Ms. Antoinette Jones Gaston was asked by her job to straighten her natural hair because it was deemed unprofessional.
High school student, Andrew Johnson was forced to cut off his locs or forfeit his match because his hair “violated regulations”.
A young black girl in Louisiana was suspended from school, because her natural hair violated the school’s hair policy of being too “distracting”.
These are all situation which demonstrate hair discrimination in places of work and school. With more African Americans embracing their natural hair, these rules and regulations are becoming a huge problem. This is because our hair is associated with our racial identity. Therefore these “rules” are a direct insult to our culture. To be told that your not allowed to wear your hair the way it grows out of your scalp isn’t okay. It seems as if naturals are being punished for choosing not to conform.
In the past these rules and regulations weren’t a problem because many African Americans had haircuts, wore wigs, had perms or relaxers, and hadn’t yet embraced their natural hair. But with the natural hair movement on the rise, more and more situations of hair discrimination are being brought to societies attention.
It’s certainly has been brought to the attention of the New York City Commission on Human Rights. They have recognized the issue of hair discrimination in places of work and schools, and are now classifying it as racial discrimination. They are establishing new rules and guidelines which will protect naturals in New York from being harassed, threatened, punished, demoted or fired because of their hair. Anyone facing this issue of discrimination may take legal action up to $250,000, and there may be even more consequences.
I appreciate New York for recognizing this problem because one, it’s my home, and two, this is a problem that doesn’t affect everyone, therefore everyone might not understand or really see it as an issue. Now that there are guidelines in place more people and children will be comfortable wearing their hair natural.
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New York City Classifies Hair Restrictions as Discrimination – WSJ