Further proving that cops will arrest black kids for anything, an Arizona senior student at Apache Junction High School was arrested, along with some of his schoolmates, all because he refused to take off his bandanna.
Needless to say, this has sparked huge conversations about dress code at the Arizona high school.
According to AZ Central, the school says that the bandanna violated school dress code, although that same code they’re trying to reference doesn’t specifically mention bandannas. Some students are now calling the incident racially motivated...because why else would a student of color be arrested over an item of clothing?
In total, four students were arrested during the Aug. 10 altercation.
Students posted video of the altercation on social media that shows the black teen walking from an Apache Junction police officer who demands that he remove the navy bandanna he is wearing.
“Why don’t you just take me out now and save yourself the trouble, bro,” the student could be heard telling the officer.
The officer then addresses the crowd of students looking on insisting, “It has nothing to do with the color of his skin. It’s not me harassing him. All he’s doing is wearing a bandanna, which you’re not allowed to do on campus, OK? Don’t wear a bandanna, that’s it.”
The officer insists that as soon as the student takes off the bandanna there will be no more trouble, but the student still refuses.
“Are you sure?,” the student responds to the officer. “You said I broke the law, so I thought I was in trouble with you.”
As teachers attempt to gather students back into class, the teen continues to argue with officers about whether he broke the law. Then, the student attempts to walk away, pointing out that he has a class to go to.
The officer puts a hand on the student’s arm, but the student brushes it off. At that point, another officer enters the video. The officers take the teen’s arms and try to escort him off campus, and the young boy starts laughing. Eventually, a struggle starts when officers try to take his backpack away.
Ultimately, the officers handcuff the teen, and the videos end.
In a letter emailed to families, school principal Angela Chomokos claimed that administrators asked the teen to remove the bandanna, but when he refused, a DARE officer and two officers from the local police department got involved.
“The refusal to respond to a reasonable request escalated to a point where some students were confusing the wearing of the bandanna with defiance and disorderly behavior,” she said. “This particular situation became escalated when students posted videos on social media sites.”
However, the student told AZ Family a different story.
“She told me, ‘if you don’t take it off, I will call the police and have you arrested,’” he explained of his interaction with an administrator. “I was like, ‘well if the first thing you think of is to call the police then you might as well just do that because it must be that urgent for you to call the police, I must be making such a big scene that you need to call the police so go ahead,’ and then I walked away from her.”
Once again, the school dress code does not specifically mention bandannas, but when AZ Central asked for clarification, the district refused to comment, saying that it doesn’t discuss issues involving students.
So basically, they’re bullshitting.
According to the teen, he wears his bandanna almost every day and has never had an issue, describing the garment as “an extension” of himself.
Meanwhile, Apache Junction spokesperson Al Bravo said that officers were called on to “assist with a disruptive student,” according to AZ Central.
“The officer attempted to defuse the situation — the student was wearing a head band and was requested to remove it per school policy. The student refused and challenged the officer, becoming more disruptive, and then was taken into custody as he continued to be noncompliant abusive,” the summary given by Bravo read.
Again, the student told AZ Family a different story. The 17-year-old says that he is constantly targeted for his bandanna when other students don’t get the same hassle.
“The officer came up to me and wanted to have a talk with me, he asked me about the bandana and I said, ‘what’s wrong with it?’ He said, ‘the color.’ I said, ‘what do you mean? That kid’s wearing a bandana.’ He says, ‘that’s the American flag.’ I said, ‘what’s the difference?’ She told me we can’t wear bandanas at all,” the 17-year-old said.
The other three students who were arrested were taken in on suspicion of disrupting an educational institution, disorderly conduct and drug paraphernalia
All four students are expected to be referred to the Pinal County Juvenile Court system.
The teen acknowledges he could have obeyed orders, but decided instead to stand up for himself.
“I could’ve took off the bandana, I really could’ve. But at the end of the day, they tried to tell me I couldn’t be me, knowing damn well I wear that bandana all the time,” he told AZ Family. “It was kind of humiliating if you think about it, in front of everybody, me getting arrested and they try to make it look like I did something so bad, you know?”
DISCUSSION
I’ve NEVER heard of someone being arrested for violating the dress code. That isn’t a law it’s a school rule, one that everyone knows is just used to tell people they can’t dress the way they’d like. If you violate the dress code you’re not fucking arrested you’re sent home.
I’m glad we’re talking about how fucked dress codes are though. Toe to Tip they’re biased against women and PoC. They say you can’t wear tights or hat or dress in a specific way. It’s all just a way to keep people in line. For women it’s about boy’s not being responsible for themselves and for PoC it’s the school trying to stamp out the elements of the culture that aren’t ‘white’ enough.
Dress codes are just bludgeons to keep students in line.