TMCF Petition To End "Dreadlocks" Ban

Tamon George is a little bit more than disappointed with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF). He’s incredulous. The MBA student at the University of the District of Columbia, was accepted to attend the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) – Leadership Institute  in October. Of course, George, who currently serves as the president of the Graduate Student Government Association and participates in several judicial committees governing the University, was excited about the opportunity.

Well, he was until he was informed that The Thurgood Marshall College Fund bans “dreadlocks” on male participants of the conference. “Thus, my invitation to attend the conference would be contingent upon the removal of my hair. Given that I wear my hair in the same manner as my father–serving as a representation of my cultural identity, heritage, and spirit, I feel it is highly discriminatory and sexist to make such a ruling,” writes George in a Change.org petition he started to get TMCF to lift its dreadlocks ban.

George did not attend the conference took place on November 9-13, 2014, with the aim of providing attendees with leadership training and job and internship opportunities with Fortune 500 companies.

“TMCF is not honoring the legacy of the late Justice Thurgood Marshall who stood for equality and educational advocacy,” writes George. Civil Rights advocate and lawyer Marshall was the first African-American Supreme Court Justice.

George spoke with MadameNoire about the petition.

MadameNoire.com: Why launch the petition?

Tamon George: The petition was created because of a “dreadlocks ban” that was instituted at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF). The president of the organization has claimed that regardless of intelligence, any Black male who wears dreadlocks is unemployable in a corporate arena, and therefore needs not attend the annual TMCF – Leadership Institute.

MN: The petition has 5,391 signatures to date. How many more to you need for your goal?

TG: There is no specific target amount numerically for the petition, it will stay online indefinitely.  People responded very quickly, mainly because of the egregiousness nature of the ban, and of course because this ban does not represent public sentiment regarding diversity and inclusion. I believe the public was so quick to respond because of the sheer shock when hearing that an organization that was founded on the name of a great civil rights leader was involved in a ban of this nature.

MN: Any response from TMCF?

TG: TMCF has yet to release an official statement regarding the policy. [MN is reaching out to the TMCF and will update the story with any comment we receive.]

MN: Do you find it ironic that an organization of color has such a ban?

TG: It is more than ironic that TMCF would implement this policy. I did however, reach out to the son of Chief Justice Thurgood Marshall to inform him of the policy. He stated that he is unaffiliated with the organization and was not aware of the policy. He did however note that he was disappointed that this situation has occurred.

MN: What is your goal with the petition?

TG: The ultimate goal is very simple, to have the ban reversed. It is extremely disappointing that only one ethnic group has to have these types of conversations. The goal is for the individuals who implement this ban, and those who support it, to confront their unfounded fear of any Black man with a strong cultural identity.

MN: Besides the petition, what are you doing to make this happen?

TG:  I will continue to do interviews and articles around this issue. I think the real change will happen when people have these conversations amongst their families, their colleagues and friends. Therefore, I simply encourage people to have a dialogue about cultural identity and conformity.