If you are a Black woman who lives and works in the corporate environment in New York City, you can now wear your natural textured hair to work without fear of retribution.
NYC guidelines now make it illegal to discriminate against people of African descent who wear their natural curly textured hair to work.
“Bias against the curly textured hair of people of African descent is as old as this country and a form of race-based discrimination,” said NYC first lady Chirlane McCray, who is a proud member of Team Natural.
READ ALSO: TV Anchorwoman Says Boss Called Her Natural Hair ‘Too Unprofessional’
Officials at the NYC Commission on Human Rights say the guidelines, which apply to anyone, will predominantly protect people of African descent who have been harassed and even terminated for wearing their natural curly textured hairstyles.
“In New York City, 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,” Human Rights Commissioner and Chair Carmelyn Malalis told BuzzFeed News in a phone interview. “They really fail to consider the toll these bans take on black identity.”
Black women in particular have been harassed in the workplace for wearing afros, dreadlocks, twists, bantu knots, and braids extensions or so-called protective hairstyles.
“Hair is an incredibly personal thing. Hair is a part of you, and as such we want to make sure that people can express themselves,” Malalis told BuzzFeed.
New York is the first major city to impose a ban on discriminating against natural textured hair. But other cities are still far behind the times.
Brittany Noble-Jones was let go from her job as an anchorwoman for a Mississippi TV station after she objected to her boss referring to her natural hairstyle as “too unprofessional” for broadcast.
While on leave to care for her dying grandfather, Noble-Jones was fired. The station cited her absence from work, not her hair, as the reason for her termination.
Noble-Jones wrote a post about her ordeal on Medium.com. She said her hope was, “that by talking about my hair it shines a light on some of the problems we as journalists face in sharing stories about people of color.”
Photo by Westend61 / Getty Images, Tim Robberts / Getty Images, Hinterhaus Productions / Getty Images, Ariel Skelley / Getty Images
Please this should be illegal in every state. The fact that this had to made into a law for people to abide by is disgusting
The addition of Noble-Jones on this post confirms that they will only get crafty and find ways around the law. Shame that it even need to be a law of this nature.
Go head New Yawk! ?
? you right.
Very true. You cant legislate away racism. Law or no law, employers can always find underhanded ways to deny black folks employment or promotions. Sad.
This just goes to show that discrimination is still very real. A lot of people still fell to realize, this, I remember, when I had locs, in Atlanta, about 8 years ago and put in an application for a company that would not hire me unless I cut them. That was a no go…did not care about the salary. ..
So true
Word!
Agreed
Now.
Lordttt
It should NEVER be illegal or a problem for us to wear our natural God given hair. Sheesh…anything to oppress us more when we are trying to rise up https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/632393d11128e128e2c959ea6c6f7f7c2e7bba002608d15852f2ec8558da5d1e.jpg
Thank you!!! Now if I could just get my darn curl pattern right, its perfect while wet but when it dries….. ???? Roses because we never steer each other wrong: 1. any of you have experience with a keratin blowout? Stylist said it will help define my curl. 2. What is the best edge control?
Chile…. Why are kids doing this??? ?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6717387/Girl-9-hanged-mother-told-early-cellphone.html
I think women of color who decide to go natural are so beautiful. Carla Hall is a great example of how to keep it professional and pretty. I like dreds an all but that natural look is soooooooooo beautiful
Idk but it’s sad I’m wondering how kids this young are coming up with ways to take their own life and most of them are doing it by hanging
Ion know but … pray over your babies sweet Jesus https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6f810f9dcac935e19c5cd01c08f3297b7f95d43412be1355598b96703fee26e5.gif
Who great auntie that is? Lol
From my understanding a keratin treatment is not for black hair nor is it good for your hair. I had a coworker years ago jay used to get these. She was a light skinned Jamaican and swore she had good hair.? I cringe at the process alone to get this. It does last longer than a person but I would never get one. One of the ingredients is something used in embalming fluid.
NOOOOOOO…I’ve heard the opposite. One of my friends didn’t think her hair was ever gonna curl back up again after getting them for a while.
You just gotta do a whole lotta experimenting. Mix and match. You’ll come up with right concoction. You might have to use gobs and use it in addition to – Wetline Extreme Gel is the truth for the low low.
Good that’s wassup.. they should have been did this sooo many black women can’t wear their natural hair.. can’t remember the last time i saw a news reporter wearin her natural hair and if she did it was only for a few days
I know it’s crazy, but that’s the era we’re living in. Kids today cannot go more than 15 minutes without being on their smartphones, texting, YouTube, instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, etc. It’s a real life matrix and the kids are plugged in.
