Discriminating against someone based on their hair is now illegal in New York City

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Discriminating against someone based on their hair is now illegal in New York City.

Hair discrimination is illegal in NYC

Buzzfeed reports, a new guidance under the New York City Human Rights Law, states New Yorkers have the right to style their hair consistent with their racial, ethnic, or cultural identities.

The ban explicitly contains language meant to help protect Black citizens, highlighting Black and people of color New Yorkers have the right to wear their hair in “locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, fades, Afros and/or the right to keep hair in an uncut or untrimmed state.”

The specifics of the ban

Employers, educators and gatekeepers of public spaces can now no longer exclude or fire people based on the appearance of their hair.

The ban does exclude individuals who work in sanitation or safety such as food workers or surgeons, who must wear hair covers. However, the guidance makes it clear employers requiring the restraining of hair for health and safety reasons must demand it of all employees of all ethnicities.

Making hair discrimination illegal and it’s bold statement

New York City’s first lady, Chirlane McCray, praised the change to the policy, saying it was well needed because “bias against the curly textured hair of people of African descent is as old as this country and a form of race-based discrimination.”

New York City Human Rights Commissioner and Chair Carmelyn Malalis championed behind the policy as well, telling BuzzFeed News,

“We want to make the bold statement that these prohibitions on hairstyles that are closely associated with Black people are a form of race discrimination. They really fail to consider the toll these bans take on Black identity.”

Black hair discrimination made national news in December when a black high school wrestler in New Jersey was forced to cut his locs by a referee or face disqualification.

Malalis highlighted this incident as “one one of the moments that propelled” the new guidelines.

“I think I had the same visceral reaction that a lot of people did,” she said of first watching the video of the teen’s hair being shaved. “[I was] horrified that somebody would be forced to change something so possibly central to their identity in order to participate in a sports activity.”

Photo Source: Bruce Mars/Nappy.co