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Read this letter to the editor published in the Boston Globe online.

Far from promoting equity, this is a textbook case of racial bias

MYSTIC VALLEY Regional Charter School claims that the ban on braided hair extensions, which it calls expensive, is a strategy to promote equity by reducing visible differences in means (“Black Malden charter students punished for hair,” Page A1, May 12). This is a clear demonstration of conflating the concepts of equality and equity. Equality means everyone is allocated the same amount, while equity means examining the relative circumstances of different groups and adjusting accordingly. Far from promoting equity, this policy actually furthers racial inequity, as it disproportionately and negatively affects black students.

This is an example of institutionalized racial inequity. The staff of Mystic Valley is overwhelmingly white. Without adequate representation at the leadership level, school policies cannot be truly equitable, since the perspectives, experiences, and realities of black students and families are not equally heard. Regardless of the intent behind the ban on hair extensions, it unjustly and harmfully affects black students, and that is racial discrimination.

The twins cited in Kay Lazar’s article have served multiple detentions and could be suspended for this hairstyle, despite its having no proven effect on their learning or the learning of others. Policies such as this one criminalize minor transgressions of school rules. Suspending students and rebutting the concern of their families furthers the criminalization of youth of color, a tragic consequence of racial inequity. We hope that Mystic Valley will reverse this policy and the unjust discipline of the affected students, and use this as an opportunity to have open and directed dialogue about race, racism, and racial equity at the school.

Sylvia Ferrell-Jones, president and CEO

YW Boston

Boston