DIVERSITY CORNER
The Treatise and th
Cultural, and
EDGARDO HERNANDEZ
The Palm Beach County School District
has emerged as a local leader in the fight
against discrimination, voting unanimously
in February to ban discrimination based on
hairstyles. As we begin to see more and
more headlines commending state and
local governments for implementing laws
to protect cultural hairstyles, it warrants
looking back at how we arrived here and
what must be done moving forward.
America’s original sin of racism and
discrimination began before America was
even an idea, with the arrival of 20 enslaved
Africans to the British Colony of Virginia
in 1619. 1 Although slavery was abolished in
1865 with the ratification of the Thirteenth
Amendment and principles of equality were
ratified in the U.S. Constitution with the
Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment, the belief system of racial
superiority ingrained in our culture and
laws for over 200 years has persisted to this
day. Some examples of this include the Jim
Crow era, the Supreme Court overturning
the Civil Rights Act of 1875, the inability of
minorities to vote, and bans on interracial
marriage. However, a tremendous step to
right America’s wrongs took place with the
passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Civil Rights Act is the most
comprehensive and progressive legislation
ever enacted to address discrimination in
America. Specifically, the Act prohibited
discrimination on the basis of race, color,
religion, or national origin. ii There were
provisions included to ensure equal
voting rights; to prohibit discrimination
and segregation in places of public
accommodations, public facilities, and
employment; and to order the desegregation
of public schools. iii The comprehensive and
ambitious nature of the Civil Rights Act has
led to extensive litigation and an extremely
large catalogue of case law challenging the
validity and breadth of authority granted
by the Act. Fortunately, in the landmark
case Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United
States, the Supreme Court upheld the
constitutionality of the Act, and overturned
its earlier rationale which had nullified the
Civil Rights Act of 1875. iv However, the courts
have failed to enforce the spirit of the law,
which is equality. Specifically, the courts
have not prohibited discrimination against
physical attributes of a race, including hair,
and have disregarded the historical and
cultural connections hairstyles have to
religion and national o
Historically, hairstyle
African cultural iden
African women wo
including locks, plaits
the communities to w
this was often an es
dress. v In addition to b
their community, hair
to indicate a person’s
religion, ethnic ident
within the commun
were enslaved, one
steps the slave trader
their identities was t
Multiple studies have
evaluate the impact
American women’s s
and sexual identities,
as linguistic identity
hair to racial identity c
economically by the
care industry in the U
There has been no s
that certain hairstyle
due to their associatio
groups. In 1786, the G
made it illegal for Cr
to display their natur
the use of a head sc
a bar in Virginia Bea
which prohibited bra
and dreadlocks becau
security person, the ow
hoppers” in the esta
recent example made
a black teenager in Tex
not be able to particip
ceremony unless he c
The rule was a part of
had been created just
the graduation cerem
is a plethora of evide
to racial, gender, and
long history of target
discrimination on the
the courts have failed
the Civil Rights Act of
The Equal Emplo
Commission (EEOC) fil
of Chastity Jones aft
position with Catas
Solutions solely b
dreadlocks. The suit w
District Judge Charles
the court found Titl
PBCBA BAR BULL