Employers in New York can no longer refuse to hire a person because of their natural hair.
Last week, New York became the second state to ban discrimination against natural hair, including styles like braids, cornrows, locs, or twists. The law follows a similar one passed earlier this month in California.
The move may sound like it’s about freedom of expression, but it’s actually a step toward curbing racial discrimination.
A 2016 study by the Perception Institute found that on average, white women see straight hair as more attractive and professional than textured hair, and one in five black women “feel social pressure to straighten their hair for work.” Black women are also more likely to report spending time on their hair or having professional styling appointments than white women.
California and New York are the only states to explicitly ban discrimination related to hair, but legal battles over natural hair have been going on for years.
In 1976, a U.S. Court of Appeals in Jenkins v. Blue Cross Mutual Hospital Insurance ruled that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, workers are entitled to sport Afros.
“For so long, the conversation around black hair has also been attached to messages about professionalism, standards of beauty, cleanliness, and worthiness,” Kalida Brown, a professor of Sociology and African American Studies at UCLA, told Vice. “I hate to think about the psychological damage that these patently ridiculous conversations have had on black people and how we view our worth.”
Last December, the plight of a high school wrestler went viral after he was forced to cut his hair or forfeit a match. Many viewers attributed the incident to racism, and even Olympic wrestler and gold medalist Jordan Burroughs weighed in.
“I know as a young black man how much my hair meant to me,” he said in a video. “And I also know as a black man how long it takes to grow dreads and how much discipline it takes to maintain them.”
Both the Navy and the Army have updated their grooming guidelines in the past couple of years to include braided styles or locs. The new laws in New York and California may not immediately change public perception, but they’re hopefully a step toward recognizing that not all hair looks alike, and there should be no resistance to embracing your natural hair.
By Madeline Fry
