The Tribune

AS schools start to reopen, the hair debates—that only focus on black children’s hair—have started once again. Every school year, we go through the same nonsense, as schools attempt to police children’s blackness, in this majority black country.

It doesn’t go without notice that the schools that do not engage in this anti-black discrimination are the most expensive and have the most immigrant white children. Many Bahamians would like to believe and/or pretend that we live in a post-racial society—one without racial discrimination and racial prejudice, and in within which race is not a determinant of social, political, or economic outcomes.

This is absolutely false. Racism exists in The Bahamas, due in part to the commitment many people have to ignoring it.

St. Andrew’s International School shared photos of its Head Boy and Deputy Head Boy, wearing braids and twists, drawing commentary about the relationship between hair and academic performance. Wearing natural hair, braids, twists, and other black hairstyles clearly does not prevent students from learning.

Laziness and bullying

In defence of the archaic and arbitrary rules set by the Ministry of Education, Education Director Dominique McCartney-Russell said they are intended to “ensure that the focus is on the academic and not on any other issue.” She continued, “We believe that these standards assist with the development of a positive learning environment, and that's what we maintain for all of our 40,000 children.”

In 2025, children’s photos were posted on social media by CC Sweeting Junior High School, comparing them to “hoodlums” before they were forced to have haircuts without their parents’ permission or presence. This was a disgusting, demoralizing act that upset many people who saw or heard about the post. It’s easy to see how children learn to become bullies. Adults, as authority figures, don’t seem to know the difference between discipline and abuse, and often display their cruelty as a point of pride. This incident should have prompted a review of the rules related to hair and the actions that would be appropriate for school administrators to take when rules appear to be breached.

Do not aspire to whiteness

“Groomed” and “neat” are words that are often thrown around in conversations about black hair. There is no common understanding of these terms. This is a result of racism, anti-blackness, and the centering of whiteness. For far too many people—especially people in positions of power—whiteness is accepted as the standard. Straight hair, or hair with very few or very loose waves or curls, is considered appropriate. People with other hair textures are expected to use any means, including chemicals that have been proven to be health risks, to achieve the appearance of straight or close-to-straight hair.

Black girls are expected to have their hair, when straightened by chemicals or heat, slicked black with severity, while white girls and boys can have fly-aways and may not even use a brush or comb. White girls can take their hair down and pull it into ponytails throughout the day without the level of “neatness” required of black girls.

What is the meaning of “groomed?” Is it that a comb or brush was used? Is that the hair is straight, or appears to have been manipulated in the attempt to look straight? Is that the hair must give in to gravity?

What is the meaning of “neat?” Is it that there are no fly-aways? Is it that there are no shorter pieces falling out or not quite fitting into the ponytail in the front, at the sides, or at the back?

Anti-black racism is at the root of hair rules. White boys are not limited to one inch of hair at any school. Black boys are limited to one inch of hair. Why is the length of black girls’ hair limited, and not the length of white girls’ hair? Why do these differences exist? Is one type of hair more groomed than the other? Is one type of hair more neat than the other? Who decided that? What’s it based on?

There’s nothing wrong with afros. There’s nothing wrong with twists. There’s nothing wrong with twist-outs. There’s nothing wrong with locs. There’s nothing wrong with boys having two, three, four, five, or 15 inches of hair. There’s nothing wrong with girls having braids down their backs.

The primary concern should be the health and wellbeing of children, both at school and at home. If there are signs that they’re in unhygienic conditions, there should be interventions that centre their health and dignity, never causing shame or drawing the attention or judgment of other students. Black hair, to be clear, is not a threat to anyone’s health or education. It’s beautiful, it’s fun to style, and maintaining it—not altering it for respectability—is to be encouraged, particularly in this United Nations Second Decade for People of African Descent and during the work of the CARICOM Reparations Commission and The Bahamas National Reparations Committee to build the legal case for reparatory justice.

Schools or prisons?

Schools need not be oppressive spaces. They don’t need to be institutions that children hate. There’s no need for them to be of a design and practice that’s dreaded by those enrolled. Schools can be liberatory spaces. They can help children to see their own potential and move toward it, equipping them with knowledge—along with the skills for acquiring and applying knowledge—and an understanding of their environment and the role they play in shaping and transforming it.

Schools can help children to see and embrace their individual differences and bridge the gaps between them so they can learn to be in community. Schools can spark, encourage, and nurture creativity. They can make connections between the curriculum and the real world that children already inhabit.

Schools can build confidence. They don’t have to tear it down. Schools can celebrate diversity. They don’t have to force children to “blend in.” Schools can adapt to the needs of the children they’re supposed to serve. They can be spaces full of excitement and joy. They can make it easy for children to express themselves, even as they wear the uniform and follow reasonable guidelines. They can minimize the harmful activation of children who are looking for ways to show people who they are when the safer ways have been ruled out. They can normalize natural hair. They can create environments where afros, braids, twists, and locs are ordinary choices and looks that don’t draw any more attention than any other hairstyle.

Hair need not be a battleground. Respectability politics need not be central to school life. The system of education need not be designed to train children out of their creativity, separating them from their dreams, and relegating them to a class of rule-following workers who don’t unionize, don’t protest, and don’t vote because they do not see the point or live in fear of consequences. It starts with self-expression. Whether or not it’s convenient, children are people too, and they live in this world now. The way we treat them today is a primary determinant of the future ahead of us all.

Recommendations

1.  These Heathens by Mia McKenzie. “Where do you get an abortion in 1960 Georgia, especially if your small town’s midwife goes to the same church as your parents? For seventeen-year-old Doris Steele, the answer is Atlanta, where her favorite teacher, Mrs. Lucas, calls upon her brash, wealthy childhood best friend, Sylvia, for help.” Feminist Book Club, hosted by Equality Bahamas and Poinciana Paper Press, is meeting to discuss These Heathens at 6pm. The book is short enough that you could read or listen to it today and join the conversation at Poinciana Paper Press, 12 Parkgate Road.

2. Feminist Book Club. Are you still working toward your reading goal for 2026? Are you struggling to choose books to read? Join Feminist Book Club for a great set of books, curated by the members, to read, think about, and discuss. From time to time, the authors join the conversation and bring more insight into the stories, the characters, and the reasons the books exist. The book selected for September is Katabasis by R. F. Kuang. The publisher says, “Two graduate students must put aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul—perhaps at the cost of their own.” One reviewer said, "Some books are too magnificent to simply be described—they must be devoured and savored slowly to fully appreciate their brilliance. This is one of them—a spellbinding blend of enemies-to-lovers romance and dark academia fantasy, featuring a mind-blowing journey through hell, where every level embodies sins like pride, desire, greed, wrath, and tyranny, alongside the infamous City of Dis.” Get your copy of the book and join the discussion on Wednesday, September 19 at 6pm. Register at tiny.cc/fbc2026.