White women get that treatment to keep their hair straight as well. We weren’t taught how to maintain our natural hair so the simple solution was just to perm it. You have to figure out what your ph balance is with your hair. How much moisture does it retain etc
Get a silkener also known as a texturizer. Most of the naturalists on YouTube have them they just lie to sell the hair creams. Miss Jessie does them at thier salons. But you can just get one anywhere.
I have found that when I wore straight wigs my white coworkers are more relaxed around me . I wear it natural to get under thier skin . My way of saying eff you to the establishment.
Thank you, brotha! My husband, like you, adores natural hair.
My ex was greek and his mother had the effing audacity to ask me “Why is your hair like that?”I told her black Jesus told me it was because white people were edomites and I needed the protection from thier evil. Fast forward we ain’t a thing no mo. Lmaooooo.
I would not do that , it could destroy your curl pattern. ….
Eco styler is my ish. No other concoctions can make hold a wave. My hair is coarse and wavy not a damn curl. It’s easy to detangle but no real curl only waves. I just untwist it be for it dries to define the wave or it will look like ramen noodles.
You are blessed to have a husband who adores natural hair because most men love weaves but yet crack on them.
It’s a start… Whoop Whoop!!
Its sad that black men pick on natural hair because that is the hair from the scalp but yet yall get on women with weaves to. We can never win.
Oh the level of entitlement is troubling… Now parents are gonna be scared to set rules and boundaries for usage out of fear their child will do something like that too
I tried that and three pieces of the same strand of hair did three different things… ?
Like a “law” is going to prevent discrimination. Women need to worry more about that #metoomovement.
Google how to find the ph balance of your babe
They are not coming up with ways; it’s at their fingertips readily available for their viewing via smart phones.
Thank you. He never puts down weaves (which I don’t wear) but I must say that I really take care of my natural hair. My MIL, who never wears her real hair, says that I’m giving her the confidence to wear her own natural hair.
That’s petty as hell to discriminate against our natural hair. In know about this world.
I definitely wouldn’t do the chemicals. I use WETLINE gel and it is curl defining on my natural hair which is very curly. I also use curls dynasty, the whole line. Kinda pricey but worth it. There are other lines as well. One new one I saw on the news is mielle organics. Start on yt.
Yes. This happens. Happened to me. I have kinky curly hair. I can’t help it. I am half black and I love beautiful hair, it’s took me a long time to love it. But my boss would always ask me to straighten my hair, MF’r, you know that takes hours? I was sent home and humiliated. Still makes me mad. And I just worked in the office.
I use as a Just For Me relaxer still. I get it done about every 2 to 3 years it doesn’t straighten it out completely but it does tame it.
This law won’t end prejudice based on skin color, race or on how a person wears their hair as an African American.
The workplace (individuals in charge) will always use biases to get rid of people.
But, at least, someone manager or HR may think twice or go an extra mile to camouflage discrimination!
Natural hairstyles are becoming increasingly popular (buns, puffs, twists, French braids, etc.) and a big Afro is SIMPLY STUNNING!
Good
Thats HORRIBLE! You still work there?
No thank god.
It’s about time!
The companies just will not hire black women….that ends that.
I don’t know how your hair looks or how you still it. I would imagine it’s big and full and flowing…..but there is SOME BLACK HAIR, honest to goodness, it’s nappy as heck and the women don’t keep their hair clean and styled. I’m just saying!
Corporations are thinking about their clients – who are usually whites and male. The “image” that natural hair sends is not welcoming….I’m just saying. But then again, it depends on the style. Foxxy Brown won’t work.
Dang you are correct ????? I just can’t comprehend someone so young making this choice but I get it
True, that is why I’m glad I had options, with more money, and I was face to face with the client of Georgia Natural Gas Twice a week . .. My hair was always neat, and we’ll groomed, welp there loss…
So your other half is white?
You can’t “put a scarf on it” either. That is truly unprofessional unless it is a hijib. You’re not “old school” just brainwashed into white supremacy. Black people have every right to look as black as God made them.
Thank you sir!
If straight hair is the professional attire then we black women should get compensated for the upkeep and medical care in case of chemical burns, fibroids, and balding. Also, we should get paid leave for appointments and tax breaks for it as well. That is, if it is a work expense.
Enough Said.
That’s right Mielle!
Do you, your Beautiful.
Good.
