“Does anyone have any scissors?”
That’s what a Black softball player was faced with during a recent game in North Carolina. Not tips on her batting stance or what’s the score. No. Instead, she was humiliated by being forced to cut her hair because of the beads in it.
“It was humiliating,” said Nicole Pyles in an interview with The News & Observer earlier this week. “Why do I have to take away from myself just to play this game where we are actually doing well? I’m embarrassed because you pick on me in front of all these people for no reason.”
It all happened in a game on April 19th. Pyles, who plays for Hillside High School, was playing against their Durham rival, Jordan High. In the second inning, Pyles was told she had to remove her hair beads or leave the game. The demand came from two umpires, one Black and one white, who quoted a rule from the NFSHSA (National Federation of State High School Associations) that prohibits the use of plastic visors, bandannas, and hair beads.
Despite the humiliation of being singled out, Pyles decided to cut her hair and remove the beads to stay in the game.
While acknowledging the NFSHSA rule, the Durham Public Schools launched an investigation, stating “DPS believes this rule is culturally biased.”
They followed that up with another statement in support of Pyles and a change in the rules.
“DPS supports our student-athletes and their right to self-expression in a manner befitting their culture, consistent with safety in training and competition,” read their statement. “We believe the blanket ban on hair beads is culturally biased and problematic. We support our student, Nicole Pyles, and believe this rule should be amended. We frown on any rule or policy that promotes cultural insensitivity or does not reflect the ideals and principles of DPS and our employees.”
Also joining the fight for both Pyles and a change in the rule is the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.
They labeled it a “hair discrimination incident” and called on officials in Durham and in the state to “pass policies that eradicate all forms of anti-Black biases in schools.”
Earlier this year, Durham passed a non-discrimination policy covering hairstyles. Similar policies were enacted in other counties. Unfortunately, efforts to make the policies statewide laws failed in both houses of the General Assembly.
All of the media attention about the incident helped force action. But Julius Pyles, Nicole’s father, felt it shouldn’t have taken this long.
“I think it should have happened when the incident took place, it shouldn’t have taken this long,” said Julius Pyles in that interview with The News & Observer. “This is an incident that should have been addressed immediately.”
Taking action immediately in the game is something Nicole also questioned. She was confused why the umpires brought up the issue in the first place considering that she had played with the beads in before.
“I was upset,” she said. “He [the white umpire] had seen me play multiple times…if it was a rule that’s that important why wasn’t it enforced the first time you spoke to me or you saw me come on the field or off the field or any of that?”
This situation is similar to the 2018 incident involving NJ high school wrestler, Andrew Johnson. As he stepped onto the mat, referee Alan Maloney stopped him and told him that unless he cut his dreadlocks off, he wouldn’t be allowed to wrestle. Everyone who saw the video watched in horror as a team trainer scissored off his dreads so he could compete. Johnson ended up winning but he was humiliated and people were infuriated that no one stepped in to stop the young man’s embarrassment.
Like Nicole Pyles, he had previously competed in other matches with dreadlocks and it was never an issue. But then, all of a sudden, it was.
“I want to see the rule changed, especially the beads rule,” said Nicole.
She continued, saying the incident “embarrassed me, hurt me, hurt my family, embarrassed my teammates on their senior night in front of their families, their friends, previous Hillside students who played at Hillside years ago and graduated college.”
The district is working to make a change, stating they will “be diligently working to encourage the NCHSAA and NFHS to review their policies that on the surface seem fair but are culturally biased and inappropriate. The aim is to make sure that all our athletes regardless of race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation have the opportunity to compete without rules that target them based on any of these factors.”
In the meantime, another young, Black student-athlete has to suffer in order for change to be made.
