Introduction
Judge Downing: My hair and I have had a close relationship for years. Not just because it is on my head but because for so much of my life, my hair has been an integral part of my self-esteem and all that I did. If my hair had a good day, then so did I. If my hair did not look good, it didn’t matter what I wore because I would not feel pretty. Because of those feelings, the condition of the hair of the Black girls that come into my court room has been a concern of mine. However, it wasn’t until one of my girls came into court with a hair full of tiny braids with colored rubber bands that I started to think about the need for training in this area.
So that day, I relayed the story of those braids and her social worker’s lack of empathy to my co-presenter, Brenda Robinson, who in turn shared that her clients in care would sometimes tell her that caretakers or group homes denied appropriate hair care as a punishment. From that conversation our training was created. Consequently, we have had the opportunity to train judges and attorneys at the National Conference of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the American Bar Association’s Children and the Law Conference, and the National Association of Counsel for Children. The objective of the training is not to simply address Black hair care dos and don’ts but rather to (1) educate all stakeholders in the foster care system that there is a strong cultural connection for Black youth to their hair throughout history; (2) help stakeholders understand that care of hair for Black youth is connected to their self-esteem, which affects their behavior in placement and even their performance in school; (3) teach on the need for various types of hair care products and that not all products can be used on Black hair; (4) ensure the child welfare agency takes responsibility for the youth’s proper hair care, whether through the caregiver, a professional, or others; and (5) help judges and lawyers know what they can do to ensure Black hair care.
History
Temica Wofford: For African Americans, our hair is a significant part of our identity and cultural expression. The unique way that we intricately design our hair into complex stylish creations has been a part of our identity going back long before the great diaspora. The value that we place on our hair and the attention to detail that it requires to maintain is embedded in our DNA. In Africa, we were taught to embrace our different hair textures, curls, coils, and kinks, and saw them as a valuable extension of our self-expression. Our love for the crown on top of our heads is rooted in a rich cultural identity that goes back thousands of years to our roots in Africa.
In Africa, hair was used to represent many facets of society. The style and condition of one’s hair could represent one’s societal hierarchy, marital status, tribal representation, fertility capacity, and religious affiliation, and even signify that one was ready for war. The community leaders wore the most elaborate hairstyles, and the priests wore hairstyles that set them apart from other community members. In Kenya, the young Turkana men spent hours braiding their hair in elaborate styles, showing they had completed the initiation rights for adulthood. For young women, if their hair was thick, long, and neat, it signified that they could bear healthy children. Hairstyling among the women was a social activity done within the community much like we see today at African American beauty salons on the weekend. The only time that our hair was neglected was during periods of mourning.
The transatlantic slave trade dysregulated the way that Africans were able to care for and maintain healthy hair. During the middle passage, our hair was shaved off by the traffickers, and upon our arrival to the Americas, our hair was deemed as bad. Many traffickers forced slaves to keep their heads shaved to strip them of their cultural identity, tribal connections, and rich heritage. Enslaved Africans struggled to maintain their hair without the natural ingredients they used at home in Africa such as shea butter, black soap, avocado oil, and aloe vera. Those who were allowed to grow their hair had to develop new methods of care, which included using cornmeal as dry shampoo, bacon grease, butter and kerosene as conditioners, and sheep fleece carding tools as combs to combat the harsh weather conditions that accompanied working in the fields. Those enslaved Africans who worked in the “big house” or in public settings began to assimilate, wanting to wear their hair straight by wearing wigs or shaping their natural hair to resemble the look of Europeans. Before the invention of the pressing comb, they would apply butter, heavy oils, soap, or goose grease, which would cause damage to the hair and scalp, and use a heated butter knife to straighten the hair.
