Well, short hair for men hadn’t become THE thing yet at that point, depending on where you lived and your socioeconomic status. Check out photos of Civil War officers online–they had some pretty wild hair that no doubt would have given 1950s dads a heart attack about them being beatniks/hippies. It seems like the tide started to turn around 1900.
When I first read this article, I actually assumed that it was more “grumpy old man is anti-hippie” sentiment, but that’s just because of my own history. I wore my hair long when I was growing up (1980s) and got lots of crap for it from grumpy old men, and I had no religious or historical reasons for wearing it that way. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are pockets of the country that still consider a buzz cut the only suitably masculine haircut.
That said, I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if it was a mix of “men should look like men!” AND racism in this case. I’ve yet to see a U.S. school dress code that doesn’t feature some sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, or the like.
