A Seattle writer is angry beyond words, because late last month his 8-year-old child was removed from her honors elementary school class. No, the child did not misbehave. Instead, the little girl was guilty of using a hair moisturizer that allegedly annoyed her Caucasian teacher. Now the NAACP has joined the angry dad in filing a complaint against the child's school.
Charles Mudede, the father, claims that the school administrators at Thurgood Marshall Elementary initially moved his child out of her honors classroom, placing her in a hallway and then, ultimately, moved her to another classroom. Why?
Because the child's teacher stated that she was allergic to the smell of the olive oil moisturizing hair lotion that the little girl used, Organic Root Stimulator (pictured below).
Mudede's daughter, who is biracial, is an honor's student and the only child of color in her grade's accelerated program.
After the teacher complained about her hair grease, though, the child was permanently placed in a classroom with predominantly African American children who were academically not on par.
The child's parents were never even contacted about the matter.
"I couldn't comprehend it. I was really try to make sense of it and that took a while. My daughter kept saying that she was afraid and it's your hair and that she could come into her class to get her work, then go to another class for the rest of the day."
The family contacted the NAACP, and the organization has taken the reins on this case by filing a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Education. The civil rights organization says that the incident has "less to do about hair and more to do with how the whole situation was handled."
Mudede and his wife have also decided to hire an attorney. Until the matter is settled, Mudede writes in his blog, The Stranger:
"We decided not to send our daughter to school until the teacher had medical proof that our daughter's hair or something in her hair was to blame for the nausea. (The last thing you want to happen to your daughter is for a teacher to faint or vomit at the mere sight of her.) Days passed and the school took no action. This unresponsiveness left us with no other choice than to turn to a lawyer. The whole thing is a mess. Getting entangled in a racial dilemma is something most black parents do not want for their children. It's just not worth the trouble. Then again, like I said, if not checked and confronted, the incident will have permanent consequences for my child."
In a statement, the school district told King 5 News:
"We're concerned and we're looking into it. Our priority is to get the child back in school."
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The way I see it is this. While there ARE some people of every group who are prejudiced against any other group, the majority of us do try to get along and not look at skin color, eye shape, and other things that people call into play when bigotry happens.
If anyone in this case is prejudiced, it's the father of the girl. The woman has an allergy to the product, the parents WERE notified by the school of the allergy which was made worse by the construction (dust) in her home. They were asked NOT to bring or wear fragrances or chemicals to class - almost all of the other kids complied, but this girl goes in with this Olive Oil product filled with all sorts of chemicals including carcinogens, petroleum, Peanut Oil, and a lot of stuff I wouldn't let near MY child never mind put on her head. When the child gets in the classroom, the teacher almost passes out and is having problems with the fumes coming off this girl's head. Who knows who decided to put her in which classroom. Could have been the teacher, could have been the principal, could have been the nurse. We don't know why that classroom - maybe so the teacher could physically see the girl to ensure she was ok, or maybe the teacher of the class might have been the best one to help if she had a problem. In the school where I used to work, teachers couldn't just stick a kid in another classroom - that decision could only be made by the princpal.
Either way, girl comes home and dad throws a fit because she spent half a day in a different classroom - so what does he do? (Remember he's got the letter stating that there's an allergy involved, and the kid got to sit it out in another room to keep the teacher on her feet.) He sends her in the next day with the same goop on her head.
Then he demands a note from the teacher's doctor that she really has an allergy to the junk he allowed his kid to wear. He's not entitled to get a note from her doctor - there are HIPPA laws that give the teacher privacy. The only people who can require the doctor's note are the people in the district. It should be sufficient that the district says, yes, she has an allergy. He doesn't get a note, so now he wants to sue. Probably will go for millions so he will never have to work again.
It could also have been that she was put in the other classroom because they couldn't get Papa Dearest to come and get the kid to wash the stuff out of her hair.
It isn't racist because if a white student had put that stuff on his or her head, the reaction would have still happened, and the white kid would have gotten put in another classroom.
Here, if the kid couldn't stay in the classroom, they would either have spent quality time with a principal, nurse or got sent home. Maybe they tried to send her home and they couldn't reach someone - maybe they thought that it would be a better idea to let her get on with her education.
You people also should read some of the other stuff this man put in his blog. Not only was some of this brought out in comments about this incident, but other posts were charging racial prejudice against a lot of other things. I think this dude is the one with the chip on his shoulder, and if ANYONE embarassed the kid it's her own father.
