Photo Credits: Chris McGrath/Getty Images
When you’re going into 2019 you don’t expect things like this to happen—it just goes to show you we still clearly have a long way to go as a society.
A high school wrestler was told by a referee he could not compete in his match unless he cut his dread locs. The referee is reportedly known for his racism. Andrew Johnson is on the wrestling team at Buena High School and was competing in a match against Oakcrest High School on Thursday. Johnson had his hair styled in dread locs and was almost forced to forfeit the match because of them.
Johnson usually wears head gear during his matches but this time the ref wouldn’t allow it. The young man was then forced to either cut his hair or lose the match and let him team down. Being the team player that he clearly is, he made the tough decision to cut his hair.
As upsetting as this may be, there is a victory at the end of this. Johnson, who was competing in the 120-pound weight class, won his match in overtime. This win helped propel his school to a huge overall victory. South New Jersey News reported that the match was important for Buena HS because it can potentially affect the outcome of the race for a conference championship. Journalist and activist Shaun King shared the story in his social media pages this morning and it has since gone viral. Take a look at the tough video below:
