e Hair: An Analysis of Racial,
Gender Discrimination
rigin.
s have been tied to
tity. Prior to slavery,
uld use hairstyles,
, and twists, to signify
hich they belonged;
sential part of their
eing used to identify
styles were also used
marital status, age,
ity, wealth and rank
ity. vi After Africans
of the preliminary
s would take to erase
o shave their heads.
been conducted to
hair has on African
ocial, ethnic, gender,
in addition to its use
. The importance of
an also be evidenced
$15 billion black hair
.S. vii
hortage of examples
s have been targeted
n with specific racial
overnor of Louisiana
eole women of color
al hair and required
arf. viii More recently,
ch had a dress code,
ids, twists, cornrows,
se, according to the
ner did not want “hipblishment.
ix Another
national news when
as was told he would
ate in his graduation
ut off his dreadlocks. x
a new dress code that
three months prior to
ony. Although there
nce tying hairstyles
ethnic identity, and a
ed racial and gender
basis of hairstyles,
to consistently utilize
1964 as a remedy.
yment Opportunity
ed a lawsuit on behalf
er she was denied a
trophe Management
ecause she had
as dismissed by U.S.
R. Butler, Jr., because
e VII only prohibits
discrimination based on immutable
characteristics. The court’s ruling was
upheld on appeal and the Supreme Court
denied Jones’ motion to be added to the
lawsuit and be heard by the court. xi
However, legislatures and other legal
authorities have recognized this clear
error of the courts and are slowly acting
as a check to fix the mistake and address
this form of discrimination directly. New
York City was the first entity to act when
its Commission on Human Rights issued
guidelines banning hair discrimination in
February of 2019. xii California became the
first state to ban hair discrimination with
the passage of the Crown Act; New York,
New Jersey, and Virginia followed. xiii This
movement has also recently hit close to
home with the Palm Beach County School
District’s unanimous vote to institute a
hair discrimination ban in February of this
year. Although this is a step in the right
direction, we should all seek to serve as
advocates at the legislative, judicial, and
commercial level for the expansion of hair
discrimination bans throughout Florida, in
line with the spirit and intent of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964.
Edgardo Hernandez is the Managing
Attorney at Trinity Law, P.A., where he
practices criminal, family and personal
injury law. Edgardo may be reached at
[email protected].
i
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/interactive/
slavery-united-states/
ii
https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/history/50th/thelaw/
civil_rights_act.cfm
iii
https://www.britannica.com/event/Civil-Rights-Act-
United-States-1964
iv
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Civil-Rights-Act-
United-States-1875
v
https://blackthen.com/you-cant-take-our-crowns-theimpact-of-slavery-on-black-womens-hair/
vi
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?cc=mfsf
ront;c=mfs;c=mfsfront;idno=ark5583.0022.105;rgn=main;
view=text;xc=1;g=mfsg
vii
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?cc=mfs
front;c=mfs;c=mfsfront;idno=ark5583.0022.105;rgn=main
;view=text;xc=1;g=mfsg
viii
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/j5abvx/
black-womens-hair-illegal-tignon-laws-new-orleanslouisiana
ix
https://web.archive.org/web/20120312222647/http://
www.totalinjury.com/news/articles/discrimination/
dreadlocks.aspx
x
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/blacktexas-teen-told-cut-his-dreadlocks-order-walkgraduation-n1120731
xi
https://rewire.news/ablc/2018/05/16/u-s-supremecourt-ignoring-black-hair-discrimination/
xii
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/430519-
nyc-to-ban-harassment-discrimination-based-onhairstyle
xiii
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/05/us/virginia-banhair-discrimination-bill-trnd/index.html
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