At the turn of the century, many African Americans wanted straight hair to assimilate into the dominant culture and to make themselves more marketable for employment and other opportunities. In the early 1900s, an African American woman named Annie Turnbo Malone, an orphan born to enslaved parents, burst onto the hair care scene. She developed and manufactured her own line of non-damaging hair straighteners, oils, and hair growth products for African American women. To promote her products, Annie sold them in bottles door-to-door. Her products and sales began to revolutionize hair care methods for all African Americans. (Houston, Helen R., “Annie Turnbo Malone,” in The American Mosaic: The African American Experience (ABC-CLIO 2010)). Prior to Malone and her famous protégé Madame C.J. Walker, manufacturers of Black hair care products were overwhelmingly White men.
The 1960s ushered in the Black is Beautiful movement, promoting freedom from emulating European beauty standards, which instilled a sense of pride in African Americans to embrace their natural beauty and hair. During this movement, Afros were the crown worn with pride by men and women. The Black is Beautiful movement had a significant impact on popular media, with the number of models with natural hair increasing four-fold between 1957–59 and 1977–79, according to Wikipedia. This mainstream representation fueled the natural hair movement. The Afro movement was so important that it was protected by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. By the late 1980s, the natural hair movement began losing momentum with the emergence of White-led beauty brand corporations dominating the beauty industry by promoting relaxers and Jheri curls through mass-marketing campaigns via commercials and billboards. In the 1990s, some of those who chose not to assimilate by wearing braids and other natural styles began experiencing discrimination at work. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 only provided the necessary employment protections to those who wore the Afro. The natural hair care movement exploded in the early 2000s with the resurgence of Black-owned beauty brands marketed for natural hair, and a new generation embraced their unique coils, kinks, and curls.
The Crown Act—Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair
Brenda Robinson: History confirms that there has been a struggle and a need to address the discrimination and biases surrounding Black women’s hair. While this article and the training focused on Black youth’s hair, we also clarified that it applies to young Black men. The Crown Coalition founded by Dove, the National Urban League, Color Of Change, and the Western Center on Law & Poverty, in 2019, conducted a research study to identify the magnitude of racial discrimination of women in the workplace based on their natural hairstyles. The coalition’s research found that 30 percent were more likely to be made aware of the workplace appearance policy by their management, that they were 1.5 times more likely to be sent home, and that 83 percent perceived that they were judged more harshly.
The CROWN Act, introduced first in California in January 2019 by then state senator Holly Mitchell and signed into law on July 3, 2019, prohibits race-based hair discrimination, which is the denial of employment and educational opportunities because of hair texture or protective hairstyles, including braids, locs, twists, or Bantu knots, and expanded the definition of race in the Fair Employment and Housing Act and state Education Code to ensure protection in workplaces and K–12 public and charter schools. Twenty-seven states have passed the Crown Act, along with over 40 local government passing ordinances prohibiting natural hair discrimination.
Later, Dove conducted a “Study for Girls” in 2021 and found that 66 percent of Black girls in majority-White schools report experiencing hair discrimination, compared with 45 percent of Black girls in all school environments; 100 percent of Black elementary school girls in majority-White schools who report experiencing hair discrimination state they experience the discrimination by the age of 10; 86 percent of Black teens who experience discrimination state they have experienced discrimination based on their hair by the age of 12; and 90 percent of Black girls who believe their own hair is beautiful report that the microaggressions and discrimination they endured has an impact on how they see themselves. From these statistics, it’s clear that the care a girl’s hair is provided has an incredible impact far beyond aesthetics.
The Child Welfare System
Temica Wofford: The deeply rooted belief that traffickers held about Black hair during slavery continues today. Unfortunately, it seems that the practices for many of our kids who enter the child welfare system are like the experiences of their ancestors. They are being removed from their homes and placed into an environment where they must figure out how their hair is going to be taken care of.
In the Black community, hair care is protected through nurturing sessions of connection. It is a bonding experience that occurs between a mother, auntie, or older sister and child. When Black children come into the child welfare system, it is often assumed that they know how to care for and maintain their own hair, but for the vast majority, this is not the case. Culturally, we are not allowed to do our own hair until we reach adolescence and have proven the ability to do so.
