Pop star calls for an end to “Afro-hair discrimination”

Labour MP Paulette Hamilton and singer Mel B, of Spice Girls pop fame, are two of the leading black Britons to launch a campaign calling on the country’s leaders to change the law to criminalize “afro hair discrimination”.

The campaign, known as World Afro Day (WAD), argues that afro hair must become a protected characteristic in the UK, and that alleged discrimination against the hair type must be recognized and prevented through legislation.

They warn that “omission of hair as a protected characteristic from the law has facilitated everyday discrimination and the normalization of afro hair as inferior in every sphere of life”.

The campaigners further argue that black children are unfairly penalized in British schools for their “natural styles and protective methods for the upkeep of their Afro hair” and that adults with afro hair face “discrimination, harassment and assault”.

“Generations of afro hair discrimination”

– Laws are actually there to tell people what is right and what is wrong and to protect minority groups from oppression, discrimination and injustice. We simply do not have the right laws in the UK to stop generations of Afro hair discrimination from continuing, says campaign co-founder Michelle De Leon.

Mel B, meanwhile, says she was told early on in her music career that her hair had to be straightened and that it “didn’t fit the pop star mould”.

– But I stood my ground – backed by my girls – and I sang and danced like me, with my big hair, my brown skin and I was totally proud of who I was. So yes, I’m proud to support World Afro Day in its call for the Equality Act to protect against afro hair discrimination in the UK.