Hair bill divisive for Puerto Ricans

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Legislators in racially diverse Puerto Rico have opened a public debate on a bill to explicitly prohibit discrimination against hairstyles such as cornrows and Afros, sparking heated contention.

Local government officials argue the legislation is unnecessary because federal and local laws already ban such discrimination. But Puerto Rican activists said at a hearing Tuesday that the island’s Afro Caribbean community still faces discrimination and needs explicit protection when it comes to public services, work, education and housing.

More than 1.6 million people in the U.S. territory of 3.2 million identify as being of two or more races, while nearly 230,000 identify solely as Black, according to the U.S. census.

In Puerto Rico, government officials have noted that the island’s laws and constitution, along with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, protect from discrimination. But a precedent was set in 2016 when a U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed a discrimination lawsuit after finding that an employer’s no-dreadlock policy in Alabama did not violate Title VII.

During Tuesday’s hearing, the co-author of the bill, Puerto Rico Sen. Ana Irma Rivera Lassén, said she didn’t understand the government’s position.

“What is the problem with adding explicit protection?” she said.

Debate over the bill is expected to continue in upcoming weeks.

In the U.S. mainland, at least 24 states have implemented a version of the CROWN Act, which stands for “Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.” It bans hairstyle discrimination within employment, housing, education and public accommodation places. The U.S. House of Representatives approved a federal version of it in 2022, but it failed in the Senate.