Kempton Park school sparks new #racism debate over ‘inappropriate hair’

kempton park windsor house academy racism chriselda lewis twitter

In August 2016, we reported on an incident at Pretoria Girls High in which staff instructed a number of girls to straighten their hair. This week, another Gauteng school has come under fire for expelling a group of students on Monday for inappropriate hairstyles.

Windsor House Academy, based in Kempton Park, deemed that the 20 pupils it expelled did not wear their hair in accordance with the school’s code of conduct.

The above tweet from senior SABC journalist Chriselda Lewis began trending around 8am Wednesday in South Africa. Soon after, the attached hashtag #racism was also trending.

Users on Twitter also had their say, with some calling the move by Windsor House “total madness”.

A number of users agreed.

Some users defended the school’s decision.

Others called for all schools to relook their codes of conduct.

Some offered the girls their support.

According to the Daily Maverick, the school will suspend its code of conduct for three months, with a possible new code implemented after a review.

Feature image: screenshot, Chriselda Lewis (@chriseldalewis) via Twitter

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