Your Hair, Your Right?

• Author: Bubar, Joe

Some students and employees are being targeted for their hairstyle. New 'hair discrimination' laws aim to stop the practice.

A high school student in New Jersey forced to cut off his dreadlocks or forfeit a wrestling match. Fifteen-year-old twin sisters from Massachusetts threatened with suspension, kicked off their high school track team, and barred from attending prom for wearing braid extensions. An 11-year-old girl sent home from school in Louisiana all because of her braids.

These are just a few recent examples of black students being punished for hairstyles that violated dress codes. Now lawmakers in a growing number of cities and states are hoping to stop that from happening in the future.

California and New York last summer became the first states in the country to pass laws that treat the targeting of people based on their hair or hairstyle at school, at work, or in public spaces as racial discrimination. Cincinnati, Ohio, and Montgomery County, Maryland, also recently passed similar legislation on the heels of New York City, which banned hair discrimination last winter. And New Jersey, Tennessee, Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and other states are considering doing the same.

The regulations apply to anyone, but they're specifically aimed at remedying the unfair treatment many African Americans face because of the texture or style of their hair. They're based on the argument that hair is inherent to one's race and is therefore protected under existing human rights laws, which outlaw discrimination on the basis of race, gender, national origin, religion, and other protected classes.

Schools and businesses in those places can no longer ban certain hairstyles associated with black people. Students and employees can file discrimination lawsuits if they believe they've been singled out because of their hair.

"Too often we see people of color, particularly women, who are told their hair is unprofessional or not appropriate in public settings," says New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. "These discriminatory policies sideline people of color--keeping children out of their classrooms and diminishing who they are. "

Stereotyping Hair

Throughout history, black people have been stereotyped because of their hairstyles. Wearing an Afro in the 1960s, for instance, was often seen solely as a political statement even when it was a purely stylistic choice, says Noliwe Rooks, a professor of Africana studies at Cornell University.

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