California legislators have passed a bill that would protect students and employees from discrimination based on natural hairstyles, poising the state to become the first in the country to end race-based discrimination based on hairstyle.
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The bill, which passed in the California Assembly 69-0 on Thursday, amends state anti-discrimination law to "also include traits historically associated with race" including "hair texture and protective hairstyles." The California Senate passed the bill in April, and it now goes to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is expected to sign the bill into law.
Newsom did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment.
Lawmakers acknowledge in the bill's text that society has equated certain features with "blackness" and permeated the idea that professionalism is linked to European features – making those features subject to "separate and unequal treatment."
"Workplace dress code and grooming policies that prohibit natural hair, including afros, braids, twists, and locks, have a disparate impact on Black individuals as these policies are more likely to deter Black applicants and burden or punish Black employees than any other group," the bill reads.
State Sen. Holly J. Mitchell, the bill's author, said dress codes banning kinky hair punish African Americans for their natural appearance.
»RELATED: New York human rights law places ban on race discrimination on basis of hair
"There are still far too many cases of black employees and applicants denied employment or promotion – even terminated – because of the way they choose to wear their hair," she said on the floor of the Senate in April 2019. "I have heard far too many reports of black children humiliated and sent home from school because their natural hair was deemed unruly or a distraction to others." In February 2019, the New York City Commission on Human Rights issued guidance stating that the same law that prohibits discrimination based on race, gender or religion applies to hair.
Contributing: Kristin Lam, USA TODAY.
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