Lotus Bloom and the Afro Revolution

Lotus Bloom and the Afro Revolution explores a longstanding practice in United States school districts to create and implement dress codes that—both directly and indirectly—target students of color. For example, a recent study found that “68 percent of D.C. public high schools that publish their dress codes online ban hair wraps or head scarves” (“Dress Coded.” National Women’s Law Center). While some would argue that this policy applies to all students—and therefore is not racially motivated—it ignores the fact that wraps and scarves are traditional headwear associated with Black and other minority cultures. Similarly, parents like Aaron and Colleen Cook discuss raising their adopted Black teenage daughters at Mystic Valley Regional Charter School, a district north of Boston, that “bans hair extensions in its dress code, deeming them ‘distracting’” (Lattimore, Kayla. “When Black Hair Violates the Dress Code.” NPR, 17 July 2017). Through these dress codes, school districts practice legalized assimilation, forcing their students of color to conform to traditionally “white” standards, punishing students who attempt to represent their own culture or heritage through their style, dress, and hair.

In Lotus Bloom and the Afro Revolution, this idea is explored through Lotus and the discrimination she faces for choosing to wear her hair in an afro.