Thanks
Now, these are the type of fights that black women should go for, instead of worrying about silly stuff like getting upset about a white woman wearing braids or tanning her skin or who a black man dates.
Glad NYC setting a good example for other places to follow.
This sounds good and all but folks are not stupid. They’ll blame the firing on your incompetence, insubordination or whatever else they can make stick instead of saying outright the problem is your hair.
Folks can do both
!!!!!!!
I swear to the old gods and the new that this product is the best at keeping my hair with that “wet look”. It says it’s twisting gel but I just run it through my hair to hold my curls. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/345c83c367dea48ef157fd2e8331cdd5e80cfaa503d9f70847a60fef4bf1e47d.jpg
I think that it has alot to do with whitewashing, our people, some of them don’t know how, because the mother would relax a child’s head as soon as they were 5/6 years of age.
I remember once being told my earrings were “too ethnic.” I couldn’t believe the audacity, but her White Privilege was so ingrained, she didn’t know she was being offensive. I told her if she didn’t like my “ethnic” earrings she couldn’t possibly tolerate my ethnic face. She apologized profusely and “cleaned” it up by saying she thought they were too big. But she’d already showed her real face and she definitely met my mine. I was promoted the next week.
SO LONG OVERDUE.
Prayers to all the sisters who have been robbed of their livelihood and suffered financially for wearing their hair as god blessed it. And may little black girls unlearn the feeling of “needing” extensions to go to school so they grow up proud to go to work as they are.
THIS. Racists are slick.
My god, yes!
You know what burns me up, there are those white people with kinky hair, not curly, kinky tight coiled hair and those white people exist and I’m always amazed how they are are working with their head high at walmart or wherever but every black man has a fade or baldy and every black girl has a weave. Why is natural ok on white people? Im not talking about curly hair. I’m talking about whites with black textured hair with jobs and no problems.
5 years old with chemical? Use to be hot comb until teen years. 5 years out the womb with a relaxer.
Yes, but alot of women start the kids off early because of the time consuming task of dealing with natural hair. …
I’ve read that a lot of naturals use mild relaxer.
Sad they would have to even come up with a discrimination law like this. Seriously, for something that grows naturally out of a person’s head??? ? SMH!!!
Sad when you have to create a law for this kind of stuff. However, trust and believe they won’t come out and openly say it’s your hair now, it will be another reason, like the case of Brittany Jones. I’m sure they knew she was caring for her dying grandfather. Pretty messed up to fire ANYONE that’s caring for their dying loved one.
She is so cute! There is noting wrong with her hair. I will be the first to say if you coming on my job with your hair sticking out all ova the place like some of us do cause ya kno blk folks gots to be the most then I would readily object.
blk women pick your battles wear your natural hair flat-ironed no chemicals and then on the weekeknd let it stick out all ova the place !
FACTS!!!!!
I wash with sulfate and free shampoo and conditioner you’ll have to find the best brand for you same for hair products during fall and winter I use the more expensive brands and Cantu during the spring and summer I use garnier frutis also lots of protective styles… for a nice neat curl I blow then do my twist out… I like olive oil edge control it’s not too heavy but gets the job done
Yessssss, with a little water, or damp hair….
I’ve heard horror stories after keratin blowouts regarding destruction of curls. Been natural for decades. Depending on hair type twistouts generally give that uniform curl look. Product choice is personal and I’ve been through many before I realized I needed to use 2 different products as my curls at the crown can’t handle anything except Taliah Walid leave-in spray and the sides work well with any lite curl defined. I refuse to spend a lot on product. As long as hair is gently cleansed and moisturized…it’s natural for you individually. Someone else’s curls are due t o their genetics. Let it flow sista…go sista…soul sista.
I’m using Taliah Walid leave in condish w/ Jane Carter Natural twist out foam. I’m getting pretty good definition and hold.
I see you Miss G.O.T. Lol. I can’t wait until it starts again.
I have this Mane Choice on my radar. Will try it soon.
You just showed your Spade………
This is amazing. I honestly feel like I didn’t get a few jobs because of the way I wore my hair. Funny I really tested it out at one point. 100% of the times I wore my hair straight and blown out I got the job. Its sad but its true.
I don’t use heat on my hair, and at work I do a single twist or braided bun 99% of the time.
Thanks so much, Roses!!! These are excellent tips And recommendations. ?????? I believe I am a 4b/c. I did a mild perm for years before we all went natural because it really just maintained my hair without making it bone straight which I was never a fan of, I liked the full, heathly bouncy look! Been wanting to do a texturizer as it seems the most logical at this point. I will steer clear of the keratin blow out and try all the recommended products. I get a little overwhelmed on YT so this is the perfect start. ???
