# A Varsity Wrestler Was Told To Cut His Dreadlocks Or Forfeit The Match. Now The Attorney General Is



## Leeda.the.Paladin (Dec 23, 2018)

The New Jersey Division of Civil Rights is investigating an incident at a high school wrestling match this week in which a referee told a black wrestler to cut off his dreadlocks or forfeit the match. 







Footage of the Buena Regional High School varsity wrestler having his dreadlocks cut off went viral Friday after it was shared by a local reporter from South New Jersey Today. 
Many on social media were outraged by the video and accused the referee of exhibiting racial bias. 
According to a letter from the school district Superintendent David Cappuccio Jr., the wrestler chose to have his hair cut rather than forfeit the match Wednesday after the referee told him his hair and headgear were not in compliance with league regulations. 


The wrestler won the match in sudden victory in overtime, according to SNJ Today. 
In a statement Friday night, a spokeswoman for the office of New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said its civil rights division opened an investigation into the incident as part of a 2013 agreement with the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) "to address potential bias in high school sports." 
Neither the wrestler's family nor the referee immediately responded to CNN's requests for comment Saturday afternoon.
NJSIAA Executive Director Larry White confirmed in a statement posted online that state authorities are investigating the incident. 
The referee won't be assigned to moderate matches until the incident "has been thoroughly reviewed," White said, before he weighed in on a more personal level. 
"Finally, as an African-American and parent -- as well as a former educator, coach, official and athlete -- I clearly understand the issues at play, and probably better than most," White added. 
"The NJSIAA takes this matter very seriously, and I ask that everyone respect the investigatory process related to all parties involved."

It was not immediately clear which rule the referee said the wrestler had violated. 
According to the NFHS wrestling rule book, a wrestler's hair cannot fall below the top of a shirt collar in the back, below his earlobes on the sides, or below his eyebrows.
If it is longer than the rule allows, the wrestler has to braid his hair or hide it beneath a hair cover attached to his ear guards, the rulebook states. 

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy also addressed the incident in a brief tweet Saturday morning, saying he was "deeply disturbed" that the student was "forced to choose between keeping his dreadlocks and competing in a wrestling tournament."
"No student should have to needlessly choose between his or her identity & playing sports," Murphy said.


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## SoopremeBeing (Dec 23, 2018)

A lot of wrestling coaches have gone to Twitter saying the referee was wrong. He’ll get fired for sure.


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## Dee Raven (Dec 23, 2018)

I hate to speak too soon, but this seems to be a rare instance where the authorities are acting professionally, appropriately, and in a timely for once.


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## Pat Mahurr (Dec 23, 2018)

Haha!  Stupid ref didn’t know this kid was Samson in reverse!  Cutting his hair made him stronger!  

Seriously, according to the rules, he could have  pinned it up, right? Did the ref insist he cut it?


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## Ivonnovi (Dec 23, 2018)

This made my blood boil.     And does every time I think about it; and because I thought that %itch looked too happy to be _shearing _that young man too.


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## SoopremeBeing (Dec 23, 2018)

Pat Mahurr said:


> Haha!  Stupid ref didn’t know this kid was Samson in reverse!  Cutting his hair made him stronger!
> 
> Seriously, according to the rules, he could have  pinned it up, right? Did the ref insist he cut it?



The rules for wrestling is that long hair has to be kept under a cap during a match. This young man had the cap but it wasn’t good enough.

Not to mention this boy has been on the team since 2015, and had locs the entire time.


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## DST1913 (Dec 23, 2018)

SoopremeBeing said:


> The rules for wrestling is that long hair has to be kept under a cap during a match. This young man had the cap but it wasn’t good enough.
> 
> Not to mention this boy has been on the team since 2015, and had locs the entire time.


Ahhh thanks you provided the missing piece for me.  When I first heard the story I was like umm long hair is not permitted in wrestling so is this uproar for nothing? But if the boy actually did have a cap on and was still made to cut his hair then yea that's BS and this person shouldn't be allowed to ref anymore.  Even if some of the locks were sticking out he should have been able to tuck them and keep fighting.


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## dyh080 (Dec 23, 2018)

One of the TV news stations displayed the rules in quotes.I'm going to paraphrase a bit basically it states the hair must be kept at a certain length OR under the legal cap that he must wear at weigh in.  Allegedly the ref ordered him to either cut or forfeit because he didn't wear the cap at weigh in.

