When it comes to finding a hairstylist, especially in larger, densely-populated cities, I believe many people don’t encounter much difficulty. I also believe that aside from the rare, bad haircut, clients enjoy their time spent at hair salons and have wonderfully close connections with their hairdressers. But, for some folk, those with curly and coily hair specifically and who might live in less diverse areas, a visit to a hair salon is a gravely harrowing experience.
Next to churches, hair salons and barbershops are arguably two of the last businesses in the United States that are separated by race. That’s because systemic racism is still so deeply ingrained in the hairdressing industry, it’s often missed. Unless you are on the receiving end of unmistakable, inflammatory language or mistreatment, then you might not consider why it’s acceptable for some hair care professionals to simply dismiss their lack of knowledge and experience with textured hair and, in turn, either make a mess of it or turn clients away.
The problem started in cosmetology schools. Most are complicit in the bias. Racism remains a driving force in hairdressing because when its professionalization began in the 1930s, it upheld Caucasian hair as the standard of beauty and established it as the standard in education. Formal courses of study, accredited training, and testing are primarily based on the understanding and mastery of European hair. Any instruction spent on less-straight textures is minimal at best, typically backed by directions on how to make it straight.
As a result, this disparity’s impact disproportionately affects countless individuals, whether as haircare professionals (they have to absorb the added expense of independently acquiring continuing education in textured hair care) or as paying customers. But thankfully, that might be on its way to change because New York State is doing something about it.
New York State now mandates all cosmetology students to learn to style textured hair, eliminating the need for extra courses. Senator Jamaal T. Bailey pushed for Bill S6528A, making it a licensure requirement to cater to diverse hair types and textures, signed into law by Gov. pic.twitter.com/qhcFcVnJee
— Black Folks Rock (@BLKFolksRock) December 18, 2023
Curly Hair’s New Code
On Nov. 17, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul officially signed into law that textured hair must be included in the general testing and curriculum for all cosmetology schools in New York State. Originally introduced in April of this year by New York State Senator Jamaal T. Bailey, New York Senate Bill S6528A focuses on preparing all hairstylists—regardless of race— to become competent and skilled in every hair texture, and provide services as it stipulates “to individuals with all hair types and textures, including, but not limited to, various curl or wave patterns, hair strand thickness and volumes of hair.”
The new legislation becomes fully active in about six months to give all cosmetology schools in New York time to modify their curricula accordingly. And while each individual school is responsible for adapting its own curriculum, all must include natural hair education that meets the state’s new guidelines.
The bill applies to current as well as future cosmetology students who have yet to graduate. The state board exam (even for white hair; it’s grossly outdated) will be modernized to include textured hair theory and practice. It does not, however, apply to currently licensed, practicing hair stylists (they won’t have to return to school), but it does encourage them to seek continuing education.
While the measure is a major step for New York, it is not the first of its kind. In 1993, New York became the first state to approve natural hairstyling licensure for natural hair stylists and braiders. Led by Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow, along with heavy legwork by a pioneering group of Black women stylists, barbers, business owners and advocates that include industry titans Diane DaCosta, Diane Bailey and Anita Hill-Moses, the statute also mandated the seats of two natural hairstylists on the state’s Appearance Enhancement Committee to provide further counsel to the Secretary of State on educational policies for all textures and hair types.
How was this bold exclusion allowed to go on for so long?
The short answer is racism.
For centuries, slave owners ordered yet solely depended on the enslaved to cut and style their hair. In the late 18th century, after the end of the Civil War, the number of “free persons of color” increased, but due to the rise of the Jim Crow era, those with hairdressing skills opened segregated barbershops and salons.
In keeping pace with a continued demand by way of enslavement, Black-owned hair care businesses also catered to white patrons. As a matter of consequence, generations of Black hair stylists dominated the trade well into the middle of the 20th century. However, the eventual politics of desegregation would give birth to two ironic, contrasting shifts: scores of thriving, Black-led businesses and a strengthened imposition of Eurocentric beauty standards that controlled education and accreditation in cosmetology.
This history also lends itself to the well-known yet unspoken double standard that exists in hairdressing today, where Black hair stylists and barbers are expected to possess proficiency in all hair textures while their white counterparts are only expected to service hair textures similar to their own. But in spite of it all, white hair technicians are still paid the highest salary than any other race, per a 2022 report published by Unilever.
#NYSenate Bill S6528A, sponsored by Senator @jamaaltbailey, passed (56-2, unofficial). Relates to cosmetologists:https://t.co/4aSJvFGNk0
— New York State Senate (@NYSenate) May 31, 2023
The New Law’s Bigger Issue
While New York’s unprecedented laws gain ground to fair and equitable education in textured hair and help patrons of all walks of life to feel worthy of comfortable, quality hair care, a cosmetology school’s curriculum and state accreditation aren’t the only areas in dire need of an inclusive overhaul. While it’s required that educators and administrators themselves acquire an awareness of this new material and instruction, I think the learning institutions at large must also possess a true cultural awareness and capability specific to the complexities and history of textured hair. If inherent biases about curly and coily hair types (and who they belong to) remain in the hearts and minds of instructors, certain students and those in charge, then they will maintain a harmful, racist basis for all decision-making and rationale behind the actions they take.
The same sentiment can be easily applied to the rising concern about big corporations. Many may see the booming textured hair market as nothing more than a money grab, unfortunately at the exclusion and expense of the pioneering, independent stylists and organizations (they’re typically Black) that have tirelessly advocated for decades to affect good change in its education and ratification.
Still, A Step in the Right Direction
Overall, I think the bill has good intentions. Although it is a small solution to a very big problem (and it certainly won’t completely ease the understandable, generational misgivings many Black clients have with non-Black hair stylists), I believe it will pave the way to more meaningful conversations, forward-moving education and ultimately, serve as the catalyst for sweeping national legislative change.