Having served children and youth in the foster care system for two decades in Atlanta, Chicago, and Los Angeles, I unfortunately have noticed the same disparaging trend: a lack of regard for the hair care of Black children. When the people in charge don’t look like the population that is being served, they don’t understand what it takes to maintain healthy hair and how it is directly connected to formulating a healthy self-image for Black children. It is critical for all children to love what they see when looking in the mirror. For Black children, hair care is not about vanity; it is about their sanity.
Many Black children have been made to feel that their hair is a burden on caregivers. As a former social worker, I was told by resource parents that Black hair is too expensive and too difficult to care for, which more often than not leads to maintenance not being made a priority and even rejected placements—which in turn has caused many of our youth to have a negative relationship with their hair.
For many Black youth living in congregate care, access to professional hair care is a privilege or provided only for a special event. Sadly, it is a basic need that is the most neglected. In my experience, there is a large gender gap when it comes to hair care in congregate care in which boys get haircuts more frequently than girls have access to routine professional hair care services. I have experienced facilities that make girls wait six weeks after arrival to get their hair done, believing that they may run away and so money will have been wasted. If children do not like what they see when looking in the mirror, it can make it hard for them to show up as the best version of themselves; it can have a negative impact on their attitude, which can result in behavior challenges and directly impact how those in authority and their peers perceive and treat them. That can lead to bullying, which can cause trauma and anxiety that can begin to affect school attendance, which has a negative impact on academic success, discouraging children from participating in social activities and even making new friends. It truly has a snowball effect of never-ending negative consequences. Damaged hair leads to damaged self-esteem, which has far greater negative ramifications for Black children within the child welfare system.
What Attorneys and Advocates Should Know
Ashley D. Williams: In California, the rights of all minor and non-minor children in the foster care system are outlined in Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) section 16001.9. Specifically, WIC addresses the importance of preserving a child’s cultural and familial ties while living within a home that treats the child with respect. In adherence to this statute, all counsel have an obligation to honor the dignity of Black children in care by acknowledging their hair as a crucial component of their humanity and family integrity.
It is important to understand that our identities are formed by our cultural orientation and our communities. Cultural ties are important in shaping one’s sense of self. For Black children, this is especially important when a child is in out-of-home care. Attorneys must be sensitized to this issue whether they represent a parent or child. Hair care is very much a part of their clients’ humanity.
Attorneys need to ask questions about hair care maintenance in the daily life of the child while in the home. Acknowledging the importance of the parent’s connection with the child through the daily practice and routine of hair care creates an opportunity for the attorney to secure the bond between the child and parent. It is important for the attorney to listen to and advocate for clients’ wants on the issue of hair and ensure that that caregivers uphold the practices of biological parents.
I know firsthand how dehumanizing it is to have hair customs ignored. As a former foster youth, in my first placement, the caretaker put a relaxer in my hair against my wishes and without consulting my mother first. Unfortunately, as a result, my hair began to break off and become damaged—something that would not have happened had someone taken a second to consider my wishes and included my mother in this process. I will not forget how upset my mother was after seeing my hair on a visit. When she asked why this was done instead of just calling her to do my hair, she was told it was simply convenient. Despite my mother voicing her concerns to the social worker and her attorney, they were ignored. This experience not only affected my confidence but effectively silenced my mother and dismissed our family’s hair care practices, which was my mother styling my natural hair without chemicals. Parents’ counsel must ensure that the parent is heard, and the client is not systemically disregarded simply because of prioritizing convenience for others.
Our legal responsibilities involve respecting the dignity of our clients and maintaining the bond between a parent and child as it relates to the upkeep of the child’s hair. We all have a responsibility to respect families regardless of their composition. For that reason, parents’ attorneys have a duty to meaningfully include their clients in the care of their children if they are removed from the home. The child’s attorney should ask the child about the child’s hair care routine, and if it still includes the parent providing that care, the attorney should request that the visits include the opportunity for the parent to provide hair care.
