In 2013, 12 year old Vanessa VanDyke of Orlando, Florida and 7 year old Tiana Parker of Tulsa, Oklahoma were threatened with expulsion from their schools for wearing their natural hair, which broke the school’s dress code. Vanessa wore an afro and Tiana wore locks. Last month, there was the school in the Bahamas that told students wearing their natural hair that it was untidy and unprofessional and to change their hair before returning to school. The parents of 16 year-old Tayjha Deleveaux took to social media and spark the #supportthepuff movement.

Now March 2016, 13 year old Isaiah Freeman’s parents were told that their son had to cut his hair in order to continue to attend school. His long dreadlocks violate the school’s dress code policy because his hair covers his ears. But his parents presented pictures of him dating back to third grade and his hair has always covered his ears. So his parents put his hair in a ponytail, exposing his ears but this still did not please the school who then told the family that Isaiah would receive a referral every day until his hair was cut.

His father was quoted by WTVR saying, “As he gets older people are uncomfortable with him having dreadlocks and getting older and bigger,” he said. “It’s an issue of people feeling uncomfortable with a young black male having dreadlocks and having a certain persona of negativity.”

His father is 100 percent right. I think it’s disgusting the way this country tries to convince us that our natural hair is somehow unprofessional, I have heard my afro referred to as unkempt and untamed. I’ve heard this from both black and white people before, which makes me sick to my stomach. I often want to ask black people who feel this way, “Who taught you to hate yourself?” We live in society that in 2016 is still condoning and perpetuating self-hate in the black community; teaching our children that their natural state of being is somehow flawed or wrong.

Even the principle said Isaiah is a great student and very respectful yet she is justifying writing him a referral every day. It’s sad but his parents have taken him out of the school not that they were left with many options.

It is vital for us to teach our children to love themselves at an early age because if we don’t we will breed a generation of self destructive people. You can’t love anyone else until you first learn to love yourself.