White teen claims she was 'racially profiled' for wearing dreadlocks

A teenager from Pleasant Grove, Utah, decided that she wanted to style her hair in dreadlocks as part of what she called a spiritual journey representing her Hindu beliefs. Now, she says that she has been discriminated against because of that hairstyle.

TheGrio Staff

Sep 22, 2015

Caycee Cunningham’s mother, Tonya Judd, received a phone call from her daughter’s school, Lincoln Academy, in which the principal told Judd that Cunningham’s dreadlocks were against school policy. But Judd thinks that the problem is not the dreadlocks but the fact that Cunningham is white.

“My daughter is white and there happens to be other kids in the school who happen to be other race and ethnicity and they have hair that can’t be combed, and there’s never been an issue regarding that before,” Judd said.

Principal Jake Hunt noted that, while the school does not specifically ban dreadlocks, it does ban “distracting” hairstyles.

“Our dress code says that our students’ hair must have a neat, combed appearance, be appropriate for school, and not be distracting in the classroom, which is pretty similar to what many schools in our area have,” he said.

But Judd disagrees.

“Not only have they been racially profiling my daughter because she happens to be a while girl with dreadlocks, but it’s also taking away the rights of my daughter’s religious beliefs and her spiritual journey,” Judd said.

Cunningham and her mother will not change her hairstyle and say they are prepared to transfer schools if they have to.