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Hair braiders say that the curriculum for cosmetology schools doesn't even address braiding, and call it "a waste of time. I went to cosmetology school for 1,600 hours and paid over $6,000 and they didn't teach one thing about braiding," says Sheron Campbell, a licensed cosmetologist and owner of World of Braids in Oakland. "I don't see how the state can enforce something they don't teach."

"It is ridiculous that the state is trying to regulate an act of culture," says Stacy Pyles, director of "Combing Out the Kinks," a film about hairstyling among black women. "Hair braiding is a cultural bond that is taught between mothers and daughters, aunts and nieces."

But according to Taalib-din Uqdah of the American Hairbraiders and Natural Hair Care Association (AHNHA), laws regulating hair braiders are prevalent across the country.

"At least 46 states and all the U.S. territories have onerous laws and rules that make criminals out of African-style hair braiders," says Uqdah, who travels the country fighting hair-braiding legislation.

"These state boards of hair are controlled by a cosmetology cartel that wants to control every aspect of hair."

Uqdah says the laws create an unnecessary hurdle for African-American entrepreneurs, particularly in the era of welfare reform, with more people moving into the workplace. He called the laws a "restriction (of) the economic freedom of people trying to make use of a valued skill."

After some intensive lobbying in Sacramento, Uqdah was excited about the possibility of passing legislation that could save hair braiders from the "hair police." Two bills currently pending in the Legislature would allow hair braiders to work without having to get a cosmetology license.

One of the bills was sponsored by Sen. Ray Haynes, a Republican from Riverside. The other was sponsored by Assemblywoman Carole Migden of San Francisco. Both bills have stalled temporarily in the legislative process.

But a legislative solution may be moot. Last month a U.S. District Court in Southern California found against the state and in favor of Joanne Cornwell, a San Diego braider, who challenged the constitutionality of the cosmetology requirement.

"It is irrational to require Cornwell to comply with the regulatory framework," the court ruling stated. The federal judge declared that California's cosmetology laws regarding hair braiders wouldn't "pass constitutional muster," and that they rest on grounds "wholly irrelevant to the achievement of the state's objectives."

"This ruling is about more than hair braiders," says Miranda Perry, a staff attorney for the Institute for Justice, a Washington nonprofit law firm that represented Cornwell.

"Approximately 500 occupations have some type of licensing scheme. This ruling is important to all type of entrepreneurs across the country because it makes it harder for the state to pass arbitrary regulations that prevent them from making an honest living."

Consumer Affairs is pondering its next step. "We got word on the interim decision, and we are reviewing the decision," says Hardaker.

Hair braiders are also wondering what's next.

"The ruling nullifies the laws in regards to Joanne Cornwell and people situated like her, but I need to see how it plays out," says Uqdah.

While the ruling could set legal precedent across the country, as the law stands now, braiding for profit in California is still against the law without a cosmetology license.

"As many crimes that are being committed, it appalls me that they would go to such lengths to set me up the way that they did," Reece says. "I assume they would rather me strip for a living."
salon.com | Sept. 13, 1999

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