Left Unprotected

I’ve been meaning to get a haircut. I usually get one every six months, but the last time I was able to go to a hair salon was in January 2020. Not long after, the pandemic started, and by August I had packed my bags and moved back to Nashville. With new surroundings and no go-to stylist, I had no choice but to hit the internet in search of someone who specializes in curly hair.

My search started on Devacurl’s stylist finder, but with no car and a pandemic that is still not over, I’ve had pretty bad luck. There were two stylists that I was able to find in the Nashville area, but one of them charges upwards of $300 for a trim, and appointment wait times exceed two weeks for the other salon.

For now, as I continue on my search for a salon, I’ve resorted to damage control. My hair is thinning, so I’m trying my best to use products that hydrate my hair and limit further harm. But this hasn’t exactly been easier. Maintaining curly hair requires different products than straight hair, and this does not come cheap. I haven’t been able to get a haircut in over 18 months, and these days I spend a small fortune on hair products.

I bring this up because different types of hair demand different types of care. For some, like myself, this requires added focus on hydration. But bear in mind, curls come in all shapes and sizes. There are the looser ringlets (like mine), but there are also tighter curls, better known as coils. These are frequently attributed to those of African descent, and coily hair benefits from not only extra hydration, but also from protective styling such as braids, wigs, and twists. This keeps hair safe from the elements, and for centuries it has been an important form of style and self-expression for the Black community.

This reality, however, hasn’t been acknowledged by the majority of White Americans. And hair has continued to be an avenue for discrimination in America.

In an interview with PBS, former television news anchor Brittany Noble-Jones recounts her experience in the workplace. She received permission from her boss to stop straightening her hair, but not long after, her boss approached her saying that her natural hair looked unprofessional. Noble-Jones filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but it was denied because hair is not an “immutable trait associated with race”. She was fired about one month later.

Noble-Jones is not alone in this struggle. The consequences of this discrimination spread far and wide. Men and women nationwide have been fired from jobs in the military and corporate America. Children have been sent home from school. Figures like Zendaya and Colin Kaepernick have faced media fire for choosing protective styling like afros and locs—reporters complained that their natural hair looked “unprofessional” and “dirty”.

Many of those privileged with straight hair struggle to understand why protective styling is necessary, and studies indicate that in addition to this lack of knowledge, there is also an implicit bias against natural hair.

Among the 4,000 people given an implicit association test, "a majority of people, regardless of race and gender, [held] some bias towards women of color based on their hair." Even though protective styling is something that Black Americans know is necessary for good hair health, even they demonstrate biases against the practice. So where do we go from here?

Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done to ameliorate even half of the damage that this discrimination has caused. And this discrimination should not have been taking place to begin with because anti-discrimination laws have been in action for decades. Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin, and has been in place since the Civil Rights Movement, yet it still fails to protect Black Americans. Women like Brittany Noble Jones may find new jobs in workplaces that don't discriminate based on hair, but this hardly undoes the years-long legal battles and emotional toll that dealing with discrimination can take.

Thankfully, implicit bias is not a given. Another key takeaway from this research demonstrated that although White women with no exposure to textured hair demonstrated the strongest explicit and implicit biases against textured hair, those with regular exposure to textured hair demonstrated significantly less bias.

This capacity to un-learn problematic behavior can be seen in recent legislation, specifically the passing of the CROWN Act (Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair). Discrimination against textured hair and protective styling is now outlawed in 12 states, and the CROWN Act bill just passed in the House of Representatives. All that is left is its passing in the Senate.

The CROWN Act is promising and I do strongly believe that we will eventually reach a point where people can wear their natural hair without any consequences, but this is the bare minimum. Protective styling holds deep cultural meaning for many Black Americans. Right now, that is not widely understood nor respected. Perhaps it’s wishful thinking, but I’d like to reach a point where textured hair is not only not villainized, but also appreciated.

I’ve only addressed the specifics of hair discrimination in the United States, and this is largely because that’s where the most information is available. But hair discrimination is not only an American issue—just look at the Tokyo Olympics.

On June 30, FINA, better known as the International Swimming Federation, rejected British company Soul Cap's request for use during the 2021 Olympics. Soul Caps focuses on natural hair swim caps that protect textured hair, but FINA rejected the company’s request on the grounds that the product didn’t follow the “natural form of the head”.

This decision sparked international outrage, and FINA agreed to reconsider their decision, but the Olympics are now over, and the International Swimming Federation never lifted the ban on natural hair swim caps.

But their decision should come as no surprise—the history of hair discrimination repeats itself. This ruling stemmed from a fundamental lack of understanding and education surrounding textured hair. Sports is just one more area where having Afro-textured hair leaves you with an ultimatum: protect your hair and face potentially career-ending repercussions, or stick to societal norms and damage your hair in the process.

The Black Lives Matter movement shook the world in 2020, and it has shed light on the many ways that white supremacy still exists in America. Discrimination against Black Americans is not always blatant, loud, or actively violent, but when we ignore more subtle means of cruelty and cultural attacks, we continue to leave communities unprotected against hate.

By Anita Mukherjee

Indie rock enthusiast and home chef who will always make time to watch a stand-up special