Little Girl Says Teacher Did Nothing After Her Whole Class Laughed At Her For Wearing Her Hair Naturally — ‘You Are A Black Queen, Tell Them Your Hair Is Your Crown’
The young girl was heartbroken after her teacher did nothing to reprimand the students who were making fun of her hair.
Ground Picture | Shutterstock A little girl was left incredibly upset after her teacher failed to step in when she was teased for her hair.
In a TikTok video, a public school teacher named Nour filmed an interaction she had with a young student who explained that her teacher failed to protect her against bullying.
Her teacher did nothing after the entire class laughed at her for wearing her hair naturally.
"Tell me a bit about what happened in class ... walked in this morning, your whole class started laughing at you. What happened?" Nour questioned the student, who she noticed had been upset about something, and invited the little girl to her group of students so they could talk and offer her a safe space.
The young girl, who remained off-camera, told Nour that she'd tried to tell her teacher what happened, but she refused to help or step in. The young student had taken out her braids the day before and came to school with her natural hair, only to be met with snickers and laughs from her classmates. Her teacher didn't reprimand the laughing students and allowed the young girl to be picked on.
When the little girl confided in her teacher that others were laughing at her hair, the teacher simply told her that there was nothing she could do about it. However, Nour refused to let this little girl suffer at the hands of others and gave her a brilliant message to always remember.
"Imma say it how it is. I think you're beautiful whether you have your hair did [sic] or you don't have your hair did [sic]. We're surrounded by people who say things out of envy, out of jealousy," Nour told the young girl. "I think you are one beautiful queen."
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Nour insisted that the young girl was not only beautiful, but she was a beautiful Black queen, and that there are people who exist in this world who want to claim her features and pass them as their own, but she didn't have to because all of her features are ones she was born with.
Things like that should be cherished, and it doesn't matter what others have to say because her beauty and identity are hers to celebrate and embrace, not for others to ridicule and make fun of. Nour made sure to let this little girl know that she was born powerful and should never diminish her light because others feel the need to bring her down.
Black girls already face discrimination for their natural hair, especially in the workforce and school environments.
According to the Legal Defense Fund's hair discrimination statistics, many schools across the country ban natural and protective styles are grounds for discipline or removal from school, meaning Black students have been denied educational opportunities because of their hair. 66 percent of Black girls in majority-white schools report experiencing hair discrimination.
Similarly, a majority of Black women say they feel they have to change their hair just to be taken seriously for job opportunities and in professional settings, according to a survey commissioned by LinkedIn and Dove, via NBC News. Black women with textured hair are twice as likely to experience microaggressions in the workplace compared to Black women with straight hair. And 25% of Black women ages 25 to 34 surveyed said they were sent home from work because of their hair.
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There's nothing "bad" about Black women and girls wearing their natural hair in public spaces, and nor should they be made to feel as though their hair is a burden or something to be ashamed of. Black hair, in all of its versatility, is always beautiful, and instead of telling Black girls that they need to straighten their hair to be accepted, we should be encouraging them to embrace every curl, coil, and kink.
"For those people who were being rude to you just because you took your hair out, tell them, what I got on my head is what I was born with," Nour informed the young girl.
"You're a beautiful Black queen; if they ever have something to say about you and your hair, tell them my hair is my crown."
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.