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Teacher Cuts Child's Braid, Gets $175 Fine

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A white teacher in Milwaukee, Wisc., cut off a black child's braid as punishment for the child's fidgeting with her hair. School officials have removed the first-grader, Lamya Cammon, age 7, from the teacher's classroom while they "investigate," but the teacher still has her job.

The teacher said "I apologize but I was frustrated," according to the mother, Helen Cunningham, who wants to know why this first grade teacher at Congress Elementary would be allowed to keep her job. "Why would we want someone like that teaching our kids?" she asks.

On TV station WISN video, the little girl says the teacher tricked her. She told her to come to desk for some candy and then cut off the braid, and the other children laughed. The child then went to her desk and cried.

From the WISN TV story:

Milwaukee police investigated the case and referred it to the district attorney for possible physical or mental abuse of a child charges.

When the district attorney's office decided not to file criminal charges, police this week issued the teacher a $175 ticket for disorderly conduct.

The Milwaukee Teachers Education Association can't talk about the incident, but said stress is not unusual.“As budget constraints get tighter every year, the stress level and frustrations do increase,” said the MTEA’s Sid Hatch.

12 News called the teacher Friday night and went to her home for comment, but someone came to the door and said she did not want to talk. (TV story)

Reading comments on this story around the web, people seem to have assumed immediately that the teacher was white. Here is one that was left at Examiner.com by a commenter called Sapphire:

The teacher is a racist plain and simple. Has she ever cut off blonde hair from a little white girl? Absolutely not! Or this would have been reported as this teacher's past behavior. No the fact is that this teacher is doing what has been practice since slavery....the hatred some white folks have at looking at black hair. Back then whites forced black slave women to cover up their head with rags to avoid looking at black "wooly" hair. They considered nappy hair dreadful to look upon. Before slavery African women took pride in their hair and wore many different styles and was their crowning glory within their respect tribes and among other villages. With regards to this teacher, it wasn't the twrilling that upset her the most, it was the child's natural state of hair that was the most frustrating. She should be fired, fined and apologize to the child and her family. (comment at the Atlanta Stay-At-Home Mom Examiner)

However, I did not see anything to support the conclusion that the teacher is white until today. I've known crazy teachers of all shades, and I know of at least one black woman who was a teacher who cut off a black girl's hair who was not her own. However, the incident did not happen at school, and the child was not her student. People didn't confront this woman, but discussed her deed behind her back for years, calling the act cruel.

Around the Net, folks definitely have opinions on this story. Comments at Black and Married with Kids are growing. Lamar, who wrote the post, responded to one person who said the teacher should be fired that the incident is nearly unfathomable: "Lady Di it’s hard for me to even imagine one of my daughters coming home and saying, “the teacher cut my braid off”."

Perhaps indicating the solemn chord this story strikes in the black community, Essence magazine's site, Essence.com, has given this braid-cutting incident a first page spread, interviewing the mother, Cunningham, who told the publication:

When my daughter came home from school she said, "Mom, my teacher cut my hair." I didn't believe her because I couldn't see a teacher doing a thing like that. So I said, "I am going to call the school tomorrow and find out what's going."

I called the school and talked to the school social worker. She said, "I haven't heard anything like that... a teacher cutting off a kid's hair. You might want to call the teacher and ask her if it's true." So, I went to the teacher's room in person.

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brittannia 5 pts

i dont know if it was racially motivated or not but it sure smacks of a physical assault either way. some cultures like native american and some chinese have spiritual beliefs and reasons for having long hair.
This teacher had no right to do this. Based on her reasoning, she was twirling her hair, well then what if the child had been rubbing her eye? would the teacher have poked it out?
or biting her nails? would the teacher have chopped off the little girls finger?
and why would a little girl sitting there twirling her hair be such an issue anyway?
This teacher needs to be working as a night janitor at a bowling alley somewhere, not interacting with our children. What would she have done if someone did that to her child?
As for a $175.00 fine...WHOOO! There's a laughable punishment. I could piss that away at Walmart and carry it home in 2 bags. so is this the going rate for a childs safety and dignity? a lousy hundred and seventy five bucks?

justlinda 10 pts

I read this and debated it at length in other corners of the internet.

