Kid Who Was Punished for Wearing Dreads at School, Invited to Oscars

By: Rafeeat Bishi

         Lots of good things happened at the Oscars this past Sunday (albeit it was a bit boring at times). While the nominees were mostly white (again), Bong Joon Ho won Best Picture and three other awards with his team from Parasite, a Korean film about class, wealth, and society. It's the first foreign film to win Best Picture and the first film not in English to win. Taika Waititi also became the first Indigenous person to win an Oscar.

         Something more subtle happened though. DeAndre Arnold, a Black teen from Texas was told that he would be banned from walking during his high school graduation if he wore dreadlocks. He was given in-school suspension and would continue unless his dreads were cut shorter to meet the dress code.

         He was invited as a guest with Matthew A. Cherry, former football player who won Best Animated Short for the movie "Hair Love", which embraces Black hair and all its attributes.

         I thought it was perfect for Cherry to invite DeAndre considering the message of his film. I wonder what his school is saying now.

         I find that he is given the opportunity to be on such a big stage, with his dreads and all, is a good thing not only for Arnold but for those who think that Black hair and culture itself is "unprofessional" or "informal".

         People like Cherry who are promoting positive representations of Black hair and its features can help younger generations internalize it. Pertaining to the question asked in class, I think that this is what makes me optimistic for the future. People recognizing the implicit bias we all have and using creative ways, such as film, to tackle it.