ACLU probes Six Flags hairstyle ban

[gatorboy]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060617/ap_on_re_us/six_flags_hairstyles

WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union is investigating complaints from more than a dozen black employees at a Six Flags theme park who were told their hairstyles were inappropriate.


Jonathan DeLeon, 17, was hired at Six Flags America in Largo, Md., in March to wear the costumes of Sylvester and Daffy Duck. A few weeks later, he said he was told to cut his braids, which were at least 3 feet long.

Though his mother cut more than 2 feet of his hair, park officials were dissatisfied, he said.

<snip>

The 2006 Six Flags America handbook states that employees are not allowed to have "any hairstyle that detracts or takes away from Six Flags theming."

[WindRavenX]

1. this is a valid challange to the ban

I've seen a lot of subtle racism in many policies towards hair-- kinky or nappy hair is always seen as unclean, but in my experience in food handling, it is actually cleaner than any straight hair could be.
So the idea that it is unclean or in a style that is not along the themes of Six Flags (and what the hell does that mean?) is quite bizzare and seems to have another angle to it.

[MADem]

2. Excuse the fuck out of me, but if this guy is wearing a giant suit

presumably with a big giant HEAD on it, how can the paying customers SEE his hair?????

This stinks of racism. I think it wouldn't be a bad idea for a couple of thousand people to show up with braids (or wigs, for the hair-challenged) and protest at their stinking gate. Bastards.

[progdonkey]

7. KKK and Barney...

Maybe this is an urban legend, but I seem to remember hearing that the Klan or some other white supremacist group called for a boycott of Barney because they found out the guy who plays him is black, and we can't have one a them culurds teachin' our white children! (Nevermind that this horrible, awful black guy was hidden inside a fucking seven-foot-tall purple dinosaur!)

Honestly, I probably would've suggested that the guy cut his hair--not because of the styling, but because I'm sure it'd just be a hell of a lot more comfortable in that hot suit with closely-cropped hair instead of a mass of dreads.

To actually force him, though, is completely racist, as it isn't any different from the (perhaps apocryphal) Barney story: it doesn't matter that he's in a suit, WE KNOW what he looks like under there, and WE don't approve!

Edit: spelling.

[readmoreoften]

3. No cornrows either?

Ah. I guess African-American identity isn't a part of "Brand Six Flags."

By the way, what does "hairstyle that detracts or takes away from Six Flags theming" actually mean? You can't have hair that detracts from the roller coasters or the tilt-a-whirl? You can't dye your hair black if you work for the haunted house because it minimizes the spooky look of the monsters?

[aden_nak]

4. I need more details to render an opinion on this issue.

What it comes down to, for me, is whether or not DeLeon's hairstyle interfered with his job performance or job safety. Sometimes long hair can be a danger around rides and so forth, though this does not sound like it was an issue. Alternately, long hair can interfere with the costumes. So if it was job related. . . hey. You need to meet certain requirements in order to perform the job. However, it DeLeon was able to perform his job properly, then that's another issue entirely.

This, by the way, is coming from a guy that used to have hair almost down to his ass. Just for the record.

[AlCzervik]

6. but it says his mother cut off 2ft of his braids, i would think that

many of the employees there have hair longer than 12 inches long. I would agree that maybe at 3ft long his hair could be a safety issue if he is a ride operator but since 2 of the 3ft are now gone it seems to cancel out the safety issue.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

5. Any chance his hair

didn't fit under his costume? I need more info before howling here.

[gatorboy]

8. I think the larger issue here.

Is that a dozen black employees have had similar complaints.

[Arkansas Granny]

9. Just one question about this. If his hairstyle was against their

policy, why did they hire him in the first place? His hair obviously did not grow to that length in just a few weeks.

[kerrywins]

10. exactly, why hire the guy in the first place if...

you thought the guy's hair was gonna cause a problem. six flags brought this on themselves.