I think the teacher should have been fired immediately.  I hate that there are protections for blatantly unqualified people minding our children.  There is no defense for this action, in my mind.

The racism, though, in my mind was not about what color the teacher was/is and whether her actions were motivated by racism.  To me, the potential racism was that the victim was black and justice wasn't swift for her.  In fact, had the story not gone viral to the point where the authorities were forced to Do It Right, it might have all gotten quietly swept under the carpet.  That was the potential insidiousness of racism. 

JustLinda fabulously imperfect Nothing to See Here... Just Linda ( http://justlinda.net )

moonfever0 5 pts

It doesn't matter what race a child is, you DO NOT CUT THEIR HAIR!  I think a parent of any race would be livid.  It is part of their body.  And a first grader at that.  Children can be extremely frustrating, but you should never exact that kind of rage on a 7-year-old.

Angela at mommy bytes ( http://www.mommybytes.com ) BlogHer Contributing Editor in Mommy & Family Cribsheet

JennaHatfield 10 pts

Yeah. Whatever number it is, count me in as agreeing that this is assault. If a teacher were to cut a piece of my son's hair, I'd be, in short, livid. And I'd be at the school, at the city office, at the governor's office, wherever I needed to be, demanding her job.

Or her head on a platter.

Okay, maybe the last statement is taking it too far. But didn't she? Don't touch my child. Do not. Touch. My. Child. Oh, I'm so angry.

@FireMom ( http://twitter.com ) from Stop, Drop and Blog ( http://stopdropandblog.com ) and The Chronicles of Munchkin Land ( http://thechroniclesofmunchkinland.com )

tml 5 pts

I don't care what color a child is, what this teacher did was flat out wrong! A teacher has no right to ever touch a child in any way, shape, or form. To do this in front of every child in her class is humiliating and bullying. The teacher needs to be fired and not be allowed around children. If she easily cuts one child's hair, what else is she doing to other students?

ATrini 5 pts

This is NOT a colour issue and I wish black Americans didn't have such knee-jerk reactions but I understand the historical links and the pain-body that's immediately called into play.

I can't call that woman a teacher because none of the teachers I know and knew growing up would do such a thing. The woman assaulted a 7 year old child. I admire the girl's mother for keeping her cool but I would have beat the sh*t out of her, and accepted the consequences. Wouldn't pay a cent in fines though!

In Trinidad, any mother be she Indian, Chinese, Caucasian, Spanish, Syrian, or Brown would have been on her case like white on rice. The only question parents ask is "Who do you think you are putting your hand on my child?" She would not have been able to stay in the school any longer.

I remember one incident when my mother and I were travelling home in a taxi in Trinidad and she told the driver to slow down because her daughter was in the car - notice I didn't say ask. He ignored her. She said it again and just by her tone of voice you could see she was ready to rip the guy's head off.  He got scared and slowed right down. Gotta tell you, she scared me too.

A child fiddling with her braids... Excuse me!

Fire the cow!

Catherine

http://www.LifeChangeStartsNow.com

InkAndPixelClub 5 pts

So this teacher got so frustrated that this little girl was twirling her hair and wouldn't stop that she couldn't think of any better way to handle the situation than to cut the girl's hair?  That right there is reason enough for her to be suspended pending further investigation, if not outright fired.  Imagine what she might end up doing if a kid was really acting out.

I generally have nothing but respect and sympathy for teachers and I do realize that they are being made to do a very important job with fewer and fewer resources because our society is far more willing to pay for what it wants than what it needs.  But that is no excuse for this kind of behavior.  Millions of teachers face the same kind of pressure and deal with it in ways that don't involve cutting a little girl's hair.

-Sara

www.inkandpixelclub.com ( http://www.inkandpixelclub.com )

evilslutopia 5 pts

"I apologize but I was frustrated."

