Earlier: World War H: California Bans Hair Discrimination
From the BBC:
Why women are fighting back against hair oppression
By Cache McClay
BBC News, Washington
13 December 2019Recent efforts to ban hair discrimination have amplified the struggle for women of colour and their natural hair, particularly in the workplace.
While many incidents of discrimination in schools and the workplace have recently surfaced on the news and on social media, this deep-rooted issue has unfortunately been a common reality for many black men and women.
A recent study by soap brand Dove found that a black woman is 80% more likely than a white woman to change her natural hair to meet social norms or expectations at work.
Tameka Amado, a young African American woman in Boston, says she has changed her hair “plenty of times” for work and school.
“When I was on the competitive cheerleading team, I was never allowed to wear my hair in its natural state. My coach made sure our hair was up and straight.
The repeated ironing of her hair caused it to start falling out in a her junior year, she says.
“For centuries our hair has been attacked. It’s uncomfortable to know you have no control of how your hair grows, the only thing you can control is how you wear it and how you protect it, and to not have that freedom is discrimination. It only happens with us.”
