A Black high school softball player was in the midst of a big game when two umpires allegedly gave her a wild ultimatum– either remove her hair beads right then and there or sit out for the remainder of the game and let her teammates down. On April 19, at Hillside High School in Durham, the incident occurred about 25 miles northwest of Raleigh, North Carolina. According to the Raleigh News & Observer, teenage Nicole Pyles was ordered by two umpires to remove her hair beads while in the middle of the softball game.
One umpire was Black, while the other was white. They allegedly adhered to a National Federation of State High School Association’s (NFHS) softball rulebook prohibiting hair beads and plastic visors during games.
But Pyles wondered why the umpires hadn’t enforced the strict rule before the April game event, telling the Raliegh News & Observer, “I was upset. He had seen me play multiple times…if it was a rule that’s that important, why wasn’t it enforced the first time you spoke to me, or you saw me come on the field or off the field or any of that?”
Pyles made the tough decision to cut them, letting her teammates use scissors to remove the braids along with some of her hair. The experience left the young Black softball player feeling embarrassed and singled out.
“At this point, I feel humiliated, embarrassed because everybody was just trying to figure out what to do. I know these beads have to come out. There’s nothing I can do to stop this,” she told the Raleigh News & Observer about the ordeal.
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Durham Public Schools has since opened an investigation into the April incident, which some believe to be a clear case of hair discrimination. Stating that they think the NFHS rule is “culturally biased,” the district released a statement supporting it being changed.
“DPS supports our student-athletes and their right to self-expression in a manner befitting their culture, consistent with safety in training and competition. We believe the blanket ban on hair beads is culturally biased and problematic. We support our student, Nicole Pyles, and believe this rule should be amended.”
Stating that she would also love to see the rule changes, Pyles spoke on the impact the incident had affected her and her peers and other Black students.
“I want to see the rule changed, specifically the beads rule,” she told the Raleigh News & Observer, continuing that it “embarrassed me, hurt me, hurt my family, embarrassed my teammates on their senior night in front of their families, their friends, previous Hillside students who played at Hillside years ago and graduated college.”
