their scents. The fact that this teacher has a less than humanistic philosophy of education is bothersome. Young children are fragile and good teachers have an awareness of this fact and do what they can to make sure all students get the same type of classroom nurturing. Sensitivity training does not a good teacher make!

So, again i say that my position cannot be changed due to the fact that the teacher should have been more sensitive to her young charge and more importantly, she should have called the parents before making such a hasty decision on her own. Racial insensitivity and use of authority in such an unchecked way is indeed an indicator of racism be it intentional or unintentional.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 06:43:28 +0000

White privilege = I never have to wonder if comments about my hair products are racially motivated. That in itself is unfair, and is part of the big picture here.

By: Ian Colte

Ian Colte — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 23:42:17 +0000

Thank you for putting an eloquent voice to my frustration with both this incident and the general trend that the way some people use social media is exacerbating a rush to judgment that actually hinders the dialogue on race in America. I wish that the reaction to this teacher’s insensitivity could be attributed to the proximity of other incidents (such as the tragic death of Aiyana Jones as a result of excessive police force) but my observation is that this has been a trend for awhile. I hope many people read and reflect on your article.