Puerto Rico just banned discrimination against hairstyles like Afros, locs, and braids.
As noted by the AP, Governor Pedro Pierluisi signed the Law Against Discrimination Based on Hairstyles on Wednesday, July 24. “Unfortunately, people identified as Black or Afro-descendant in Puerto Rico still face derogatory treatment, deprivation of opportunities, marginalization, exclusion, and all kinds of discrimination,” the law states. The AP notes that Puerto Rico is a diverse nation with a population of about 3.2 million people, with more than 1.6 million of those residents identifying as two or more races. About 230,000 identify as Black.
“It’s a victory for generations to come,” community facilitator Welmo Romero Joseph said to the AP of the law; he went on to recount being ordered to cut his flat top while in high school. “It was a source of pride. I was a 4.0 student. What did that have to do with my hair?”
Lorraine León Ramírez, whose two sons have Afros, told NBC News that her youngest son wasn't allowed to attend certain schools until he cut his hair. “The big question is, is it fair that our children have to grow up with regulations that undermine their identity? The answer is no,” she said. “It’s time to break these stigmas.”
In the United States, nearly half of the 50 states have passed versions of the CROWN Act, a similar law that bans discrimination based on hairstyles and texture. (California was the first state to pass the law in 2019.)
The CROWN Act makes it illegal to discriminate against people wearing natural or protective hairstyles at school or work; there have been many high-profile cases of discrimination in recent years, including a high school athlete being ordered to cut his locs to participate in a wrestling match. A federal version passed in the House but did not pass in the Senate; it has since been reintroduced.
