Split Over Hair

• Author: Stephanie Zimmermann
• Pages: 18-19

Carefully layer ing

one tiny strand of

hair over another,

Tameka Stigers has

spent years honing

her talent for Africa n-

inspired, natural hair braiding.

The style she currently speci alizes

in, delicate little t wists trademarked

as Sisterlocks, involves a proc ess that

can take up to 12 hours a nd relies on

patiently working on small sect ions

of hair with the ha nds, rather than

using chemicals, hai r irons or scis-

sors. Stigers’ hair-braid ing skills have

become so prized that the St . Louis

woman opened a free-st anding salon

dedicated to natur al braiding last

yea r.

Yet a cloud is hanging above

her new busines s. Under Missouri

law, for Stigers to operate legally,

she would have to attend at least

1,500 hours of cosmetology cla sses,

in which she’d learn dyeing, cut-

ting, perming and other sk ills that

have nothing to do with Af rican-

style braiding. “It’s the most asinine

thing,” says Stigers, who has a mas -

ter’s degree in public health.

The Missouri legislat ure passed

a bill that will fi nally give St igers a

break. Instea d of making hair braid-

ers earn a degree i n cosmetology,

the law, passed in May, will require

them to watch an in-dept h instruc-

tional video on health and sa nita-

tion, register wit h the state, and pay

a small licensing fee. Former Gov.

Eric Greitens signed it on his way out

of o ce in e arly June; absent a chal-

lenge, it will take e ect this month.

Braiders such as Stigers, who

worked illegally under the old

scheme, will be able to come out

National

Pulse

brain health. For example, the

American Youth Soccer Orga nization

bans headers by anyone younger

than 12. USA Rugby mandates t hat

players 18 and younger who have had

a concussion sit out two weeks and

be symptom-free before beg inning

the fi ve-day ret urn-to-play protocols.

SAFETY MEASURES

Over the past several ye ars, Pop

Warner has adjusted the ru les for

safety concerns. For exa mple, the

league mandated th at all coaches

receive more training whi le reducing

contact dril ls to 25 percent of prac-

tice time and eliminat ing kicko s.

“Datalys Institut e’s r esearch data

show that Pop Warner rules and

Heads-Up football train ing result

in [an] injur y rate that has 87 percent

fewer injuries than non-Heads-Up/

non-Pop Warner programs,” accord-

ing to the organization’s website.

“We’ve worked with medical

experts to m ake the game safer

than it’s ever been in 90 years.

That’s because of coaching edu-

cation, more stringent rules a nd

greater awareness of concu ssions.

There’s been a change in the culture

of youth football,” He ron says.

He would not comment on the

ongoing litigation.

“Pop Warner is not engaging in

self-regulation,” says Finnert y, w ho

also worked for the NFL players’

settlement. “The NF L and Pop

Warner are saying they are ma king

every e ort t o reduce head trauma.

It’s not true, even while they may

be engaging in ad campa igns

sug gest ing th at.”

The civil suit—fi led on beha lf

of those who played on Pop Warner

tackle team s since 1997 and su ered

brain injury or disea se—claims

negligence, f raud and fraudulent

concealment on the part of the

youth football league.

In February, U.S. District Judge

Philip S. Gutierrez reject ed a motion

by Pop Warner to dismiss the case.

A trial date ha s not been set.

“These mot hers would like

compensation for their losses, but

more importantly they wa nt to

raise awareness for other parent s

about the long-term damage,”

Finnerty says. Q

Split

Over Hair

Proponents of dereg ulation

seek to untangle laws

on hair braiding

By Stephanie Zimmermann

from the shadows. The old rules, she

says, “absolutely did not make sense.”

If Stigers were to move her busi-

ness to nearby Tennessee, however,

she’d be back on the wrong side of the

law. Braiders there must complete at

least 300 hours of train ing and get a

specialty licens e to run a legal braid-

ing business. An e or t to loosen the

Tennessee regulations fell apart i n

March amid a separate fi ght about

combining barber and cosmetolog y

licenses.

RELAXING REGULATIONS

Hair braiding in the United Stat es

is governed by a patchwork of regu-

lations—or lack of them—that critics

say have not kept pace with popular

braiding styles. The hodgepodge i s

providing an opening for liber tarian-

leaning lawyers.

The nonprofi t Institute for Justice,

a legal organization founded w ith

money from fr ee market proponent

Charles Koch, has t aken on what it

says are unfair a nd oppressive regu-

lations for hair braiders. The trend is

in its favor. Over the past four years,

more than a dozen states have loos-

ened their rules for hair bra iders—

with an additiona l handful of state

legislatures close to join ing them.

According to the inst itute’s run-

ning tally of legislat ion, some 25

states had no licensi ng requirement

for hair braiders as of mid-June.

Another 15 or so states, includi ng

Illinois, Missouri a nd New York, plus

the District of Columbia , have cre-

ated specialty h air-braiding licenses

that have much easier training

requirements than for cosmet ology.

About 10 states require ha ir braiders

to undergo the more rigorous process

of going to cosmetology school and

getting a cosmetology l icense.

Even so, some hair professionals

still want ru les in place to protect

consumers from unsan itary practices

and give them a place to complai n.

In 2011, North Carolina shif ted from

requiring no license for braiders t o

enacting a specia lty license with a

300-hour educ ation requirement.

CENTURIES-O LD CRAFT

Africa n-style braiding has soared

in popularity in r ecent years, as

celebrities such as Beyoncé and Nick i

18 || ABA JOURNAL AUGUST 2018

The Docket