What difference does it make that the student is black? Why did the writer think it necessary to report that?
Second, I've wrestled in a number of tournaments in my High School days...many decades ago...and those are the rules. They always have been. We were required to be clean shaven, hair cut to a reasonable length at the ears and nails freshly clipped. Don't like it? You'll be disqualified at the discretion of the REFEREE.
I was in a sectional tournament one time and was the number 3 seed in my weight class. The number 2 seed (who I'd beaten in 27 seconds during the season) had long, Fabio-like hair. He was instructed to cut it. He refused and was disqualified. I was moved up to number 2 seed and wrestled the number 1 seed in the finals. And he kicked my ass...but I went the distance.
For the coach to deny the rules and have the whole team and the whole school pitch a hissy fit over this is disgusting.
That's the fantasy-land that many Americans and public school bureaucrats live in. We are all victims, we are all heroes, we are all brave social-justice warriors battling a deadly system of oppression.
Have you been following this story?
The kids dreds weren’t that long, maybe 4-5 inches, and not drooping down....................
I wrestled 7th 8th 9th and was good at that age. Broke 2 kids arms. There’s a reason for the hair, jewelry, and other rules. Hair can be pulled and a cap can also become a weapon if grabbed the right way.
I made them rinse the sulfa8 out of their hair.
The ref was right as he was enforcing the rules of the game. The kids that engage in the sport are fully aware of the rules, but this kid chose to to be different.
Notice the words: “, who is white, “ and “, who is black,” with the commas in the right places. And so the division continues. ALL Whites are assumed to be evil racists.
Suppose there were an accident and they reported that a Mazda and a Toyota collided, and they included the words:
“The Mazda, which is white,” and “The Toyota, which is black,” the reader would wonder what the implication was.
With the people, the implication is that ALL Whites are racists and ALL Blacks are victims.
Damn the reporter for continuing the racism.
It's like short hair in the military: there's a reason behind the rule.
This is only going to make it harder for other black players to be accepted by future teams. I know this is just High School, but it’s competing on a national level. What coach is going to want the potential headache of hypersensitive black parents who frame every negative experience as being ‘racist’?
The kid is learning the wrong lessons from this.
Learning to weaponize his presumed victimhood.
The school or wrestling organization is learning the wrong lessons from this, always ready to take on the burden of implied guilt because of race. This sets us all back 50 years.
Anything bad that happens to anyone wearing dread locks is to be welcomed.
True in the late 70s, early 80s when I wrestled in CO.
Coach carried scissors and a razor.
I dont get this, I mean, I saw the video, and yeah it was sad, but I withheld judgement. What are the ACTUAL RULES that they wrestled under?
Youth wrestling coach and ref here... hair long enough to be grabbed from behind and used for leverage or which affects the proper fit of head gear will be covered using an authorized hair restraint (skull cap or cover).
Adidas sells a pretty awesome design...
This rule gets more lax the older the kids get, but if a girl or boy came on my mat with long hair, they would be told to cover it, especially if it affected the fit of their head gear.
If you don't have a mullet, you ain't wrestlin.
This story left a bunch of information out that was in previous write-ups. Someone went back into the way back machine and dredged about an incident where this ref used a racial slur at an all coaches gathering. He was immediately body slammed by another attendee. This is where all this crap is coming from. There was no issue with the haircut until the story broke about his use of a racial slur some two years ago!!!
Rules are Rules, for everyone. Besides, it will grow back.
During competition all wrestlers shall be clean shaven, with sideburns trimmed no lower than earlobe level and hair trimmed and well groomed. The hair, in its natural state, shall not extend below the top of an ordinary shirt collar in the back; and on the sides, the hair shall not extend below the earlobe level; in the back; and on the sides, the hair shall not extend below earlobe level; in the front, the hair shall not extend below the eyebrows.
The ref was indeed following the rules. Problem is the HS competition organization was ignoring the rules because this was a black kid.
Just like Florida schools take money not to discipline black students.
> Don’t like it? You’ll be disqualified at the discretion of the REFEREE. <
There’s the problem right there. The rules should read that if your hair is over X inches in length, you are disqualified, period.
I knew a female police officer who thought she was cute in a pony tail - until half her scalp was pulled out in a fight.