Your blind spot is that cornrows in the black community are generally not seen as sloppy or thuggish. Your comment seems to indicate that you feel it is. That’s more of (some) white people’s perceptions. So it’s literal racism when telling a minority group to conform to the dominant racial group’s perception of acceptable appearance - especially as it relates to hair where there’s obvious genetic and subsequent cultural differences. I guess you could argue he should’ve accepted the status quo - but that’s hardly a case for proving it isn’t problematic. By that measure, all black people 50 years ago shouldn’t challenge to having to wear a form of straight hair.

I understand that parents from all types of backgrounds correct their children in their appearance, but this circumstance demonstrates an example where adoptive parents need to be culturally sensitive and aware. I’m sure they did many things right and cared for him - he even says so in the article. But it doesn’t mean they were right in this circumstance. They, like anyone else, don’t have to be fundamentally racist in order to still have underlying racial biases and blind spots.