Chicago City Wire

Affinity Community Services Board member Aisha Davis recently offered testimony on Senate Bill 817 during a Senate Education Committee hearing.

“We are a social justice organization that is serving the needs of the black LGBTQ+ community with a particular focus on black women,” Davis said during the May 4 hearing. “We envision a society where being your authentic self is not a liability. It is with this vision in mind that Affinity worked on Floor Amendment 1 of SB 817 which would enable all students in Illinois to show up and be present as their most authentic selves.”

SB 817 would prevent schools from creating restrictions on hairstyles, including hairstyles historically associated with race, ethnicity, or hair texture.

While no longer a student, Davis said she can clearly remember the days of being made to feel as if she didn’t belong.

“I remember vividly the rules and regulations that my brother and I were forced to adhere to at school, including limitations on how we could wear our hair while on school property,” she said. “Unlike regulations that protect students and encourage learning or support habits that benefit students over their lives, restrictions on hairstyles do nothing but cause students to question their ‘acceptability’ and ‘professionalism’ of their appearance. I use quotes here because many of the regulations and rules in schools that ban hairstyles have nothing to do with hygiene or health. ... in the past, harmful rules about hairstyles were imposed on indigenous children who were taken from their homes and put in boarding schools.”

Like the U.S. military, which has recently addressed policies that ban cornrows and braids, Davis said it's past time schools made similar allowances.

“This year that the Army will grant soldiers more flexibility around styling their hair," she said. "We must acknowledge that outside of explicit regulations and rules, society-at-large is also facing more conversation about the ongoing systemic racism in our country and our community. Our schools should not be exempt and this measure helps address the ways that the racism of society has seeped into the regulations that bind some of the youngest people in our society from wearing hairstyles that are both meaningful and beneficial to those students. Passing this amendment is a step in the right direction away from harmful practices.”