Sounds like the ref was being very "technical" (picky) about not wearing the cap at weigh in. 

The ref has been in trouble prior to this with regard to racial incidents, according to the news.

Some students interviewed said the rules were rarely enforced in the past.

Also, a youtube "personalty" allegedly found photos of his family and is now disputing the boy's ethnicity.


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## Everything Zen (Dec 23, 2018)

I was wondering when this was going to be posted on here. I always wonder why these things never happen to me. I would sue my way to some reparations so quick. SMH


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## DST1913 (Dec 24, 2018)

dyh080 said:


> One of the TV news stations displayed the rules in quotes.I'm going to paraphrase a bit basically it states the hair must be kept at a certain length OR under the legal cap that he must wear at weigh in.  Allegedly the ref ordered him to either cut or forfeit because he didn't wear the cap at weigh in.
> 
> Sounds like the ref was being very "technical" (picky) about not wearing the cap at weigh in.
> 
> ...


What's his ethnicity? He looks like a biracial "black" kid to me


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## ScorpioBeauty09 (Dec 24, 2018)

Shaun King posted the family's statement via their attorney. Make sure to click to see the second page. The picture says it all. The comments are everything.


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## GinnyP (Dec 26, 2018)

Ivonnovi said:


> This made my blood boil.     And does every time I think about it; and because I thought that %itch looked too happy to be _shearing _that young man too.


 I screamed noooooooo!
This ref need to have his balls shaved off by Lorena Bobbet in public viewin


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## Chaosbutterfly (Dec 26, 2018)

It's v. interesting that the parents are saying that they support the coaches who allegedly coached this boy since he was 5 years old, and yet still stood by and allowed him to be publicly shorn like a damn sheep, all to win a dumb high school wrestling match.
I also wonder if they were there.
I'm not a parent, but I feel like...I would be sitting in a jail cell before I sat there and let some white ppl so publicly and brutally cut my baby's hair over a game. And then released a statement thanking them for failing to protect my child after the fact.
This boy has so many layers of people who failed him, it's really sad. And this is why I side eye BM who make brown children with WW, because I think this would have gone down 100% different if his mom was black.


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## janaq2003 (Dec 26, 2018)

Chaosbutterfly said:


> It's v. interesting that the parents are saying that they support the coaches who allegedly coached this boy since he was 5 years old, and yet still stood by and allowed him to be publicly shorn like a damn sheep, all to win a dumb high school wrestling match.
> I also wonder if they were there.
> I'm not a parent, but I feel like...I would be sitting in a jail cell before I sat there and let some white ppl so publicly and brutally cut my baby's hair over a game. And then released a statement thanking them for failing to protect my child after the fact.
> This boy has so many layers of people who failed him, it's really sad. And this is why I side eye BM who make brown children with WW, because *I think this would have gone down 100% different if his mom was black.*



You know what time it is..


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## Alta Angel (Dec 27, 2018)

This!

I believe that so many people, from coach to parents, failed this child.  To be shorn of your diginity, for a "W"???  To have your hair hacked and head jerked while your parents and coach watch?  Nah...this is a new breed of parent.




Chaosbutterfly said:


> It's v. interesting that the parents are saying that they support the coaches who allegedly coached this boy since he was 5 years old, and yet still stood by and allowed him to be publicly shorn like a damn sheep, all to win a dumb high school wrestling match.
> I also wonder if they were there.
> I'm not a parent, but I feel like...I would be sitting in a jail cell before I sat there and let some white ppl so publicly and brutally cut my baby's hair over a game. And then released a statement thanking them for failing to protect my child after the fact.
> This boy has so many layers of people who failed him, it's really sad. And this is why I side eye BM who make brown children with WW, because I think this would have gone down 100% different if his mom was black.


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## cutiepiebabygirl (Dec 27, 2018)

The parents were watching??

Had it been my son, I would've been up out of them bleachers so quick.


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## dicapr (Dec 27, 2018)

Alta Angel said:


> This!
> 
> I believe that so many people, from coach to parents, failed this child.  To be shorn of your diginity, for a "W"???  To have your hair hacked and head jerked while your parents and coach watch?  Nah...this is a new breed of parent.



