Change Your World Week Winter 2022 (Archived)

Hair discrimination is the unjust social and economic treatment of a marginalized culture by the dominant culture based on hair, which, in a country riddled with centuries of anti-Black racism (looking at you, America), typically refers to afro-textured hair. The colonial misperception that natural Black and Afro-textured hair are “other,” “nappy,” “kinky” and “inappropriate,” still permeates modern workplaces, schools and institutions when people demonstrate negative bias against hairstyles (i.e. protective styles—braids, locs, twists and knots) or texture (i.e. afros, curls, etc.) in favor of Euro-centric, white hairstyles and texture.

1. A Black woman is 80% more likely to change her natural hair to meet social norms or expectations at work
2. Black women are 1.5 times more likely to be sent home or know of a Black woman sent home from the workplace because of her hair
3. The US has a long history of hair discrimination. For example, in the 1700s, the Tignon Laws were passed in Louisiana. These laws required women of color to cover their hair with a scarf or tignon.
4. Black students, and especially young black girls, are disciplined disproportionately for violating school grooming policies. In one of the most well-known cases, a Florida prep school disciplined a student for wearing her hair natural, claiming her natural hair violated the dress code.
5. According to The CROWN Research Study, employers are over 3 times as likely to perceive black women’s hair as unprofessional compared to non-black women.
6. The US military recently changed its grooming policies to reflect the concerns of female and particularly black female soldiers who are often disciplined for failing to adhere to authorized hairstyles.
7. One of the most famous cases of hair discrimination in sports occurred when a high school wrestler who is black was forced to either cut off his dreads or forfeit a wrestling match.
8. 13 states, 22 cities, and 6 counties have passed The CROWN Act or a similar law banning hair discrimination in the workplace, at school, or both. 17 US states have either filed or pre-filed the CROWN Act or a similar law.
9. The following states have never filed The CROWN Act or a similar law: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Hair discrimination isn’t new. In fact, US states have been passing laws that discriminate against black hair since the 1700s. Check out more facts about the history of black hair discrimination in the US below.

• 18th Century Louisiana passed the Tignon Laws, requiring women of color to wear a “tignon” or scarf over their hair. These laws came about because black women preferred elaborate hairstyles, which attracted wealthy white male attention.
• At the end of the 1800s, Madam C.J. Walker invented the hair-straightening comb. This invention spurred black women to straighten their hair as a signal of class. Straight hair was the norm for much of the early 20th century.
• Yet, in 1972, researchers studied the hair preferences of black teens in St. Louis, MO. The study showed that 90% of young black men and 40% of young black women preferred natural styles.
• In 1976, the first-ever natural hair discrimination case went to the US Court of Appeals. This case is known as Jenkins v. Blue Cross Mutual Hospital Insurance, and it set the standard for fighting bias against afros in the workplace.
• Despite Jenkins v. Blue Cross, a 1981 lawsuit brought against American Airlines established legal precedent for workplace discrimination against protective hairstyles. This precedent allowed Hyatt Regency hotels to legally fire Cheryl Tatum in the 1990s when she refused to take out her cornrows while in the workplace.

The CROWN Act (short for The “Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair” law) is a law to end hair discrimination based on hairstyle or texture. It also requires jobs and schools to update any policies put in place that use biased language that focuses on a person’s appearance. The law was created in 2019 by Dove and other organizations like Color of Change, National Urban League and Western Center on Law & Poverty.

In 1964, the U.S Government passed a Civil Rights Act that put a stop on discrimination when hiring employees. This is a problem that some face daily, and it needs to stop. As a community, we need to find ways to make others aware of this kind of discrimination. 

https://www.dove.com/us/en/stories/campaigns/the-crown-act.html#! (n.d.).

Kennedy, Kennedy, Dasia, Dasia, Editor, & Editor. (2022, March 14). 99+ hair discrimination laws in the US (by states) Statistics & Facts in 2022. AfroLovely. Retrieved April 1, 2022, from https://afrolovely.com/hair-discrimination-laws-in-the-us/