Black hair is beautiful! It's time for America to stop telling us
otherwise
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Join us today in ending the practice of Black hair discrimination across
the nation
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Dear John,
Black children across America are being humiliated because of racist
policies that discriminate against natural hairstyles. Last year, 6
year-old Clinton Stanley Jr. was sent home from A Book’s Christian Academy
for having dreadlocks,^1 and 11 year old Faith Finnedy was sent home from
her school, Christ the King for wearing box braids.^2 These policies shape
the way Black kids see themselves and give permission to racist
institutions and educators to discriminate against them without
repercussion.
[ [link removed] ]Black kids deserve dignity! Join us as we push for legislation that
ends hair discrimination across the nation.
We at Color Of Change know that the only way to truly end these unjust and
racist practices is for a nationwide precedent to be set. That’s why Color
Of Change has partnered with the CROWN Coalition to fight hair
discrimination against Black folks across the country! We won in
California and New York, now we are fighting for federal protections to
end hair discrimination nationwide.
Every day, Black folks are being robbed of employment opportunities,
educational opportunities, and our dignity because employers and
institutions can code their racism in dress code policies and concepts
like ‘professionalism’ that were designed to keep us out.
[ [link removed] ]Let’s fight for nationwide legislation that protects us from
discrimination against Black hair!
Hair discrimination is not just happening in schools. Earlier this year,
Kerion Washington, a Black Texas teen, was denied a job at Six Flags
because they deemed his shoulder length locs an “extreme” hairstyle.^3
The only thing extreme here is the efforts that institutions and
corporations like Six Flags will take to control and regulate Black self
expression.
And when it comes to hair discrimination, Black women and girls endure
some of its harshest realities. Black women are still expected to perm or
straighten hair in corporate spaces and shamed or treated with disrespect
on a regular basis. A recent national study by Dove revealed Black women
are 80 percent more likely to change their natural hair to meet social
norms or expectations at work. It also showed that Black women are 1.5
times more likely to have reported being sent home or know of a Black
woman sent home from the workplace because of her hair.^4
[ [link removed] ]Let’s fight for nationwide legislation that protects us from
discrimination against Black hair!
Black people are still expected to conform to white standards of beauty
and expression. This shapes how we see ourselves and fuels the narrative
that our hair and our skin are embodiments of our oppression, when they
are actually embodiments of our pride. We deserve to wear our hair in ways
that feel celebratory of our personal power who we are as a people.
Right now, it is completely legal to discriminate against Black people for
wearing natural hair in 2019 in all but two states in America. Join us in
creating real change in our lifetime. These policies shape the way Black
kids see themselves and gives permission to institutions and bigoted
educators to discriminate against them without repercussion. Let’s build a
world where they can be who they are without facing hostility or backlash.
We at Color Of Change know that the only way to truly end these unjust and
racist practices is for a nationwide precedent to be set.
[ [link removed] ]Sign on to show the world the power of the people and end the practice
of policing Black hair!
Until justice is real,
--Janaya, Brandi, Rashad, Arisha, Jade, Evan, Johnny, Corina, Chad,
Marcus, FolaSade, Eesha, and the rest of the Color Of Change team
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References:
1. '6 year old boy with dreadlocks banned from private school in Orange
County',Orlando Sentinel, August 14
2018 [ [link removed] ][link removed]
2. 'Louisiana girl sent home from school over braided hair extensions'
NBC News, August 22
2018 [ [link removed] ][link removed]
3. 'Black teen denied job at Six Flags over locs sheds light on hair
discrimination' Rolling Out, July
2019 [ [link removed] ][link removed]
4. ' Ending hair discrimination with the Crown Coalition' Dove, 2019
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
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[ [link removed] ]Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black
folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. [ [link removed] ]Help
keep our movement strong.
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