Jaima, Amir R. A. http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9757-6513
Article History
First Online: 12 September 2020
Endnotes
: <sup>1</sup> Consistent with Johnson’s presumption, a recent study suggests that one’s apparent “minority sexual orientation” can mitigate racial stereotypes about both Black and white men (Petsko and Bodenhausen CitationRef removed).<sup>2</sup> In a recent article, Raewyn Connell, the scholar who coined the term “hegemonic masculinity,” radically rethinks the scope and meaning of her initial coinage. Contrary to her Connell argues that not all men are capable of achieving, or even aspire to attain, hegemonic forms of masculinity as a function of their maleness. She says, “forms of masculinity have to be re-thought in contexts of informal settlement, mass poverty, or social violence” (Connell CitationRef removed, 228). Scholar Tommy Curry extends this insight to argue that Black men in the United States are quintessential non-hegemonic males (Curry CitationRef removed).<sup>3</sup> There are many examples: in 2013, Vanessa VanDyke, then twelve years old, was threatened with expulsion from her school, Faith Christian Academy in Orlando Florida, when her afro was deemed a “distraction” in violation of the school dress code (Hobdy CitationRef removed). Similarly in 2017, the North Florida Christian School, a private school, told Jenesis Johnson, a junior at the time, that her afro was “inappropriate” for school; the student handbook notes, simply, that “faddish or extreme hairstyles” are prohibited and that the administration will adjudicate any “questionable styles” (Cerón CitationRef removed; “NFCS 2016-2017 Student Handbook” CitationRef removed, 42). In 2018, a referee forced Andrew Johnson—a wrestler and a junior at Buena Regional High School in New Jersey—to cut his locs or forfeit his match; the referee determined that Johnson’s hair needed to be either covered or cut, since his “<i>natural</i>” hair—meaning, “un-styled” hair, i.e. un-loc’d—would allegedly “extends below the earlobe on the sides or touches the top of a normal shirt” and thus violate the hair length policy prescribed by the National Federation of State High School Associations (Press, Associated CitationRef removed). Absent an appropriate cover, the wrestler chose to have his hair cut; he subsequently won the match. Following an investigation into the matter, the Division of Civil Rights identified a pattern of interpreting “the [hair length] rule to apply to various traditionally black hair styles regardless of length” (Press, Associated CitationRef removed). Various antidiscrimination efforts are being implemented as a result, and the referee, Alan Maloney, now faces a two year suspension (Evans CitationRef removed; Stanmyre CitationRef removed). In 2019, at Berry Miller Junior High School, in Pearland, Texas, Juelz Trice, a seventh grader, was compelled to use a sharpie to fill in a “design line” that a barber had cut into his low cut hair, allegedly because it violated the school dress code, requiring hair to be “clean, neat, and well-groomed” (“PISD 2019-2020 list. Handbook” CitationRef removed, 86); his parents are suing the school district for racial discrimination and other harms (Fieldstadt CitationRef removed; Scott and Benito CitationRef removed).<sup>4</sup> Two anecdotes: in 2016, managers at a Zara Clothing store in Toronto characterized an employee’s hairstyle—arranged of box braids and gathered into a ponytail—as unclean and unprofessional. Zara claims that while employees are expected to present a professional appearance, this manager’s specific characterization of this particular hairstyle does not necessarily reflect company policy (Lee-Shanok CitationRef removed). Also a woman in the UK told BCC News that her manager claimed that her afro was unprofessional and advised her to wear a weave to work instead (Sini CitationRef removed).<sup>5</sup> Justice Sloviter dissented: “[T]he court made the critical finding that the ‘no beard policy, while racially neutral on the surface, in fact has a discriminatory impact on Black employees. Black males who are otherwise qualified, are barred from higher paying positions solely because of the condition peculiar to their race’” (Equal Employment Opportunity v. Greyhound Lines CitationRef removed, 635:196) Sloviter concludes, “In my view, the evidence introduced by plaintiff in this case was sufficient to support the finding that plaintiff established a prima facie case under Title VII because the evidence showed (1) that Ferguson has a condition which disproportionately affects a protected class of which he is a member; and (2) that this condition precludes him from meeting the employer's facially neutral employment policy […] Because I am concerned that the majority's opinion imposes unwarranted obstacles to the effective use of the discriminatory impact method of proving a Title VII case, I dissent” (1980, 635:200).<sup>6</sup> Justice Sloviter dissented: “[T]he court made the critical finding that the ‘no beard policy, while racially neutral on the surface, in fact has a discriminatory impact on Black employees. Black males who are otherwise qualified, are barred from higher paying positions solely because of the condition peculiar to their race’” (Equal Employment Opportunity v. Greyhound Lines CitationRef removed, 635:196) Sloviter concludes, “In my view, the evidence introduced by plaintiff in this case was sufficient to support the finding that plaintiff established a prima facie case under Title VII because the evidence showed (1) that Ferguson has a condition which disproportionately affects a protected class of which he is a member; and (2) that this condition precludes him from meeting the employer's facially neutral employment policy […] Because I am concerned that the majority's opinion imposes unwarranted obstacles to the effective use of the discriminatory impact method of proving a Title VII case, I dissent” (1980, 635:200).