Discrimination claim filed on Long Island against white teacher accused of repeatedly describing Black student's hair as "ethnic"
FARMINGVILLE, N.Y. - A Black high school student on Long Island has filed a discrimination claim with New York state after she says a white teacher made repeated racist comments about her hair.
Her mother calls the remarks hurtful, ignorant and a violation of law.
It was in a cosmetology class at Sachem East High School. A 17-year-old Black student claims a white teacher referred to the student's hair as "ethnic," and then doubled down.
"She said, so, if my hair is ethnic hair, then, you know, what type of hair do you have? And she told my daughter she had American hair, she had normal hair," said the student's mother Cindy Covington. "She said to her, well, you know I'm American too?"
Covington calls the exchange last fall jaw-dropping and offensive.
"There are different textures of hair," Covington said. "I would love to know -- what is American hair? What is that? I really would love to know. What is 'normal' hair?"
The teen's mother complained to the principal, but says it happened again and again.
"There's coarse hair. There's thin hair," attorney Andrew Lieb said.
Lieb has filed a discrimination complaint with the New York state Division of Human Rights.
"The contrast to 'American' or 'normal,' saying they're non-normal, non-American -- what does that mean? And, number two, once the mom explains it to the school, for them to do nothing about it and it happen again implies that they were deliberately indifferent to her complaints," Lieb said.
New York's CROWN Act equates hair discrimination with race discrimination.
The superintendent of the school district told CBS2 they have not been formally notified of the complaint but will review it.
"At this time, the District has not been formally notified or served with any official paperwork regarding this complaint. We have publicly heard about this matter through various media inquiries and are reviewing the alleged complaint," said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Christopher Pellettieri.
Covington says the teacher tried to justify her remarks by explaining the term "ethnic hair" is used in cosmetology. If that's the case, says the teen's mom, change is needed because everyone is a member of an ethnic group.
"She felt like she was the outcast in the classroom. She felt uncomfortable. She wanted to leave the class. She started asking to wear wigs. She was constantly asking for her hair to be straightened," Covington said.
The family is seeking an apology, sensitivity training and legal damages so that no one else will be made to feel less normal or less American.
The Division of Human Rights will investigate the complaint and could mediate a resolution or proceed to a trial.