The public school dress code has been the same for years: shorts, skirts and dresses should be the length of the middle finger when standing with your hands to your side. Spaghetti straps and tube tops are not allowed, no matter the weather. And for boys, sagging pants and hats are not allowed.
These rules still leave a lot of room for students to get creative in their attire. But Denene Millner, creator of the blog MyBrownBaby points out what she sees as a problem with dress codes, in relation to Black girls. Millner believes that administrators see “an African American with 36Cs, thick thighs and a bubbly booty rocking the same regular ol’ crop top and a cute skirt as their white counterpart” as breaking the dress code. This often results in in-school suspension and a trip to the lost-and-found bin for a new outfit.
With school starting for many families, we want to know: Do you think school dress codes are fairly enforced? Or do you agree with Millner, that the rules are set up to get Black girls in trouble, for something they can’t control (their curvy bodies)? Take our poll and let us know what you think.
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