California passes bill making workplace hair discrimination illegal

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(Image credit: Zacharie Scheurer / Getty Images)

California is trying to make it illegal to discriminate against a person in the workplace based on their hairstyle.

The state's Senate unanimously passed a bill prohibiting the discrimination, which would ban schools and workplaces from forbidding braids, twists and other natural hair styles, reports CNN.

Workplace restrictions on hair have been labeled as discriminatory against African Americans who are wearing their hair's natural texture, Axios reports, and have previously been taken to court.

"A Google image search for 'unprofessional hairstyles' yielded only pictures of black women with their natural hair or wearing natural braids or twists," said Los Angeles Democrat Holly Mitchell, who introduced the bill. The bill will now go to the state Assembly for a vote.

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Marianne Dodson

Marianne is The Week’s Social Media Editor. She is a native Tennessean and recent graduate of Ohio University, where she studied journalism and political science. Marianne has previously written for The Daily Beast, The Crime Report, and The Moroccan Times.