BY KEDIESHA PERRY—
Observer writer—-
Buju Banton addressing last Friday’s Supreme Court ruling which stated Kensington Primary in St Catherine had the authority to bar a dreadlocked child from the school. (Photo: Instagram)
BUJU Banton is bashing last Friday’s Supreme Court’s decision to deny a child access to primary school education because of her dreadlocks hairstyle.
The artiste took to Instagram yesterday to voice his concern about what he described as continuous unfair treatment to Rastafarians.
“So yes, once again, Rastafari is under threat. We’ve come a far way, now to a point where even the ‘herb’ [marijuana] legal; everybody a mek a money offa it, but yuh still a hamper our education and our children’s ability to be educated in your schools and I see that as discrimination, because you would never do that to a Jew or ask a Muslim to remove their kopf, which would be religious discrimination. So, why you want the Rasta man dem children to trim dem hair? When you refuse to give us our own schools to educate our children in the way that they should be educated, cause we refuse to be what you wanted us to be, enuh. We can’t be that anymore, because our eyes are opening, and the people’s eyes are opening every day. So, dem bakra master judge and dem system yah and ‘isms-skisims’ weh we have a fight against Rasta…Rasta need fi wake up and become industrious,” the reggae singer said in his 53-second video.
Two years ago, Dale and Sherine Virgo filed a lawsuit against Kensington Primary School in St Catherine, after their then five-year-old daughter was refused entry because of her locked hair. The parents argued that this was a breach of her constitutional rights.
However, last Friday, Justices Sonia Bertram-Linton, Evan Brown, and Nicole Simmons ruled that Kensington Primary School did not breach the child’s constitutional rights when it denied her access.
The child’s father — who is a studio manager and resident engineer at Gee Jam studio in Port Anotonio — also took to Instagram to say they plan to appeal the court’s decision.
“I love my kids very much. #ZaynVirgo #ZaharaVirgo. I will fight to the end of the world for you both. The courts said none of my daughter’s rights were breached. They have not provided the reasons as yet, as they need to be proofread before release. Still waiting. Fact of the matter, their ruling is their decision and we plan to appeal the decision,” he wrote.
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