Congresswoman Barbara Lee Joins Women of the CBC for Letter to DOD Secretary Hagel on Unauthorized Hairstyles, Uniform Code
Washington, D.C.— Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee released the following statement in support of the letter that all women members of the Congressional Black Caucus sent to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, encouraging him to reconsider the impact of updated regulation AR-670-1. The updated regulation lists natural hairstyles traditionally worn by minority women as unauthorized. A copy of the full letter can be downloaded here.
“African American women, time and time again, have been held to different standards, singled out, and treated differently. The updated Army regulations targeting and restricting hairstyles typically worn by African American women is but one more example.
“Describing these standards as necessary to "maintain uniformity within a military population" does little more than to further marginalize and label a group of women and their traditional hairstyles as an "other." Further, it leaves women of color few choices other than to employ an expensive and difficult-to-maintain chemical process to assimilate to these biased standards.
“So, I am proud to stand with the women of the Congressional Black Caucus to discuss how the Army can move forward. Singling out natural hairstyles traditionally worn by women of color as "unauthorized" is disappointing, and I am hoping this letter serves as the beginning of a constructive dialogue.”