Thoughts On NYC’s Ban on Discrimination Based on Hair

ICYMI, New York City’s Commission on Human Rights banned the practice of discrimination based on hair.  The commission went as far as saying that targeting people based on hair/hairstyle at work, school, or public places will now be considered racial discrimination.  The new guidelines come in response to numerous complaints around NYC where employees have been demoted/terminated based on their hair.  

Now the city can actually penalize businesses for up to $250k that violate the guidelines and there is no cap in damages for the individuals that have been discriminated again. This is big news for NYC, because at a federal level there is nothing protecting people of color from discrimination based on their hairstyle.  Back in 2010 the Supreme Court refused to review a case where a black woman had a job offer rescinded because she would not cut off her dreadlocks.

Reading about this new development in NY took me back to 5 years ago when I used to work for a company tasked to find jobs for the City’s unemployed.  As an account manager, I developed relationships with businesses around the city and referred qualified candidates from the city’s pool of people on receiving welfare or collecting unemployment benefits.  The company I worked for was (and still is) a for-profit company. One of my former colleagues (affectionately) says that we were “poverty pimps” because essentially the company made money from the city but off the backs of poor people.  Regardless of how you look at it though, the company was effective in getting people jobs. Some jobs were better than others most but, I was able to help a lot of people get on their feet and I’m still proud of that today.

Back then there was one job seeker who happened to be Jamaican and a Rastafarian (Let’s call him Delroy because it’s the most Jamaican name that I can think of right now). Delroy made his rounds speaking to all the account managers and collecting interviews everyday.  He was an immigrant, legally able to work in the USA, but because he was trained as a carpenter overseas he found it difficult to find a job in his trade here. One of my co-workers sent him on an interview for a parking lot attendant position because he had his driver’s license.  Easy gig and should have been an on the spot hire; Delroy had his license and could drive stick shift as well. But after the interview, the employer called my colleague and said he would ONLY hire him if he agreed to cut off his dreadlocks.  

Being Trini (person born in Trinidad), I know better than to tell a Rasta to cut off his locks.  My co-worker (person born in the ‘burbs with very few black people) on the other hand, did not. Sure enough, Delroy was pissed the f–k off and he let everyone in the office know.  To this day I remember the pain, anger, and frustration on his face.

Pain, because he was rejected by a job that was simple and beneath his skill level.  

Anger, because he was being asked to remove something that had been a part of his identity his entire life.  

Frustration, because in order for him to survive, a part of him had to seriously considering it.   

Seeing Delroy’s expression five years ago was my first experience witnessing hair discrimination, but just two months ago the world got to see Andrew Johnson, a high school wrestler, in NJ forced to cut his dreads during a match by a racist referee (See the video here).  Despite the embarrassment and tears flowing down his face, Johnson managed to win his wrestling match. People of color are always asked forced to change their look and identity to make other people around them feel comfortable.

“Your hair is too big/curly/nappy…cut it!”  

“You speak a different language? This is America, speak English!”  

“Your skin is too dark?  Bleach it!”  

You would think that we would let people maintain their sense of self in 2019 but that unfortunately is not the case.

I had to reconcile these feelings a couple years ago.  I never wanted to grow my hair because I was worried that my natural hair would make me stand out too much in a corporate environment.  I worried that it would keep me from getting promoted and I thought my appearance needed to be conservative in order for me to be accepted. It took years for me outgrow this thinking and realize that being unique needs to be normalized.  We’ve got too many people with the same hive-mind dictating that everyone “needs” be like them.

It’s refreshing to see NYC take a step in the right direction and I hope the country eventually follows NYC’s example.  These new guidelines won’t change how people feel about someone’s hair.  The law does a lot of things, but it can’t teach morality, compassion, or understanding. There will always be people that will say that dreads look “disgusting” or “dirty” or that natural hair is “ugly”, etc.  Dr. King once said, “It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me but it can keep him from lynching me and I think that is pretty important.”.  That said, I’m all for getting the protections for people in place first and changing hearts and minds next.  

(Cover photo source: Pinterest)