October 11, 2020
Ministers have been urged to toughen rules around racist hair discrimination which causes “ridiculous” stress and anxiety and can harm Black people’s education and work outcomes.
Rules Against Racist Hair Discrimination Must Be Toughened Up
Equalities minister Liz Truss was urged to toughen guidance for schools and workplaces to stop “appalling” cases of Black people being sent home from school because of their afros, or turned down for jobs because they have braids or cornrows.
The Liberal Democrats also urged Truss to launch a review of whether the law needs to change to stop “unacceptable” discrimination in school and work hair policies, which are “all-too-prevalent”.
It came as HuffPost UK heard stories of Black people who suffered hair discrimination at school and work that caused so much anxiety that it affected exam results and how they go about their jobs.MORE Young Black Brits On Growing Up With Hair Discrimination: ‘It Stays With You’ ‘How can you have a rule that’s just for Black and mixed race people?’Ruby Williams was repeatedly sent home from school because of her afro hair and recently received an £8,500 out-of-court settlement after her family took legal action against the Urswick school in Hackney, east London.
Her natural hair was judged to breach school policy which stated that “afro style hair must be of reasonable size and length”.Ruby’s mother, Kate Williams, said that at the same time other pupils were allowed to grow their hair as long as they want it, dye it blue and red, or add extensions. 
Boys were allowed shaved heads, tramlines and other hairstyles which may not be allowed at other stricter schools.
“Their only issue was natural afro hair, you couldn’t make it up,” she said.
“I know myself, I’m a teacher, I knew straight away you cannot have a rule that just applies to afro hair.
“Because who has afro hair? Black and mixed race people have afro hair.
“How can you have a rule that’s just for Black and mixed race people?”
Williams took the case to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, eventually winning the settlement after battling the school for years.
But she told HuffPost UK that the saga caused so much stress and anxiety that Ruby, who was a “model student”, got worse GCSE grades than predicted.
Ruby became so stressed that she once “lost it” when a photo of her with her afro was taken off a classroom wall by a teacher despite the fact that she was following school rules and had her hair tied back at the time, and she eventually became an intermittent “school refuser”.
Ruby’s mother also had a “complete breakdown” as her daughter intermittently refused to go to school because she struggled so much with going from the “teacher’s pet” to getting in trouble “and being highlighted”.
Ruby’s mother said: “She was a model student and she went from that to staring in the mirror every morning, looking at her hair, not knowing what to do.
“She was ridiculously stressed out and that impacted on the whole family. Every morning was a nightmare.”
Williams added: “It was the worst time of my life, I had a complete breakdown in the middle of it.
“It was horrendous, it’s hard to explain how much stress it brought into her life and our lives as parents and our extended family and support network, it was awful.” 
When she finished her GCSEs, in which she achieved good grades – but below her predictions – Ruby chose to leave Hackney for a “bog standard” sixth form in nearby Haringey.
“She was clever enough to go to top sixth forms but she lost all her confidence and she didn’t want the stress of going somewhere highly academic, in case she turned wobbly again,” Williams said.
Williams, whose 18 year-old daughter is now at Manchester University, backed the Lib Dems’ call for stronger guidance but said she wanted it to be put into law so schools can be held accountable.
Following Ruby’s case, Hackney council drew up guidance to make school hairstyles “more flexible and inclusive”, but Williams insists that without a legal change “they have no clout”.“They can’t force any of the schools in Hackney to follow this guidance,” she said.
“This needs to be in statutory education law. It needs to be part of the statutory duties of schools, because if it was the Department for Education could have sorted this out for us four years ago, in 2016 when they first got involved.
“They couldn’t do anything and they were very apologetic.
“All they could do was force the school to give us a complaints panel.
“But what they should have been able to do is to write to the school and say: you’re BREAKING equalities and education law, stop it.
“It should be the DfE’s Job to keep children safe in schools and the government should give them that power.”
 ‘As if I’m an animal in a zoo’Julia Ogiehor revealed the different kinds of hair discrimination that she has faced in her office job and said the new guidance would help Black people get jobs and then “thrive and progress”.
She has faced a situation where a boss has “pulled my braids and asked if my hair is real”, and said colleagues crowd around her desk and stare at her if she changes her hair “as if I’m an animal in a zoo”.Colleagues also “don’t seem to understand” when they ask to touch her hair and she refuses, and she has had colleagues ask “how often I wash my hair”.
“I’ve had to in the past, whenever I have had braiding, and I’m going into work for the first time, I’ve had so much anxiety about the reaction that I’ve had to send a picture to my team in advance or tell my manager separately that I don’t want attention drawn to it,” she said.
“It gets to the stage where I get so much anxiety that I don’t want to change my hair too much because I can’t deal with it.”
Ogiehor reveals she is now in a situation where she will refuse to take a job “if it means I have to change my hair”, and that discrimination is so common that Black Women have a technique known as “a dive” – to move out of the way as soon as someone reaches for their hair.
“It’s definitely a racial thing,” she said.
“If you are still not used to a Black woman having afro hair one day, braids another and straight hair another day, then you haven’t been paying attention.”Ogiehor, who is a Lib Dem councillor in Muswell Hill, north London, went on: “Having this guidance would remove that extra layer of stress - you are going to an interview, you are stressing about doing well, it would be nice to remove to that added pressure of: will they judge me according to my hair?
“It would be nice to go into work and know that you don’t have to do these mental gymnastics of how to approach everyone zooming in on you and making you the centre of the office, like at a zoo, with everyone crowding around your desk looking over you.
“In an interview, it would help you be more confident and that would make you more likely to get a job.
“The more confident and comfortable you are in your work environment, the more likely you are to thrive and progress.
“It’s just one less thing to worry about - it doesn’t go far enough in dealing with many of the microaggressions people with colour face in the workplace, but it’s one small step in helping deal with that stress.”
 ‘This is racial discrimination, pure and simple’Lib Dem equalities spokesperson Wera Hobhouse has written to Truss demanding action to stop “appalling cases of Black children being sent home from school because of their afros, Black boys being told to cut off their dreadlocks, Black women being turned down for jobs because they wear their hair in braids or cornrows, and Black employees being told to chemically straighten their natural hair”.
She told HuffPost UK: “No one should have to endure discrimination of any kind. Yet hair discrimination remains a major issue in the UK today, as Black people face pressure - both official and unofficial - when it comes to hair styles.
“This is racial discrimination, pure and simple. It is unacceptable and it must stop.
“The Liberal Democrats want to see new guidance for schools and employers to prevent hair discrimination in policies and practices to help eliminate this prejudice from our society.”
The party is also calling for an awareness campaign to support schools and workplaces ensure their policies are not discriminatory, and to help people who have experienced hair discrimination uphold their rights.
Truss was also urged to start a review to determine if additional changes, including potential legal changes, are needed to tackle hair discrimination. Related... Opinion: No, Britain's First Black Prime Minister Doesn't Have To Be A Tory How Housing Discrimination Is Ruining The Lives Of Queer People Of Colour Death Of Bus Driver Sparks Calls For Stricter Coronavirus Safety Measures
Related Stories
Latest News
Top news around the world
Academy Awards

