Puerto Rican Lawmakers Propose Bill To End Hair Discrimination

According to the Associated Press, lawmakers in Puerto Rico, a region known for its racial diversity, are fighting to create a bill to prohibit hair discrimination in the workplace, schools and public institutions across the island. 

Local government representatives argue that existing federal and local laws protect residents from hair discrimination. Still, activists in Puerto Rico say members of the Afro-Caribbean community are facing mistreatment due to wearing natural hairstyles. They believe that new laws should be enacted to safeguard the community. 

Lawmakers are urging Puerto Rican officials to pass a bill that would establish clear public policy opposing racial discrimination linked to specific protective natural hairstyles such as afros, Bantu knots, dreadlocks, and braids – which are not covered by existing laws.

At a hearing on Jan. 22, Puerto Sen. Ana Irma Rivera – the first openly gay and first Black president of the Puerto Rico Bar Association – urged for government officials to provide “explicit protection” against hair discrimination for Afro-Caribbean residents in Puerto Rico. Rivera, a co-author behind the proposed bill, and other activists argued that there were no laws to shield community members from discrimination regarding public service, education, and housing. 

At Tuesday’s hearing, residents opened up about incidents where they were discriminated against because of their hair. 

Julia Llanos Bultrón, a teacher who wears cornrows, claimed that she was offered a teaching job in Fajardo, a city located in the eastern region of Puerto Rico, that demanded she cut her hair before she began working. Lorraine León Ramírez, who has two sons with afros, revealed that her youngest child was banned from two different schools because he wouldn’t cut his hair. 

“It was one of the worst experiences we’ve had as a family,” she added, the Associated Press noted. 

“The big question is, is it fair that our children have to grow up with regulations that undermine their identity? The answer is no. It’s time to break these stigmas.”

The CROWN Act prohibits race-based hair discrimination in the U.S., but some institutions are not required to implement the bill.

In the U.S., over 20 states have enacted the CROWN Act, which stands for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.” The critical bill protects individuals from race-based hair discrimination connected to natural or protective hairstyles in the workplace, schools and other institutions, but lawmakers need to tighten up loopholes that allow for some private institutions and schools to avoid implementing the bill. 

In March, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs joined the fight to protect Black Arizonians against hair discrimination after she signed an executive order banning discrimination in the workplace, NewsOne reported. However, private employers and schools across the state were not required to implement the order, leaving some Black residents at risk of facing hair discrimination.

Darryl George, an 18-year-old Mont Belvieu, Texas student, was suspended from Barbers Hill High School in October for wearing his dreadlocks in class. Barbers Hill High School officials claimed that he violated their code of conduct, even though hair discrimination is prohibited under the CROWN Act in Texas. George is still under in-school suspension and has been attending an off-site disciplinary program to complete his studies, NBC News noted. 

George’s family is suing Texas. Gov. Gregg Abbott and the state’s Attorney General Ken Paxton for failing to enforce the CROWN Act. The family will head to trial in February.

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