14 | THE VOICE MAY 2023
L’Myah Sherae
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No child should face Afro hair school ban
DISHEARTENING: Some schools still have policies banning youngsters from wearing longer hair (photos: Rod Waddington, Ben Masora, DCMA, Sol Stack)
More still needs to be done to stop inhumane discrimination
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BOY SHOULDN’T have long hair! He’ll look like a girl!” The phrase sounds so outdated, right? Even when I re-read the sentence in my head, I automatically imagined it being said in a toddler’s voice — that’s how childish it sounds. But what’s concerning is that there are so many adults that still hold these views. And even worse — the stereotypes are often legitimised in school policy. I had a meeting with a colleague about this recently. She spoke about how happy she was that our campaign against Afro hair discrimination in schools led to changes in national policy guidance. Because of our campaign, the Equality and Human Rights Commission warned that if a school bans hairstyles that are commonly associated with children of African and Caribbean descent, then they are likely to be breaking the law. Yes, it’s a fantastic result, but it’s not entirely perfect. The same colleague mentioned to me that some schools still have policies banning boys from wearing long hair, retaining longer hairstyles for girls only. Even though my work predominantly focuses on race, rather than gender, our conversation immediately invoked the following questions in my mind: if there are schools still banning boys from having “long hair”, then what does that mean for boys who have long locs, or cornrows, for example? How does law and policy guidance protect Black children from racial discrimination, in instances where gender stereotypes are allowed to prevail? Clearly there’s a loophole here, especially when it comes to safeguarding children and encouraging them to embrace their identity.
Clearly there’s a loophole here, especially when it comes to safeguarding children Whilst I’m over the moon that our new policy guidance on Afro hair discrimination has been published, I do think more needs to be done to ensure that uniform policies refrain from discriminating against different groups of children. It’s obvious that this isn’t only about race — gender stereotypes can have a disproportionate and adverse impact upon Black boys in particular, too. It is important to acknowledge, however, that there have been significant shifts abroad, especially in relation to hair discrimination and protecting Black children. Certain states in America provide pretty useful examples. You may have heard that in California in 2019, a sweeping new law banned college and workplace discrimination against natural Black hairstyles, including locs and braids. California’s Governor signed a bill about this at a ceremony in his office, after it passed both chambers of the California legislature with unanimous support. The bill amended existing anti-discrimination laws to include hair as part of protected racial characteristics, and it is likely to inspire laws in other US states, too. I want to take a moment to provide extra context about this, as exploring America’s
history reveals the painful and deep-rooted connection between racism, anti-Blackness and hair discrimination. For example, after the Black Power movement in the 1960s and 70s, when Afros were often perceived as a political statement, hair discrimination became worsened by “grooming policies” enforced in schools, workplaces, and the military. In fact, the United States Army had actually banned locs for female service members until 2017, which is when the policy was finally overturned. In 2016, three US judges ruled against Chastity Jones, a Black woman in Alabama who filed a racial lawsuit against the com-
L’Myah Sherae is founder of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Race Equality in Education
Punishing a child for their natural hair is not only unacceptable, but genuinely inhumane pany that revoked her job offer because she refused to cut off her locs. In 2018, a six-year-old boy was denied entry to his school in Florida for wearing locs. In 2019, a Black high school wres-
tler was subjected to public humiliation when his coach cut off his locs to avoid forfeiting a match. The case studies are endless; and to be honest, disheartening. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. In more recent years, Afro hair discrimination is finally starting to be addressed, which is in part thanks to the CROWN (Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Act. There’s much more that can be done in the UK, too. Yes, we have the Equality Act which protects against racism. And yes, we have our new national policy guidance against Afro hair discrimination. But I want to ensure that all
schools are aware that punishing a child for their natural hair is not only unacceptable, but genuinely inhumane. It’s time to get rid of the grey areas and the loopholes — and that includes addressing gender stereotypes in hair policies, too. The idea of assimilation over authenticity is something that Black people around the world have had to contend with as we face continued discrimination against our hair — one of many tactics that has been used to dehumanise our community. We need to end this harmful cycle. And, a core part of that must be through the creation of stronger laws and policies to protect children.
