Hair discrimination is a form of prejudice against certain groups’ cultural aspects. Automatically deciding someone’s natural hair texture, appearance, or style is unkempt or unruly is clear discrimination. Sadly, this still happens a lot today and is legal in many states.
You might think that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964– which is supposed to protect against race-based discrimination, should prevent this, but it has fallen short of protection in this area. Many people feel that it is time to have clear legislation against this form of prejudice, and many individuals continue to be vocal of their experience with racist interactions towards their hair today. Some have gone public with their experiences of hair discrimination and gained attention in the national media. This includes DeAndre Arnold who was told he could not walk at high school graduation if he did not cut his locks, and Chastity Jones who filed a lawsuit against a company after they told her she would need to get rid of her locs in order to accept a position as they believed that the style “tend[s] to get messy.”
Dreadlocks are not the only style that are frequently discriminated against. Styles such as box braids also are targets of prejudice, and Black people tend to be heavily impacted by this form of discrimination, as these styles are woven throughout the culture. Black women are also disparaged against especially hard. According to the CROWN Coalition, they are 1.5 times more likely to be sent home from work based on hair discrimination and 80% more likely to feel the need to change their hair from its natural texture to go to work in comparison to white women. These numbers echo what civil rights leader Malcom X, claimed years ago, when he stated that Black women are the most disrespected and unprotected group in America.
Now, more than ever, it is time to see a change from the normalized racism in our systems and institutions. Dove and the CROWN Coalition created The Crown Act in 2019 which “prohibits discrimination based on a person’s hair texture or hairstyle if that style or texture is commonly associated with a particular race or national origin.” In September of this year, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Crown Act Bill. Since this is on a federal level, if the Senate and President also approves the bill it would go into effect for all 50 states. The latest action on the bill was that it had been referred to the Senate’s Judiciary Committee. Whether it is further passed or not, we need to all come together to reject racisim and discrimination in all areas, including the workforce, and to be relentless in advocating for positive change and action.