When discussing natural hair discrimination, it is usually tied into the conversation about ethnic and/or racial discrimination. This is vital because the most policed community in terms of hair is Black people. Some ethnic groups like Latine and Jewish people—groups whose whiteness is conditional based on context—also face this, too, because of their tendency to have curlier hair textures. However, stories like the recent firing of meteorologist Tabitha Bartoe are still important to share.
In May, Bartoe told the Knoxville News Sentinel that after a short time with WATE, an ABC station in Knoxville, the station fired her for refusing to straighten her natural hair. Three days into the job, she says management pulled her aside, criticizing her hair texture and clothes. Having just graduated college and at her first full-time anchor job, she tried to work with the station. However, the demands she detailed, especially regarding her hair, got more intense, with them even pushing her to relax her hair chemically. This is six months after studies showed the chemical relaxing process linked to high rates of uterine and other cancer.
Between her hiring in February and firing on May 1, she said she was called into private offices, frequently facing criticism about her clothes, weight, and hair. Bartoe stated that after the termination, the station manager, Kim Byrd, had her leave the building without going back to the office. Her colleagues retrieved her belongings and brought them to her. Like many other women, Bartoe expressed frustration that the world couldn’t accept her natural hair. She told the press she hated it when she was a child and had to build the confidence to feel comfortable with it over the years.
Same story, different face
One of the more vocal people speaking out about Bartoe’s treatment was Mississippi meteorologist Brianna Medina of WJTV 12 News. On TikTok, she recalled training to look “polished” to be successful in the job market. Educators warned Medina about the exact types of requirements put on Bartoe’s appearance. She recounted teachers telling her to watch her weight and avoid things that would make her look “too Mexican.” She states that this situation with Bartoe “sounds like straight-up bullying.”
While it was important to have an established woman in the meteorology field to advocate for Bartoe, it’s frustrating to see Medina appear to accept these comments. The earring, hair, weight, and other comments are sexist and tied to racial discrimination. The concept of universal, standard “professionalism” is a normalized aspect of white supremacy. In a followup video, Medina explained that she started to shed these rigid standards as she got into her career thanks to support at her station. It’s just easier to adapt to what the industry wanted at first when you’re a first-generation college student doing anything to get a job.
Elexus Jionde from Intelexual Media discussed a similar experience in her A Black Women’s History of Hair. In one of the handfuls of personal stories woven into the mini-documentary, she discussed the “choice” to present in a certain way to “make surviving in America easier.” In the 2010s, Jionde finally got a job after being routinely denied due to her afro style. However, her friend/connection to the job told her to wear a straight wig, from the interview to a week or so past orientation. Jionde stated, “Knowing that they would have fired me or not even hired me if I had shown up with my hair in an afro still fills me with rage.”
The necessity of the C.R.O.W.N. Act
Not every story of people in these situations switching to a more authentic version of themselves works out, though.
In 2017, Britanny Noble Jones was fired after going natural. She worked at the same Nexstar-owned station that now employs Medina. After years of straightening her hair daily, Jones was already looking for a change. When she became pregnant, she decided to wear braids and raise her child to be proud of their natural hair. Within a month, Jones was harassed by management. In back and forth over several months, they insisted it was “unkempt” and “unprofessional.” They insisted she changed it back or make it curly—probably idealizing a 3A-3B style. Alluding to a texture more associated with biracial Black women as a comprise shows how approximation to whiteness is the ultimate standard for the workspace.
The rigid “professionalism” in the workplace (hair texture/color, types of clothes, issues with tattoos, etc.) has been waning (maybe morphing) a lot but still lags behind on the traits we are born with. Bartoe’s hair may be borderline straight, and I would classify it as wavy—and yet, that is still not enough. This is another reason advocating for the C.R.O.W.N. Act is so vital! Standing for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” the various versions of the C.R.O.W.N. Act(s) serve to protect people from this type of discrimination. Though championed and intended for Black folks, this policy is something that will benefit everyone, including people like Tabitha.
Recently passing in Texas and already present in 20 other states, this legislation needs to pass at a national level. Like many social policies designed to help Black and other marginalized people (like Affirmative Action), it benefits many others, too. Many of these bills have language that includes explicit examples like afros, braids, locs, and more. However, they are broad enough to protect all hair that grows out naturally as well.
(via TikTok, featured image: screencap)
