How are African American individuals discriminated against in professional settings based on their hair?
Black women are 1.5x more likely to be sent home from work because of their hair (The CROWN ACT,2019). Hairstyles such as dreads, locs, cornrows, and box braids are pivotal parts of African American culture(Jones,2020). Yet, African Americans are often discriminated against based on these styles, which causes them to lose their jobs, credibility, and even schooling (Robinson, D. E., & Robinson, T., 2020). Laws that enact protocols to reduce this should be enforced to reduce the amount of discrimination in professional settings. Natural hair in this article should be defined as “hair that has not been altered by chemical straighteners, including …show more content…
Among them, 41% changed their hair from curly to straight”(The CROWN ACT,2023). Alesia I. Redding states that “part of the problem is a standard of beauty that fails to include black women. "America has always wanted us to look one way and anything different is a big deal. "(Redding, 2023). A quote from Malcom X reflecting on his hair and actions done to it states “This was my first real big step toward self-degradation: when I endured all of that pain, literally burning my flesh to have it look like a white man’s hair. I have joined the multitude of black men and women in America who are brainwashed into believing that Black people are “inferior”- and white people “superior” – they will even violate and mutilate their God-created bodies to try to look ‘pretty’ by white standards.” (Malcolm X et al., 1999). This furthers the point that the pressure to fit in with those around you, specifically Eurocentric standards, is prominent in society. Hair discrimination as defined by Nkimbeng is “Hair discrimination that is sometimes referred to as hair bias, hair racism, or hair harassment is defined as
Black women are 1.5x more likely to be sent home from work because of their hair (The CROWN ACT,2019). Hairstyles such as dreads, locs, cornrows, and box braids are pivotal parts of African American culture(Jones,2020). Yet, African Americans are often discriminated against based on these styles, which causes them to lose their jobs, credibility, and even schooling (Robinson, D. E., & Robinson, T., 2020). Laws that enact protocols to reduce this should be enforced to reduce the amount of discrimination in professional settings. Natural hair in this article should be defined as “hair that has not been altered by chemical straighteners, including …show more content…
Among them, 41% changed their hair from curly to straight”(The CROWN ACT,2023). Alesia I. Redding states that “part of the problem is a standard of beauty that fails to include black women. "America has always wanted us to look one way and anything different is a big deal. "(Redding, 2023). A quote from Malcom X reflecting on his hair and actions done to it states “This was my first real big step toward self-degradation: when I endured all of that pain, literally burning my flesh to have it look like a white man’s hair. I have joined the multitude of black men and women in America who are brainwashed into believing that Black people are “inferior”- and white people “superior” – they will even violate and mutilate their God-created bodies to try to look ‘pretty’ by white standards.” (Malcolm X et al., 1999). This furthers the point that the pressure to fit in with those around you, specifically Eurocentric standards, is prominent in society. Hair discrimination as defined by Nkimbeng is “Hair discrimination that is sometimes referred to as hair bias, hair racism, or hair harassment is defined as