The year was 1970. Beverly Jenkins worked at Blue Cross Mutual Hospital Insurance for approximately three years. According to court records, Jenkins said she had no problems at the company until she started wearing an Afro to work.
Jenkins said she was denied a promotion and told by her supervisor that she could never represent the company with her Afro. She filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against her employer. In the landmark 1976 case Jenkins v. Blue Cross Mutual Hospital Insurance, the court protected Afros under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The law was a victory for Black people in the workplace. Subsequently, federal courts ruled that the law only applied to Afros, not other natural hairstyles like braids, dreadlocks, cornrows or twists. More than 50 years after the landmark case, that could change.
What is the CROWN Act?
In March 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the CROWN Act. The law bans racial discrimination in employment, housing and federal programs based on hair texture and protective hairstyles like locs, twists and braids.
The CROWN Act is now headed to the Senate for approval. If passed, natural hair discrimination would be prohibited by federal law.
“Even amongst younger generations, there’s still a lack of understanding about the experiences of black people when it comes to our hair,” says Dr. Janice Gassam, diversity and inclusion consultant and professor at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. “A lot of people think that it shouldn’t be a factor and that you should wear your hair how you want to wear it. The people that say that are people that have never had to think twice about their hair.”
The CROWN Act stands for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.” It was first introduced in California in January 2019 and is a law in more than a dozen states.
“There was some movement towards states taking action against racial discrimination, but on a federal level, it needed to be addressed,” says Elizabeth Leiba, host of Power Moves on the EBONY Podcast Network. “I want to believe that there is enough traction behind this movement and the idea that racially-based hair discrimination cannot be tolerated.”
Hair Discrimination at Job Interviews
Wearing your natural hair in a job interview might seem like an obvious choice, but the decision is not so simple for some Black women.
“Am I going to wear my hair in an afro which is the way it is currently, or do I need to straighten it?” Leiba asks. “Do I need to ensure that I’m not putting an additional level of bias or discrimination that might come into play if someone sees my hair in its natural state?”
Approximately four years ago, when Bridgett Price was interviewing for corporate jobs, she would take out her braids and switch to what she calls a “safer, approachable hairstyle.”
“There was a period of time where I would not have interviewed with a particular style, a more kinky style,” says the entrepreneur and small business owner.
Black women with natural hair are less likely to get a job interview, according to a 2020 Duke University Fuqua School of Business research paper published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science. One of its studies analyzed Black and white female applicants with various hairstyles. The journal found that Black women with natural hairstyles were less likely to be recommended for an interview and viewed as less competent and professional.
“Someone isn’t going to tell you I’m not giving you a job because you have braids, or I’m not giving you a job because you have an afro,” says Gassam. “It’s a very real issue, especially for Black women.”
Hair Discrimination in the Workplace
Once hired, Black women face the pressure of trying to conform in the workplace.
Black women are 80% more likely than white women to believe they have to change their natural hair to fit in at work, according to the 2019 Dove CROWN Research Study. Dove’s research also found:
- Black women’s hair is 3.4 times more likely to be perceived as unprofessional.
- Black women were 1.5 times more likely to have reported being sent home from work because of their hair.
- Black women report receiving formal grooming policies at a much higher rate than white women.
- Natural Black hairstyles like locs, Bantu knots and braids were ranked the lowest for job readiness.
At a former job, Theodora Okiro’s supervisor told her that her Afro was unkempt and not professional enough to meet city council members.
“It was very demoralizing, feeling like this hair that I’ve grown to love so much in its natural state is getting this pushback,” she says, adding that she learned how to style her hair in ways that were viewed by her employer as “more professional.”
Natural hair discrimination is not only an unfortunate reality for Black women, but also for Black men.
In December 2021, Jeffrey Thornton of San Diego sued his former employer, Encore Global, alleging that the company denied him a job because he refused to cut his dreadlocks. The Thornton case is the first to cite California’s CROWN Act since the legislation took effect in January 2020.
Microaggressions in the Workplace
Microaggressions are those indirect, subtle and insensitive slights or comments, intentional or not, directed at marginalized groups. Unwelcome hair touching is one of the most common microaggressions that Black women experience at work.
“I’ve actually had to do ‘The Matrix’ where I’ve had to dodge hands and say no, please don’t touch my hair,” says Price. “Even that is awkward because that person feels rejected to some extent. All of a sudden, your intrusion or violation becomes their rejection and you’re trying to navigate that.”
Okiro recalls the white male colleague that came up behind her and suddenly started touching her hair.
“My first instinct was to slap his hand away, but then I would have been made the aggressor,” she says. “I politely told him to stop touching my hair and I ran to the bathroom and cried.”
The rise of remote work has lessened many uncomfortable workplace interactions that Black women face. Women of color report that working remotely has made work-related stress more manageable.
“It wasn’t until COVID — working from home full time, deciding if I can turn my camera on and off — that I started to feel comfortable in my appearance, my professional space,” Okiro says. “I started being able to wear my hair freely.”
Preventing Hair Discrimination at Work
While the CROWN Act is an essential step in preventing hair discrimination, experts agree that there is a lot that can be done on a corporate level.
Price says companies can start by appointing more robust diversity, equity and inclusion teams and leadership that more accurately represent the population.
“Corporate America needs to recognize that there are certain decisions that need to be made for the people, by the people,” she says. “That would make their lives a lot easier than trying to understand something they may not fully understand.”
Companies can also:
- Review employee handbooks to make sure dress codes and grooming policies do not unfairly target the hairstyles of Black workers.
- Establish a consistent process for addressing and resolving workplace discrimination issues.
- Adopt a zero-tolerance policy for microaggressions.
- Make anti-discrimination training mandatory for every employee and require the training at regular intervals.
- Provide specific bias training for supervisors and hiring managers to ensure an applicant’s hair is not a factor in the interview and hiring process.
Gassam says creating more inclusive workplaces begins with educating human resource professionals with laws that protect Black people’s hair, like the CROWN Act.
“A lot of HR professionals are predominantly white women,” she says. “They don’t have an understanding of hair discrimination because that’s not their reality. The law will now force HR professionals to learn it both in school and when they’re actually on the job.”
