Puerto Rican Afro-Caribbean community declares victory after island enacts law outlawing hairstyle discrimination

Puerto Rico enacted a new law on Wednesday outlawing discrimination against certain hairstyles, a move made by the U.S. territory after repeated debates about the subject.

The new law was signed into effect by the Caribbean island’s governor, Pedro Pierluisi, as a means of offering legal protection to people who wear Afros, curls, locs, twists, braids and other hairstyles.

More than 1.6 million people on the Caribbean island of 3.2 million identify as being of two or more races, while nearly 230,000 identify solely as Black, according to the U.S. Census.

What the U.S. Court of Appeals had to say in 2016

The Associated Press said the new discrimination ban is being “celebrated by those who had long demanded explicit protection related to work, housing, education and public services,” but it also comes in the wake of a 2016 ruling handed down by the 11thCircuit U.S. Court of Appeals that struck down a similar law in Alabama.

In that case, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) asserted that laws prohibiting ethnic hairstyles violated Title VII and said that dreadlocks are a “racial characteristic” that have been used throughout history as a way to unfairly classify African Americans as “not team players.”

The lawsuit, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Catastrophe Management Solutions asserted that various hairstyle bans “physiologically and culturally associated” with African Americans were discriminatory.

But the appellate court disagreed, opining that “race-neutral grooming” policies were not discriminatory simply because they were “culturally associated with race.” The 11th Circuit said that to receive such protections, a trait must be “immutable physical characteristics,” that cannot be changed. 

Still, Puerto Rico’s Afro-Caribbean community has spent several years asserting it needs codified legal protection from discrimination, citing incidents of prejudice in education, housing, and the workplace.

“It’s a victory for generations to come,” said Welmo Romero Joseph in an interview with The Associated Press. Joseph, described as a community facilitator for Taller Salud, a 501c3 that is focused on women’s health issues, said his group was one of many petitioning for the legal change.

He said the change is proof that “you can reach positions of power without having to change your identity.”

Puerto Rico’s history on the issue

While the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against the change in Alabama, proponents are hoping they can argue that their version of the law is protected by Puerto Rico’s laws and constitution that outlaw discrimination.

“Unfortunately, people identified as black or Afro descendant in Puerto Rico still face derogatory treatment, deprivation of opportunities, marginalization, exclusion and all kinds of discrimination,” the island law says.

ADN America reported on the issue in January, chronicling the history of the debate and citing some of the arguments made at a public hearing that heard several Puerto Ricans who shared examples of their encounters with discrimination.

Earlier this year, a Jan. 23 hearing was set at El Palacio De Las Leyes, San Juan’s Capitol building, a home to the island’s House of Representatives and Senate for nearly a century since 1929.

“All of this legal work is so important because it creates a protocol that is needed now,” said Puerto Rican author Mayra Santos-Febres. “We need tools to defend ourselves from systemic racism.”

One teacher who wears cornrows, Julia Llanos Bultrón, said a Fajardo school offered her a job under the condition she cut her hair. 

“I’m 23 years old, and I’m tired of this problem,” she said. “I’m very disappointed with a system that pushes us to change the hair with which we’re born.”

Some politicians such as Puerto Rico Sen. Ana Irma Rivera Lassén joined in the debate as well.

“What is the problem with adding explicit protection?" she asked while addressing an audience of her constituents.

Romero told the AP that stories such as those did not surprise him, explaining how a high school principal instructed him to cut his flat top despite his immaculate academic record.

“It was a source of pride,” he explained. “I was a 4.0 student. What did that have to do with my hair?”

The CROWN Act and U.S. states that have passed similar laws

To date, at least two dozen states have signed into law state versions of the CROWN Act, congressional legislation that previously failed to pass in Washington. The act was proposed to outlaw race-based hair discrimination and stands for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.”

The CROWN Act has been passed in both lberal states such as California and conservative states such as Texas. It prohibits hairstyle discrimination in areas relating to education, employment, housing, and public accommodation. 

On March 18, 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a federal version of the bill, but it died in the Senate. 

“This bill prohibits discrimination based on a person's hair texture or hairstyle if that style or texture is commonly associated with a particular race or national origin. Specifically, the bill prohibits this type of discrimination against those participating in federally assisted programs, housing programs, public accommodations, and employment,” H.R. 2116 from the 117th Congress reads.

“Persons shall not be deprived of equal rights under the law and shall not be subjected to prohibited practices based on their hair texture or style.”

Some government officials on other Caribbean islands such as Trinidad also have been pushing to relax hair codes at schools, workplaces and government offices.

While some states have passed the CROWN Act, some local communities are disputing the details of the state law, which was signed into effect by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Sept. 1, 2023.

Last year, a Black high school student, Darryl George, was suspended in Belvieu because his dreadlocks fell below his ear lobes and eyebrows, but a Texas court ruled in February the school’s measures did not violate the new state law.

Prior to the new legislation in Puerto Rico, Lorraine León Ramírez, whose two sons who have Afros, said her youngest was suspended from school until he cut his hair. 

“It was one of the worst experiences we’ve had as a family,” she explained. “The big question is, is it fair that our children have to grow up with regulations that undermine their identity? The answer is no,” she said. “It’s time to break these stigmas.”

In March, the Economic Policy Institute published a report asserting that some states have amended their education codes to protect high school students, but others have allowed schools exceptions to the CROWN Act.