Dreadlocks : Ethics And Gender Discrimination

In 2014, 12 year-old Vanessa VanDyke was threatened to be expelled from her school, Faith Christian Academy in Orlando, Fl., if she didn’t comply with the schools dress code and cut her hair, which they deemed a “distraction.” A few months before VanDyke’s incident, another little girl, 7 year-old Tiana Parker, was sent home from her school, Deborah Brown Community School in Tulsa, Oak., because her dreadlocks violated school policy, which stated that “hairstyles such as dreadlocks, afros, mohawks, and other faddish styles are unacceptable.” Earlier this year, a group of high school girls were suspended from school in Nassau, Bahamas, for wearing their hair natural because it was dubbed “untidy, un groomed, and unkempt hair.” The list of natural hair discrimination incidents in schools can go on— even longer if you want to include discrimination incidents towards Black hair in the work place, but this article would never end if I listed all of them. All of these incidents serve as a reminder why non-black people wearing black hairstyles is so

Employers want their employees to look a certain way to create the appropriate atmosphere, especially when they are directly working and interacting with the population. Employees must

In the society we all live in today, where outside beauty is emphasized more than inner beauty, businesses have realized how to utilize that view to their own benefit They have looked at trends and realized that it is profitable to hire those with outer beauty. However, since certain businesses are only hiring certain ethnicities in order to project that image, it has been questioned whether these businesses are discriminating. In the article, Going for the Look, but Risking Discrimination, it says that " hiring attractive people is not necessarily illegal, but discriminating on the basis of age, sex, and ethnicity is." The companies cannot help it that only certain types of people fit their marketing image and their hiring strategies are

Today’s jobseeker has tough competition. In our text book readings “Judging by the Cover” (657-658), Bonny Gainley begins the argument of the paper by stating that job seekers must be careful when they make personal choices that initially will affect their chances of entering the workplace. People have a need to be accepted by others just the way they are, in the same way people continue to say, “you can’t judge a book by its cover”, yet people do based solely on their personal appearances. That goes for businesses as well, “[t]he bottom line is that businesses exist to make money. Whether it seems fair or not, most employers do care about the personal appearances of the people they hire because those people represent the business to its customers”.

As an African American hair plays a vital role in our society. The ideal of Black hair is one that allows you to explore your inner feelings, attitudes and sense of style through the facet of hair. However, this freedom of expression becomes questioned as you try to pursue a professional career. As an African American woman pursuing a career in the field of broadcast journalism, your freedom of expression through hair is often limited by corporate policy. By pursuing a career in this field and attaining my first internship in a top 10 market. I have already faced some challenges. Due to the fact that I was only an intern, I did not receive pressure from corporate level to change my look. However, I placed internal pressure on myself to assimilate to white culture standard of “professionalism” by straightening my hair for an intern newscast. I decided to elongate my naturally, kinky curly hair in order to fit the bill of a typical news anchor. Who declared black hair of any style to be unprofessional?

The facts of this issues is that there has been in some cases of hairstyle based discrimination within the work place. Looking at the case of EEOC v. Mims Distributing Company, Inc., in regards to Christopher Alston, an African American man. This case was a hairstyle based discrimination, however it was based on the company not having a policy to addressed hairstyle as a religious practice. The outcome of this case ended with Mims Distributing Company paying $50,000 and adopting a formal religious accommodation policy that will address future issues (Lally, 2015). Another case based on hairstyle discrimination would be Farryn Johnson v. Hooters. Ms. Johnson, an African American was awarded more than $250,000 after an arbitrator found that racial discrimination did in fact contributed to her getting fired (CHUCK, 2015). Hooters prohibits only African-American Hooters Girls from wearing blond highlights in their hair, other women were allowed to wear blond highlight in their hair (CHUCK, 2015). Johnson was told by the manager that blond streaks didn 't look natural on African Americans (CHUCK, 2015). However, on the other hand cases that are similar to Chasity Jones, an African American woman, who was initially hired to work for Catastrophe Management Systems but notified later that the job was withdrawn because of her hairstyle, which were dreadlocks, was not found guilty of discrimination (Wellington, 2016). However, every case is not like the other case because

A member of staff should intervene explaining that people from around the world have different types of hair and colours of skin, this is what makes us all so special. We all have our

While it does not seem right, employers do care about our appearance. Jobs exist to make money and right now there is a tough job market. With a lot of people out there looking for jobs, employers can afford to be picky. This is not about human rights and freedom, but about free enterprise.

You have raised some great points as to J.C. encounter of unlawful religious discrimination. As you said J.C. tried to compromise with his employer by packing or wearing his dreads in a neat and professional matter. But as a result his employer refused which resulted in J.C. losing his job. I agree with your analysis that the company's actions toward J.C. is violation of Title VII. However I also believe that it is a violation of his first amendment right. As a citizen of this so called great land, we are allowed to practice our religion and face no form of discrimination. This case not only describes a violation against Title VII but also the first amendment

The end of slavery bought new challenges for everyone, and the same feelings and views associated with African or African-American people before, were still there (A Look Back at the Black Hair Story).

When the employee asked why her religious beliefs to wear a hijab was different from another employees belief to wear a cross were difference, the response she received was that it would ruin the image the company is trying to portray. Never in the conversation did the employers mention how wearing the hijab could maybe place herself or others in a dangerous situation working with equipment, instead they insisted that

Hair is an aspect of identity many women are made to confront. It is a projection of how a woman would like to be perceived and who she believes she is within her society. Black women in America face an interesting dilemma when it comes to hair. When African slaves were brought to America, they were confronted with the Eurocentric ideal of beauty, which, in addition to pale skin and Anglo Saxon facial structure, also included straightened hair. As time progressed, black people sought new ways to assimilate. Throughout the course of time many hair straightening agents such as straightening irons, perms, and hair extensions have been used to help aid black people in mimicking the hairstyles of the socially accepted white standards. More

Hair modification is a century old tradition for all ethnicities. The focus of this research paper will be the benefits of natural hair versus relaxed hair within the African American hair community. My position on this issue is that the natural state of hair is inherently better than the processed relaxed state of hair, even though African American women continue to relax their hair the outcome may be extreme.

When I once decided to take out my protective style and wear my hair in its natural state, I received several negative remarks. As a young black female I was bothered and wondered why. I wondered why I was receiving so many negative remarks especially from my fellow Black women. An individual went as far to tell me “your hair looks nice but do not wear that to a job interview”. Hair and the styling of it has been a staple of the Black community for centuries. In African American culture, an individual’s hair spoke volumes about that person. By looking at a person’s hair, one could tell where that person was from, what tribe he or she was a member of and even the status within that tribe. As time progressed the influence and importance of hair

Due to Sonia’s religious beliefs management should understand and accommodate Sonia’s personal choice for attire. Because Sonia’s attire does not impose undue hardship on the organization’s legitimate business interests, there is no reason not to allow Sonia’s attire in the work place. In order to prove undue hardship an employer must be able to prove that any accommodation would require more than ordinary business costs, diminish efficiency in other jobs, impair workplace safety, infringe on the rights and benefits of other employees, cause other coworkers to carry the burden of the accommodated employee’s hazardous or burdensome work, or conflict with other laws or regulations (Gross, 2012, para 10).