That's the worst "apology" ever.  If this teacher gets "frustrated" that easily and can't stop herself from doing something totally inappropriate and wrong like this when it happens, then a classroom full of little kids probably isn't the place for her.

~Jezebel

The Evil Slut Clique ( http://evilslutopia.blogspot.com )

EvilSlutopia ( http://evilslutopia.blogspot.com )

token 5 pts

That woman does not need to be teaching or have any children in her care whatsoever. 

What she did was mean and spiteful --- not how adults should behave.

FIRE HER and send her to counseling, too.  Her inner child is still in control!

Shame!

ɯoɔ˙ɹǝƃƃolquǝʞoʇ ( http://www.tokenblogger.com )

SCanon 5 pts

But wow.  WHY?  I'm just stupified by this, I really am!  WHY is that teacher not being punished in several different ways (i.e. termination of job and criminal charges).  A CHILD was involved in this scenario, a malicious scenario I might add.  A CHILD.  How is it even conceivable that the teacher's stress levels would make a legitimate excuse as to why she would cut a little girl's hair out of frustration?  Why was the teacher so annoyed with the little girl fiddling with her hair anyhow?  Wasn't the teacher, oh I don't know, TEACHING the class?  I'm sorry about all the caps, I usually try to stay away from the online screaming thing, but this is absolutely disgusting.  This woman cannot be trusted around children.  Why aren't more parents from this child's class speaking up?  I would!  I wouldn't want that lady anywhere near my son.  What will annoy her next?  What use will she put the scissors to the next time she is "stressed"? 

Where are the trusted adults at this school who need to come to the rescue of this little girl?  Where is the sympathy for her and what she endured?  No, these people are trying to cover their butts!  Racist idiocy like this is inexcusable when it happens to adults, and it is DOUBLY inexcusable when it happens to an innocent child.  The children in that class who witnessed this nasty act need to be taught that what the teacher did was MEAN and WRONG. 

That poor little girl. 

Somer blogs at Merry Wife of Canon ( http://www.merrywifeofcanon.com ) as well as Smell My Plate ( http://www.smellmyplate.com ).

digyd 5 pts

I have been incensed ever since I read this and I still am. I keep thinking about what if this had been my daughter. I keep thinking her mom was EXCELLENT to keep her hands to herself. Not sure I would have been able to hold it back. She should be fired, pure and simple. Any other time, teachers are quick to call you about something. She couldn't have called the mom to complain (about this most petty of issues)? I hope to read she finally quit or better, got fired.

www.multiobjectmanipulation.blogspot.com ( http://www.multiobjectmanipulation.blogspot.com )

www.vwepuzzles.com ( http://www.vwepuzzles.com )

Rolling 5 pts

Assault.  If a teacher can't keep her scissors to the paper, that teacher should not be in a classroom with children.  Period.

www.MomsRising.org ( http://www.MomsRising.org )

WordyDoodles ( http://www.wordydoodles.blogspot.com )

sassymonkey 6 pts moderator

That is plain and simply assault. I'm sitting here trying to imagine what my mother's reaction would have been if I had gone home and told her that a teacher had cut of one of my braids (my sister used to occassionally braid my hair into a hundred little braids - and yes she counted them). I can't even imagine my mother that angry. It would have been a thing to behold - a very frightening thing.

Contributing Editor Sassymonkey also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).

Mata H 5 pts

How dare anyone try to defend this. If the child had been tapping her fingernails repeatedly, would the teacher have cut off her fingers? Fire the teacher. End of debate.

~~ Contributing Editor, Mata H. also blogs right along at Time's Fool ( http://timesfool.blogspot.com )

Deb Rox 5 pts

This was assault.  A scissors was taken to a child's body out of frustration?  Assault.  That the teacher isn't behind bars is shocking to me, and obviously reveals racist bias and a disregard for children's rights to have their selves treated with integrity.  Ugh.

Deb
www.debontherocks.com ( http://www.debontherocks.com/ )blog
www.3smartgirlz.com ( http://www.3smartgirlz.com/ ) consulting