Jurnee Hoffmeyer, seven years old, came home weeping with her haircut one day.
Jimmy Hoffmeyer, her father, was outraged. This was his daughter’s second “haircut” in several days. On the school bus on March 24, a classmate chopped her hair into a “one side adorable” with scissors. Jurnee’s father protested to the principal and took her to a hairdresser for an asymmetrical cut (to cover up the jagged lengths), but she came home with even shorter hair. Jurnee’s hair was evened out by a teacher in this situation.
Following the haircut on the school bus, the school informed the father that “the little girl took the scissors off the teacher’s desk,” and that “they were going to talk to the parents and deal with it appropriately.”
Jurnee has beautiful golden locks and is multiracial. The school librarian, who also happens to be a certified cosmetologist, was the teacher who chopped Jurnee’s hair, but as the principal maintains, the worst that might happen is a notation in the librarian’s work file.
Hoffmeyer stated, “She [the principal] indicated she didn’t have the authority to do anything.” “She continued wondering what she could do to get rid of it.”
He even filed an incident report with the police, but no one has contacted him afterwards. He also got a call from the superintendent of the district, who promised to send apology cards to the family.
Hoffmeyer, who is also multiracial, stated, “I got furious and hung up.” Jurnee’s mother is white. Meanwhile, Jurnee’s hair was trimmed by a white classmate and teacher”.
“You can’t simply damp down and cut our sort of hair,” Hoffmeyer explained. “And that’s when I feel like they should have, even if they were trying to do it in the nicest of hearts, once they saw the consequence, they should have been like, okay, we messed up,” he added. “I think we should call him and let him know what happened.”
However, he only realized about the haircut when his daughter returned home weeping and terrified. He was also trying to figure out exactly what had done.
He remarked, “I’m not one to attempt to make things about race.” “I grew up surrounded almost entirely by white people.”
According to the United States Census Bureau, roughly 4% of Mount Pleasant’s 25 000 people are African-American. There are bills in the works in Michigan to amend the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to make discrimination based on hair texture and style illegal.
Jurnee’s hair was chopped by a classmate who didn’t think much of it. Hoffmeyer explained, “I chalked it up since it was a youngster, and you don’t think of any major ramifications having to do with a kid.” The second time, though, he lost patience. “She was very humiliated when that teacher chopped her hair. So humiliated. Because she had to return to class in such a state.”
He called the school several times to find out what had happened, but he received no response to his queries at first. Despite the fact that the school apologized, they refused to provide him the footage of the two haircuts.
“I want them to take responsibility for their actions,” Hoffmeyer added. “For the most part, we’ve been calling for a public apology to let Jurnee know that yes, they realize that it was wrong and that it should never have been done and that she should never have gone through anything like this”.
District Superintendent Jennifer Verleger has now verified the tale, adding that Jurnee’s teacher was aware of the librarian’s plans to give her a haircut. The haircut was provided without the approval of Jurnee’s parents or the school administration. The teachers, it appears, felt they were assisting the kid when they said Jurnee requested a haircut since she didn’t like her hair at the time.
“Regardless of their good intentions, our two workers’ conduct were inappropriate and shown a lack of judgment,” Verleger said in a statement. ”Both are being investigated for possible additional disciplinary measures in line with school regulations and procedures.”
They have apologized to the Hoffmeyer family for their actions since the incident. Jurnee’s father soon transferred her to a new school and is considering enrolling her in a private school. Hoffmeyer is also collaborating with the National Parents Union, a national network of parents that push for bettering children’s quality of life. Christina Laster, the union’s director of policy and legislation, says the instructors involved were openly disparaging the girl’s hair texture and style.
“I feel that what occurred — and what truly happened, based on my interactions with the family — is that youngsters began to acquire the same judgmental mindset about Jurnee’s hair, which then evolved into this event that quickly spiraled out of control.”