‘Oppenheimer’ Reigns at Oscars With Seven Wins, Including Best Picture and Director

Get the latest news about the 2024 Oscars, including nominations, winners, predictions and red carpet fashion at 96th Academy Awards

Around the World

Celebrity News

> Latest News in Media

Watch It
Ruby Franke’s Husband REVEALS Alleged Rules He Had to Follow at Home | E! News
March 28, 2024
_mU-3lE2QwI
#KenanThompson speaks out following the #QuietonSet documentary. (🎥: Tamron Hall Show) #shorts
March 28, 2024
8AGP-Gfw_Ek
King Charles Shares "Great Sadness" at Missing Royal Appearance | E! News
March 28, 2024
lyizFqf1kQY
Martha Reeves Walk of Fame Ceremony
March 27, 2024
QzyezumEPtQ
Eminem, 50 Cent & Snoop Dogg Present Dr. Dre with a Star on the Walk of Fame
March 19, 2024
4bNLs1hxVp8
Opening Remarks for the Variety Summit October 20th, 2023 Jay Penske
March 18, 2024
c6Z707iLq8E
Montell Jordan Dishes On Young MC Wedding, 'This Is How Date Night' Plans | TMZ
March 28, 2024
G3SMExj-qio
Davina Potratz Says TV Not Helping 'Selling Sunset' Relationship Woes | TMZ
March 28, 2024
D4piy4GNm4k
Logan Paul Rips Graham Bensinger Over Documentary, You Promised Apple TV+ | TMZ Live
March 28, 2024
NiSDpZhZklQ
Prince William pinned royal medal to Spice Girl Mel B’s boobs #shorts
March 28, 2024
O1cQ0UW9pco
Jennifer Garner shares ‘hard’ part of raising her and Ben Affleck’s kids
March 28, 2024
3Q7mZaVUdgc
50 Cent's ex Daphne Joy named as an alleged sex worker in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs lawsuit #shorts
March 28, 2024
yhLFI8DG9rM
TV Schedule
Late Night Show
Watch the latest shows of U.S. top comedians

Sports

Latest sport results, news, videos, interviews and comments
Latest Events
28
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
PSG W - Hacken W
28
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Barcelona W - SK Brann W
27
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Chelsea W - Ajax W
27
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Lyon W - SL Benfica W
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Atletico Madrid - Barcelona
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester United - Liverpool
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Inter Milan - Napoli
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund - Eintracht Frankfurt
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Chelsea - Leicester City
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Roma - Sassuolo
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Verona - AC Milan
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Genoa
16
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Darmstadt - Bayern Munich
16
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester City - Newcastle United
16
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Fulham - Tottenham Hotspur
16
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Osasuna - Real Madrid
13
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Atletico Madrid - Inter Milan
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Barcelona - Napoli
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Arsenal - Porto
Find us on Instagram
at @feedimo to stay up to date with the latest.
Featured Video You Might Like
zWJ3MxW_HWA L1eLanNeZKg i1XRgbyUtOo -g9Qziqbif8 0vmRhiLHE2U JFCZUoa6MYE UfN5PCF5EUo 2PV55f3-UAg W3y9zuI_F64 -7qCxIccihU pQ9gcOoH9R8 g5MRDEXRk4k
Copyright © 2020 Feedimo. All Rights Reserved.