I need more info. If he is a senior with scholarships potential or knew that there were recruiters  at the match he may have felt that cutting his hair was worth the potential benifit to him.


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## Iwanthealthyhair67 (Dec 27, 2018)

if the rules stated that he could secure his hair, then that option should have been given

glad he won, so it was like in ya face referee!


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## SoopremeBeing (Dec 27, 2018)

Well this took an interesting turn...


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## Shula (Dec 28, 2018)

*White Referee Fired After Forcing Black Wrestler to Cut Dreadlocks*
Alan Maloney, the White referee who made a Black high school wrestler cut his dreadlocks to compete, has been let go by the school district. 






Alan Maloney, the White referee who forced, Andrew Johnson, a Black high school wrestler to cut his dreadlocks before a match, will no longer work in the Buena Regional School District. According to Good Morning America, David Cappuccio, a New Jersey superintendent decided at an emergency meeting earlier this week.

Maloney was placed on indefinite suspension after the dreadlock-cutting incident was recorded and shared on social media.

Cappuccio addressed the controversy in a letter on the high school’s website writing, “The Staff and administration within the Buena Regional School District will continue to support and stand by all of our students and student-athletes.”

Following the posting of the letter, a meeting was held at Buena High for a vote on “personnel matters.” However, Cappuccio made a decision on the viral haircut before the group addressed it.

“He’s done working with our district,” the superintendent said, according to WPVI.



(This is so weird; it would only let me copy and paste the first portion of the article.)


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## Laela (Jan 30, 2020)

*UPDATE:

Hair discrimination banned in N.J. after high school wrestler forced to cut dreadlocks
Updated Dec 20, 2019; Posted Dec 20, 2019





*
In this Dec. 19, 2018, file image taken from a video provided by SNJTODAY.COM, Buena Regional High School wrestler Andrew Johnson gets his hair cut courtside minutes before his match in Buena, N.J., after a referee told Johnson he would forfeit his bout if he didn't have his dreadlocks cut off. (Michael Frankel | SNJTODAY.COM via AP)AP
*
*
By Sophie Nieto-Munoz | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
One year after a high school wrestler in New Jersey was forced to cut off his dreadlocks to compete in a match, discrimination based on the style or texture of someone’s hair is now illegal in New Jersey.

New Jersey became the third state to prohibit discrimination on the basis of hair after Gov. Phil Murphy signed the bill into law Thursday.

“Race-based discrimination will not be tolerated in the State of New Jersey," Murphy, a Democrat, said in a statement.

“No one should be made to feel uncomfortable or be discriminated against because of their natural hair. I am proud to sign this law in order to help ensure that all New Jersey residents can go to work, school, or participate in athletic events with dignity."

The measure (S3945) was introduced this summer after Buena Vista High School student Andrew Johnson was forced by a referee to choose between forfeiting a wrestling match or cutting his dreadlocks to compete.

Under the legislation, the state’s Laws Against Discrimination is amended to include “traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture, hair type, and protective hairstyles,” like twists or braids.


“It is unacceptable that someone could be dismissed from school or denied employment because they wear their hair exactly how it grows, but that has been the reality for many black and brown individuals. Today, here in New Jersey, we’ve changed that," state Sen. Sandra Cunningham, D-Hudson, a prime sponsor of the measure, said in a statement.

State Assemblywoman Angela McKnight, D-Hudson, said the bill will protect black people, including the now 17-year-old wrestler, from being discriminated against due to their hairstyles.

“Unfortunately, it’s all too common for African-Americans and people of color to be subjected to discrimination at work or school for wearing their hair in braids, twists, and dreadlocks or embracing their natural curls,” McKnight said in a statement.

Federal law offers protection to those who have afros, but it does not protect those wearing dreadlocks, braids, twists, and other hairstyles often worn by black people.

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, the New Jersey Democrat who is also running for president, introduced a federal bill banning discrimination on hair textures and hairstyles earlier this month.

The New Jersey bill overwhelmingly passed in both Democratic-controlled houses of the state Legislature in Trenton on Monday.

California and New York have also enacted laws banning race-based hair discrimination earlier this year. Several other states, including Tennessee, Michigan and Illinois, have proposed similar legislation.


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