As a child my mom used to make homemade hair products for me, 1 contained oil of lemongrass. My teachers always thought I was eating candy in class and the children would say it's her hair that smells good. For 1 teacher, the smell was too strong for her. Did she remove me from the class, NO. She called my mother and asked if there was some way to dilute to smell of the products that she used. The teacher explained why TO MY MOM, not to me as a 4 grade child. When I got home, mom said the teacher called about the smell of my hair. The teacher never said anything to me about my hair. Mom and I discussed it and she lessened the amount of oil of lemongrass used, but she still used it. My hair was still conditioned and well taken care of. IF the smell of the product was so offensive to this teacher all she had to do was communicate this with the parents, no way should she have put this child out of the room. That is not only humiliating and embarrassing for the child, it's cruel on the teachers part. There was totally a way around this besides shaming this child that way.
They should have done the same with this little girl. To remove her from the classroom will have its tolls on her. Yes racism still exists and always will unfortunately. This definitley should have been handled differently. I hope the teacher gets in trouble for this. I hope the girl will see that not all teachers are bad though and keep up her excellent grades. I wish I had her grades when I was in school.
This is so crazy on so many different levels it's sad. @ Traceyjoy, I agree with you 100%. The teacher should have communicated with the child's parentsm, not her. I'm not understanding this at all. When I was working inthe classroom, whenever I needed to talk with the parents, I would call them or send a note home with the child asking that they contact me. Now we know that people have all kinds of issues with sinus and things of that nature, and I can understand if the smell was just too strong and bothering her, she could/should have handled it differently. It's all about how this was handled. AND the fact that the school is almost like unresponsive, kills it. I curious to see how this plays out
I think this whole situation could have been handled better. The teacher could have called the parent, explained the situation, and kindly asked them to use a different product on the childs hair. I am sure this would have had a different outcome. I do think the child should have been removed if the complaint from the teacher was valid, although I don't feel she should have been put in class less than what her ability is. Disappointing this was not handled better by the teacher and adminstrators.
Okay easy solution...STOP USING THE STUPID SHAMPOO! GOd why is everything turned into a friggin racial debate these days give me a friggin break. DOES SHE NEED OLIVE OIL SHAMPOO? NO! Problem solved and without even once making a racial comment.
She should stop using the shampoo? Are you so stupid to think if everyone did what others want them to do everything will be fine? If someone told you to stop using your computer, would you do it? If you were told to stop doing anything you like doing, would you? Or, does your theory just apply to everyone else and NOT you? What a moron!
Too bad your self-righteous, judgemental a$$ can't see how this sort of HUMILIATION can affect a child. And calling the hair care product she uses "salad dressing" isn't even funny you ignorant twit. How would you like it if someone threw your a$$ off of your job because they didn't like your perfume, after shave, or deodarant. How would you like if if your co-workers isolated you on the job because they didn't like the MOOUSE you put in your hair or the smell of your hairspray.
BOTTOM LINE--this was no way to treat an intelligent, gifted child who had a RIGHT to be in that class--hair care product AND ALL. By the very over-the-top manner in which they handled this precious child screams RACISM. No one gives a HOT DAMN if your dumb, bigoted A$$ can't see it.
The parents were right to get a lawyer--WHITE FOLKS ARE OUT OF CONTROL. First KKK robes and now this. What next--nooses around little black kids necks for a class project?
STFU you moron! Your simplified skew on race is as dumb as you are.
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Comments: (471)
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By: debnran on 6/07/2010 9:48PM
The way I see it is this. While there ARE some people of every group who are prejudiced against any other group, the majority of us do try to get along and not look at skin color, eye shape, and other things that people call into play when bigotry happens.
If anyone in this case is prejudiced, it's the father of the girl. The woman has an allergy to the product, the parents WERE notified by the school of the allergy which was made worse by the construction (dust) in her home. They were asked NOT to bring or wear fragrances or chemicals to class - almost all of the other kids complied, but this girl goes in with this Olive Oil product filled with all sorts of chemicals including carcinogens, petroleum, Peanut Oil, and a lot of stuff I wouldn't let near MY child never mind put on her head. When the child gets in the classroom, the teacher almost passes out and is having problems with the fumes coming off this girl's head. Who knows who decided to put her in which classroom. Could have been the teacher, could have been the principal, could have been the nurse. We don't know why that classroom - maybe so the teacher could physically see the girl to ensure she was ok, or maybe the teacher of the class might have been the best one to help if she had a problem. In the school where I used to work, teachers couldn't just stick a kid in another classroom - that decision could only be made by the princpal.
Either way, girl comes home and dad throws a fit because she spent half a day in a different classroom - so what does he do? (Remember he's got the letter stating that there's an allergy involved, and the kid got to sit it out in another room to keep the teacher on her feet.) He sends her in the next day with the same goop on her head.
Then he demands a note from the teacher's doctor that she really has an allergy to the junk he allowed his kid to wear. He's not entitled to get a note from her doctor - there are HIPPA laws that give the teacher privacy. The only people who can require the doctor's note are the people in the district. It should be sufficient that the district says, yes, she has an allergy. He doesn't get a note, so now he wants to sue. Probably will go for millions so he will never have to work again.