The Judge’s Responsibility
Judge Downing: While the attorneys and other stakeholders have a responsibility, so does the judge, who has the authority to ensure that appropriate services are provided.
The judge should regularly see the children in court. When children come to court, the judge and the attorneys should look to ensure that their hygiene needs are being taken care of, and that includes their hair. I will often ask them about a new haircut, color, or hairdo they are wearing. If it appears they are unhappy with their hair, then further inquiry is needed. Comments should never be addressed in a negative manner but rather one involving interest, concern, or curiosity.
Be creative in making orders that allow for the parent to be included in providing hair care to the child. In one case, we had a young girl who had not had her hair done since being placed in out-of-home care. I asked her about it, and she told me she didn’t want anyone but her mother doing her hair. I turned to the mother, who was present in court, and asked if she would go to the caretaker’s home and do her daughter’s hair during one of her monitoring visits. With everyone in agreement, including the caretaker, I ordered for the mother’s monitored visit to occur on a weekend and lengthened the time so that she could do her daughter’s hair. This solution not only took care of the hair issue; it created an opportunity for more bonding between mother and daughter.
The judge should ensure that no one is using the denial of appropriate hair care products or the opportunity to have hair done professionally as a disciplinary tactic. When the judge believes it is necessary, the judge should order the social worker to carry out the task of taking a child to a professional salon or to procure the necessary hair products. The care of the children is the responsibility of the very agency that removed the child from the parent. It is the agency’s responsibility to ensure that the proper hygienic care is provided, and that includes hair. When the need arises, a progress report should be set to ensure that orders are complied with.
Once social workers know the judge cares and is paying attention to hygiene issues, they ensure they are taken care of. In Los Angeles, the agency has made progress in realizing this duty with the courts giving it more attention. For example, the Department of Children and Family Services, the child welfare agency for Los Angeles County, now does a mandatory six-hour training for caregivers when the children are placed transracially.
Conclusion
The cultural significance of hair to Black youth cannot be overemphasized. We hope this article and the following tips will help judges, attorneys, and advocates grow in their cultural literacy so that no Black youth’s hair will be seen as a burden or be damaged due to improper care but is instead accepted for its beauty and uniqueness.
Tips for Attorneys, Advocates, Social Workers, and the Courts for Hair Health and Maintenance for Black Youth
- Offer free education for families to learn about the youth’s hair care needs and texture-appropriate products.
- Ask what resources are available for youth hair care.
- Include the youth in the discussion of how to care for the youth’s hair and the hairstyle the youth may prefer or desire.
- Provide training to the caretaker and acquire the right hair care products and hair stylist.
- Develop a list of hair stylists and salons or barbers willing to do hair for youth at a discounted rate.
- Develop a program to teach caregivers how to care for youth’s hair.
- Partner with churches and Black professional organizations such as Links, sororities, and fraternities.
- Provide attorneys with training that helps them advocate for the hair care of their clients.
- Provide education for the youth on how to care for and maintain their own hair.
- Provide books to families and youth about Black hair care.
- Ask caretakers what they need to properly care for youth’s hair.
- Provide continuous education about Black hair to social workers.
- Include discussion of hair care during required monthly meetings with the foster families and youth.
- LOOK at the youths’ hair when meeting with them or when they come to court.
- Ask about their hair care routine, availability of hair products, and access to consistent professional hair care (e.g., Is your hair done the way you want it to be?).
- Ask the parent about the hair care routine for the youth that was implemented at home and request a court order for extended family time so it can include time to do hair.
- If youth’s hair care needs are not being met in placement, encourage them to contact the ombudsman to make a report. (The ombudsman has the authority to administer a corrective action plan to a group home if the home fails to meet the hair care and hygiene needs of the youth in care.)
- Include appropriate hair care as a goal on the needs and service plan. A lack of hair care has impacts on social activities, education, and mental health, and for older youth, it affects their employment and post-secondary education opportunities.
- Ask for an in-chambers discussion because speaking in open court may be traumatizing and humiliating to the youth.
