Gordon, Doreen

Dr., Lecturer and Researcher,
University of the West Indies (Jamaica)

On Friday, July 31, 2020, the Supreme Court in Jamaica ruled that the constitutional rights of a 5 year old girl were not breached in 2018 when she was denied access to the Kensington Primary School in Portmore, St Catherine, because of her dreadlocked hair. The court ruling, coming just before the nationally significant holidays of Independence Day (August 1) and Emancipation Day (August 6th), sparked national outrage and a heated debate on dreadlocks, Rastafarianism, and racial identity. This debate reached far beyond the island’s borders, connecting with the global anti-racist movement in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Against the backdrop of these discourses, I examine the ways in which political and social elites in Jamaica have attempted to govern black hair and black bodies, particularly through discourses that centre around hygiene, respectable dress, public order and morality in Jamaican schools. In Jamaica, schools have historically placed restrictions on hair length, hairstyles, and dress codes. However, these school policies are increasingly viewed by parents and others as negatively targeting black children’s bodies, effectively rendering them as unhygienic and inherently problematic. These debates reveal contradictions among different groups in the society and are reflective of wider social and political transformations taking place within the region.