It could also have been that she was put in the other classroom because they couldn't get Papa Dearest to come and get the kid to wash the stuff out of her hair.
It isn't racist because if a white student had put that stuff on his or her head, the reaction would have still happened, and the white kid would have gotten put in another classroom.
Here, if the kid couldn't stay in the classroom, they would either have spent quality time with a principal, nurse or got sent home. Maybe they tried to send her home and they couldn't reach someone - maybe they thought that it would be a better idea to let her get on with her education.
You people also should read some of the other stuff this man put in his blog. Not only was some of this brought out in comments about this incident, but other posts were charging racial prejudice against a lot of other things. I think this dude is the one with the chip on his shoulder, and if ANYONE embarassed the kid it's her own father.
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By: TraceyJoy on 6/07/2010 11:04AM
As a child my mom used to make homemade hair products for me, 1 contained oil of lemongrass. My teachers always thought I was eating candy in class and the children would say it's her hair that smells good. For 1 teacher, the smell was too strong for her. Did she remove me from the class, NO. She called my mother and asked if there was some way to dilute to smell of the products that she used. The teacher explained why TO MY MOM, not to me as a 4 grade child. When I got home, mom said the teacher called about the smell of my hair. The teacher never said anything to me about my hair. Mom and I discussed it and she lessened the amount of oil of lemongrass used, but she still used it. My hair was still conditioned and well taken care of. IF the smell of the product was so offensive to this teacher all she had to do was communicate this with the parents, no way should she have put this child out of the room. That is not only humiliating and embarrassing for the child, it's cruel on the teachers part. There was totally a way around this besides shaming this child that way.
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By: ocnraine on 6/07/2010 2:54PM
Very well said, and your situation was handled much better than this poor little girls.
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By: melissa on 6/07/2010 4:12PM
They should have done the same with this little girl. To remove her from the classroom will have its tolls on her. Yes racism still exists and always will unfortunately. This definitley should have been handled differently. I hope the teacher gets in trouble for this. I hope the girl will see that not all teachers are bad though and keep up her excellent grades. I wish I had her grades when I was in school.
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By: kim on 6/07/2010 12:04PM
This is so crazy on so many different levels it's sad. @ Traceyjoy, I agree with you 100%. The teacher should have communicated with the child's parentsm, not her. I'm not understanding this at all. When I was working inthe classroom, whenever I needed to talk with the parents, I would call them or send a note home with the child asking that they contact me. Now we know that people have all kinds of issues with sinus and things of that nature, and I can understand if the smell was just too strong and bothering her, she could/should have handled it differently. It's all about how this was handled. AND the fact that the school is almost like unresponsive, kills it. I curious to see how this plays out
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By: Cindy on 6/07/2010 2:50PM
I think this whole situation could have been handled better. The teacher could have called the parent, explained the situation, and kindly asked them to use a different product on the childs hair. I am sure this would have had a different outcome. I do think the child should have been removed if the complaint from the teacher was valid, although I don't feel she should have been put in class less than what her ability is. Disappointing this was not handled better by the teacher and adminstrators.
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By: Digi on 6/07/2010 2:50PM
Okay easy solution...STOP USING THE STUPID SHAMPOO! GOd why is everything turned into a friggin racial debate these days give me a friggin break. DOES SHE NEED OLIVE OIL SHAMPOO? NO! Problem solved and without even once making a racial comment.
Bunch of friggin morons these days...............
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By: LJM on 6/07/2010 3:13PM
Um, I think you missed the point.
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By: mannamedjoe on 6/07/2010 4:38PM
She should stop using the shampoo? Are you so stupid to think if everyone did what others want them to do everything will be fine? If someone told you to stop using your computer, would you do it? If you were told to stop doing anything you like doing, would you? Or, does your theory just apply to everyone else and NOT you? What a moron!
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By: Pott54 on 6/07/2010 3:22PM
Well Digi:
Too bad your self-righteous, judgemental a$$ can't see how this sort of HUMILIATION can affect a child. And calling the hair care product she uses "salad dressing" isn't even funny you ignorant twit. How would you like it if someone threw your a$$ off of your job because they didn't like your perfume, after shave, or deodarant. How would you like if if your co-workers isolated you on the job because they didn't like the MOOUSE you put in your hair or the smell of your hairspray.
BOTTOM LINE--this was no way to treat an intelligent, gifted child who had a RIGHT to be in that class--hair care product AND ALL. By the very over-the-top manner in which they handled this precious child screams RACISM. No one gives a HOT DAMN if your dumb, bigoted A$$ can't see it.
The parents were right to get a lawyer--WHITE FOLKS ARE OUT OF CONTROL. First KKK robes and now this. What next--nooses around little black kids necks for a class project?
STFU you moron! Your simplified skew on race is as dumb as you are.
Report This