(Austin, TX)  —  A Mont Belvieu teen whose story about his school’s dress code policy went viral is now influencing state legislature.

Deandre Arnold was told he had to cut his dreadlocks or be suspended from school and barred from his graduation ceremony.  Texas State Representative Ron Reynolds says the Texas Legislative Black Caucus plans to introduce the CROWN Act in the next legislative session.  The act would ban discrimination against hairstyles and textures that are commonly tied to race.

The school district points out that its dress code allows dreadlocks, but that Arnold’s violated a hair length policy.  The East Texas teen was a special guest of “Hair Love” director Matthew A. Cherry at Sunday night’s Academy Awards show.

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