LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Ballard High School Principal Jason Nuess said all cheerleaders can "wear their hair however they would like" during competition after parents' concern over coaches who told their daughters they could not wear natural hairstyles.
Carlene Hill's daughter is a member of the Ballard High School cheerleading team. She said her child told her Black cheerleaders were asked to stay after practice, and coaches told the group they were enforcing new team rules on hair.
"I just feel like it's not right," Hill said. "When [my daughter] comes and tells me this, her whole attitude changes. It's like, 'Why are we treated like this?'"
Gelisa Jones said her daughter also told her about the meeting.
"They could not wear their braids because it was unprofessional," Jones said. "It's a rule, they're supposed to look uniform and be in unison. Braids wasn't a part of what they were trying to do for competition."
The two mothers said conversations about hair came up during cheer camp in the summer, but they hoped the topic would be dropped by the two first-year coaches.
"Braids are a natural hairstyle to us," Jones said. "I don't feel like we should have to defend it, and I don't think we should have to fight to keep our hair the way we naturally wear it."
Both mothers said the coaches said girls could buy wigs or sew-in hair pieces, and if they could not afford them, the team would fundraise for them.
"My daughter and the coaches were in a text back-and-forth, and basically they were telling her, 'This is final, this is the rule,'" Jones said. "Like it or not, this is final, we're not going to discuss it anymore. We'll see you in practice."
The mothers shared text messages between the team members and coaches. In the messages, both coaches reiterate the rule, and said it is not up for discussion.
In one message between a team member and the head coach, the coach said they are "not discriminating" and that there are "plenty of pictures on the Instagram page of different hair styles that have been done."
WHAS11 reached out to both coaches. Both declined interviews, and the head coach said the situation "has to do with my African American coach who addresses the issues." The assistant coach she was referring to, who is also a University of Louisville cheerleader, said she was "not even the hired coach through Ballard."
In a letter to parents, the head coach said her assistant "will not be returning to the program," but said the comments were "not intended to be malicious."
Nuess said the school would continue to look into the matter, and apologized to the families who were "made to feel excluded or discouraged."
"The comments shared with us are inappropriate and are not supported by Ballard," Nuess said. "The message shared with our students does not reflect our views or values as a school or as a district."
Less than two months ago, Louisville passed the Crown Act, an ordinance banning hair discrimination. Hill and Jones said they want to make sure the Crown Act is not only known by all people, but enacted in this situation.
"The Crown Act gives them more power to say this is something you're doing that is against the law," Jones said. "Now we have the Crown Act to back us in whatever we want to do with out hair."
Metro Council member Paula McCraney, who oversees Ballard's district and championed the Crown Act, said she wants to take the ordinance back to council to lay out a clear penalty for violators.
The CROWN Act bans discrimination against a person based on their natural hair or hairstyle. According to the official CROWN Act website, Black women are 80% more likely to be asked to change their hair just to fit in.
"I think it's odd that you have to put in an ordinance that you cannot discriminate," McCraney said. "Yet, if there's no penalty involved, I guess people think it's OK to discriminate."
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