Ray From Cleveland
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- Aug 16, 2015
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Under new guidelines to be released this week by the New York City Commission on Human Rights, the targeting of people based on their hair or hairstyle, at work, school or in public spaces, will now be considered racial discrimination.
The change in law applies to anyone in New York City but is aimed at remedying the disparate treatment of black people; the guidelines specifically mention the right of New Yorkers to maintain their “natural hair, treated or untreated hairstyles such as locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, fades, Afros, and/or the right to keep hair in an uncut or untrimmed state.”
In practice, the guidelines give legal recourse to individuals who have been harassed, threatened, punished, demoted or fired because of the texture or style of their hair. The city commission can levy penalties up to $250,000 on defendants that are found in violation of the guidelines and there is no cap on damages. The commission can also force internal policy changes and rehirings at offending institutions.
The move was prompted in part by investigations after complaints from workers at two Bronx businesses — a medical facility in Morris Park and a nonprofit in Morrisania — as well as workers at an Upper East Side hair salon and a restaurant in the Howard Beach section of Queens. (The new guidelines do not interfere with health and safety reasons for wearing hair up or in a net, as long as the rules apply to everyone.)
New York City to Ban Discrimination Based on Hair
As a white lad in the 70's, I wore my hair longer. However it did present problems when being interviewed for a job. I was told straight out at some places of employment that if hired, I had to cut my hair. In private Catholic school, if your hair touched the top of your ears, you were sent home with a note to your parents you were suspended until you got your hair cut.
Whether for safety (working with machinery) health or simply appearance, employers and schools had the right to have standards on acceptable hair styles. I was alway told with jobs working with the public, the employee customers see represents the entire company.
So now in NY, that's entirely out the window, especially for minorities. If you don't want your cable television salesperson looking like a Jamaican refugee when he goes door to door, you can be fined 250K for not hiring that person. If you are hiring a receptionist for your corporation, you must hire the girl with half her purple hair down her back and the other half shaved like a marine.
Okay, so it's New York, it's their problem? Is it? This is what all of America can look like if we don't keep people like this from running our entire country.
The change in law applies to anyone in New York City but is aimed at remedying the disparate treatment of black people; the guidelines specifically mention the right of New Yorkers to maintain their “natural hair, treated or untreated hairstyles such as locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, fades, Afros, and/or the right to keep hair in an uncut or untrimmed state.”
In practice, the guidelines give legal recourse to individuals who have been harassed, threatened, punished, demoted or fired because of the texture or style of their hair. The city commission can levy penalties up to $250,000 on defendants that are found in violation of the guidelines and there is no cap on damages. The commission can also force internal policy changes and rehirings at offending institutions.
The move was prompted in part by investigations after complaints from workers at two Bronx businesses — a medical facility in Morris Park and a nonprofit in Morrisania — as well as workers at an Upper East Side hair salon and a restaurant in the Howard Beach section of Queens. (The new guidelines do not interfere with health and safety reasons for wearing hair up or in a net, as long as the rules apply to everyone.)
New York City to Ban Discrimination Based on Hair
As a white lad in the 70's, I wore my hair longer. However it did present problems when being interviewed for a job. I was told straight out at some places of employment that if hired, I had to cut my hair. In private Catholic school, if your hair touched the top of your ears, you were sent home with a note to your parents you were suspended until you got your hair cut.
Whether for safety (working with machinery) health or simply appearance, employers and schools had the right to have standards on acceptable hair styles. I was alway told with jobs working with the public, the employee customers see represents the entire company.
So now in NY, that's entirely out the window, especially for minorities. If you don't want your cable television salesperson looking like a Jamaican refugee when he goes door to door, you can be fined 250K for not hiring that person. If you are hiring a receptionist for your corporation, you must hire the girl with half her purple hair down her back and the other half shaved like a marine.
Okay, so it's New York, it's their problem? Is it? This is what all of America can look like if we don't keep people like this from running our entire country.
