The Cincinnati city council voted on Wednesday, October 9 to bar discrimination against natural hair. Many African American women have been told to wear their natural hair straight or in a ponytail, but never with weave or in a fro. A lot of Black women began to wear weave , because if their natural hair was out a lot of other people would have things to say. 

Councilman Chris Seelbach says, “I hear over and over again, from mostly black women, the very real discrimination and how they are made to feel inferior because of their natural hair. That impedes their ability to live up to their full potential,” according to bizJournalsNews. 

According to USA Today Councilwoman Amy Murray was the one person to vote against the ordinance. She states she believes discrimination is race-based and already barred by federal law. The sponsor of the ordinance called it “one more step along an important path toward leveling the playing field in the community.”

“Under the proposal, it would be against the law to discriminate against natural hair and other hairstyles associated with race. If discrimination is found , a fine of $100 per day up to a total of $1,000 could be levied until the practice ends,”according to USA Today. 

“This is a bold step. It’s also a change in time, where women of color are saying ‘Hey, we can wear our hair and honor culture and still be in the workplace.’ It’s always been a whisper but now women are speaking up. We’re not going to let anyone tell us how we can wear our hair,” said former Cincinnati City Councilwoman Alicia Reece (USA Today).

According to NPR news Some key findings confirm that black women suffer more anxiety around hair issues, and spend more on hair care than their white peers. They are almost twice as likely to experience social pressure at work to straighten their hair compared to white women.