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Black Women Can't Have Blonde Hair ... in the Workplace
Journal article

Black Women Can't Have Blonde Hair ... in the Workplace

D Wendy Greene
The journal of gender, race, and justice, v 14(2), pp 405-430
Spring 2011

Abstract

Adult Development Airlines Civil rights Civil Rights Legislation Courts Employers Employment discrimination Employment Opportunities Employment Practices Females Feminism Gender Discrimination Legislation Personal Narratives Race Racial Bias Racial discrimination Religion Social Environment Women African Americans
[...] Caldwell criticized the Rogers court's unqualified endorsement of American Airlines' policy that prohibited employees who worked with the public from wearing cornrows; its failure to recognize that this policy specifically implicated Black women; and thereby, the court's role in perpetuating the stigmatization, subordination, and exclusion of Black women based upon their hair choices.10 Thus, in her seminal "hair piece," Caldwell explicated that employers' regulation of Black women's ability to wear braided hairstyles in the workplace is not merely a function of harmless business prerogative but precisely an operation of discrimination at the intersection of race and gender.11 Inspired by the work of Paulette Caldwell, this Article likewise reflects on the role of hair in Black women's attainment and maintenance of equal employment opportunities.

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