This is key and finally discovered sulfate is bad news not too long ago! Thanks!!!
The salonist trick me into getting a keratin blowout with good advice . I never knew what it was. My hair was bra strap length in the back and a few centimeters from nipples, guess what? my hair has been falling out for 3 years since then. My hair is now touching my nose, thank goodness. I was 3 years natural, my hair falls out less, and I’ve constantly cut it off until now. She couldn’t comb thru my hair for loosening it for a blowout, she yanked my hair and burned it out. I’ve read bad things about black women getting keratin treatment. Don’t do it.
I was interviewed for Disney back in 2015, my curls were amazing then. I wore a curly pony tail and the interviewer told me my hair is messy and that I should fix it before starting work. On the job during my break hours, many Haitians, whites and Dominicans were amazed at my curliness, hair lenght and how healthy it was. I put twist in my hair and they watched me weekly on break twisting my hair. I felt beautiful for the first time, by others acknowledging my hair to be beautiful.
Disney parks? If so, I know cast members are highly scrutinized for their appearance.
?
Ayyyyye a fellow fan! It is a GREAT product. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bc01d32fcb96c59618bf340cc681558a1d136f9df41bb69400236b1a4d829624.jpg
GOOD!
Yes indeed!!!
Yes my thoughts exactly, disgusting way to treat someone, they couldn’t find a temp? But karma has some bs with their name on it so I won’t fret 2 much.
Well although I keep a natural look, I always make sure my hair is smooth, neat, and moisturized, it definitely helps professionally, some natural women I see look like they just rolled out of bed, they wouldnt be working for me either to say the least, you always look clean, neat, and organized even if ur natural, jeesh….
Well although I keep a natural look, I always make sure my hair is smooth, neat, and moisturized, it definitely helps professionally, some natural women I see look like they just rolled out of bed, they wouldnt be working for me either to say the least, you always look clean, neat, and organized even if ur natural, jeesh….
This is great but ny is dead to me after they approved full term abortions. ya’ll are NOT morally sound, PERIOD.
Don’t tell women what we need to worry about.
Ha! (Humming G.O.T. theme song)
Thanks for sharing a pic of your glorious crown. Its looks great.
Thanks luv! Have you started rewatching GOT yet, just to get refreshed.
I originally read the books before the series. Of course it’s a huge difference. I get a lot of anxiety but I’m totally hooked. I’m not going to review. I will wait.
Cool!
No white person at my job has ever told me to change my natural hair however there
were black people that laughed at me when I did the big chop
Long Island, should be included as well.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5bcb0f794fb5d1bb9b01d0faa37377f746e9808ffe8b490e3fc8d702dee2c005.gif The question has been asked on numerous occasions and also while traveling internationally.
I am a woman and I’ve already had a manager tell me (after he hired an inexperienced man over a experience woman for a position at MY job) that he would not be comfortable hiring a woman after what was done to Kavanaugh! Of course he felt comfortable sharing this with me but many others won’t – they just won’t hire us!
I remember in the 90s. I was hired to a temp job around Christmas and had my hair braided. It was fine for weeks. Then there was a moment they looked at my resume and wanted to promote me, but on the condition that I cut my hair. I wouldn’t cut my hair for the promotion, so they fired me on the spot.
This is good news.
Thank god you ex’s moms saved him from a life of hell
Yo just wear cheap weaves and do the chikin neck
Shave yo head and git a weave
Y’all jus need to shave yo pointy heads and git yo a blonde weave!
I want to know how would you absolutely know you have been “hair” discriminated against at work?
Shave you ugglass face off. ???
There are signs that will let you know. Many people that do not like natural afro-texture hair will show or tell you signs indirectly and directly that they have a problem with it. For example: I had a man to tell me it was messy and too much attention. I shouldn’t need to lay my edges down with gel, they were long to place in a puff ball and I did make sure my puff ball was closer to my neck so that it won’t sit on top. Then there will be people that stare at the hair with a twisted face of disapproval as if society should only approve their type of hair texture. People with Afro-texture hair know the signs because we know that it intimidates many people when we feel safe and good about letting our hair be and styled the way we choose, not hiding it under weaves, a certain hair guideline in businesses and corporations, schools, durags, scarfs. We know, I sure know because well, others make it known to you on how they feel about black peoples hair.