Miami Beach Bans Hair Discrimination

The Miami Beach City Commission on Wednesday voted unanimously to prohibit discriminatory practices “based on the texture or style of a person’s hair.”

via: BET

According to an Oct. 26 news release, hair discrimination is now banned when seeking housing, employment, public services, funding or use of facilities across Miami Beach, Florida.

City officials said, “The city’s human rights ordinance already prohibited discrimination on the basis of various characteristics, including weight and height,” said the news release. However, the unanimous vote “expanded those protections to now include hair texture associated with race, such as braids, locks, afros, curls and twists.”

Alan Fishman, who chairs the city’s Human Rights Committee, added, “Race-based hair discrimination stems from a perception that straight hair is clean, neat and professional while the opposite belief applies to textured or curly hair types.”

The motion was first made during an April 2021 meeting. The following month, a letter from the city manager to the mayor and commission informed them of the motion. The letter read:

“Hair discrimination affects Black Americans and other minorities with textured natural hair that has not been straightened or chemically changed.”

Miami Beach Vice Mayor Alex Fernandez issued he following statement:“It’s unacceptable in 2022 that Black Americans and other minorities still face discrimination based on something so trivial as whether or not they have textured or curly hair.”

It’s unknown what penalties will be for those who violated the ordinance.

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