Forced Performance of Race Through Racially Conscious Public School Hairstyle Prohibitions

Details: By Anna-Lisa F. Macon; Parent Category: Prison Industrial Complex and Mass Incarceration; Category: School-to-Prison Pipeline; 30 May 2015; Hits: 38870

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II. A Barbershop and a Hair Piece: Lessons Learned from Male Hair Length Regulations and Employee Hairstyle Prohibitions

Anna-Lisa F. Macon Hair's the Thing: Trait Discrimination and Forced Performance of Race Through Racially Conscious Public School Hairstyle Prohibitions, 17 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law 1255 (April, 2015) (194 Footnotes)

Before evaluating legal responses to a problem with few common law or statutory analogs, this Comment considers two parallel areas of jurisprudence: male hair length restrictions and race-conscious employee hairstyle prohibitions. Analysis of these cases reveals a need for both legal clarity and increased protection of rights, particularly for vulnerable populations like children and ethnic minorities. I look first to cases evaluating the legitimacy of public school boys' hair length regulations. Examining relevant Supreme Court jurisprudence and varied responses by lower courts provides valuable insight into potential legal responses to our problem.

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Race, Racism and the Law
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