BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM
Puerto Rico recently approved legislation forbidding discrimination against natural hair and protective hairstyles in both public and private organizations, marking a significant step forward in the fight against racial discrimination. Governor Pedro Pierluisi signed this legislative milestone, marking a triumph for the island’s cultural heritage and anti-racism groups. The new rule reflects years of grassroots activism and the personal experiences of those who have encountered prejudice because of their natural hair, particularly in Afro-descendant groups.
Personal pain sparks a movement
Alanis Ruiz Guevara was eight years old when she was sent home from her private school in Ponce for wearing cornrow braids, which paved the way for this breakthrough legislation. The encounter left a lasting impression on her. “I was so scared and I felt so bad,” she said, describing how the experience made her believe something was wrong with her hair. Ruiz Guevara, now 25, is the primary force behind Senate Bill 1282, which prohibits hair discrimination across the island.
Ruiz Guevara’s first attempts to adhere to ‘conventional’ hairstyles led her to use chemical relaxers to straighten her hair, which she later regretted. “When I started straightening my hair, my classmates would say that it smelled like chemicals,” she recalled, emphasizing the widespread temptation to change natural hair to meet certain norms. Since then, studies have connected chemicals in hair-straightening products to major health hazards, including cancer, underlining the need for the new law.
Grassroots efforts and CROWN Act Inspiration
Ruiz Guevara’s turning point came when she joined the Afro-Juventudes youth program, which is conducted by Colectivo Ilé and Revista étnica and focuses on anti-racism education for Puerto Rican kids of African descent. She learned about the CROWN Act, (“Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair”) a California law that prohibits hair discrimination and has inspired legislation in 26 other states. “I realized that it would be really nice to have a project like this in Puerto Rico,” said Ruiz Guevara, a political science student at the time.
In 2021, as an intern for Puerto Rican House of Representatives member Jóse Bernardo Márquez, Ruiz Guevara submitted a bill modeled by the CROWN Act, called locally as the “Law Against Hair Discrimination.” However, the bill stagnated for two years, leaving Ruiz Guevara determined to keep the campaign going. “I realized we needed to do something because otherwise, the project is just going to die there,” she said.
Reviving the proposal with the support of activists and lawmakers
To revitalize the plan, Ruiz Guevara worked with Mentes Puerto Rico en Acción, an organization that assists young people in developing social projects. She also created Colectiva de Resistencia Cimarrona, an anti-racism activist group that works to eliminate systematic racism and promote the hair discrimination bill. Ruiz Guevara bolstered her case by citing data from the CROWN movement in the United States, which highlighted the widespread impact of hair discrimination on Black women in the workplace.
Sen. Ana Irma Rivera Lassén, Puerto Rico’s first Black female senator, and Sen. Rafael Bernabe Riefkohl renewed the bill in August 2023, citing the revived idea. The proposal’s reintroduction generated discussion, with some officials claiming that existing legislation already provided ample protection against discrimination. Public hearings, despite opposition from private firms and institutions, facilitated much-needed discussions on race on the island.
Shifting views on race and cultural heritage
“There’s a lot of people that don’t think there’s a problem mainly because they haven’t experienced it,” Ruiz Guevara observed, emphasizing that hair discrimination is deeply rooted in racism. Olga Chapman Rivera, communications director at Corredor Afro, one of the 30 organizations that support the measure, stated that the debate showed a larger issue. “It reveals a reality of the country, that there is still a job that needs to be done to address racism,” she said, highlighting the myth in Puerto Rico that everyone is equally descended from Taino, African, and Spanish ancestors—a narrative that often obscures the realities of racism.
According to the United States Census, about 1.6 million Puerto Ricans identify as multiracial, with 230,000 identifying entirely as Black. For many Afro-descendant communities, hair is more than just a personal preference; it is an important aspect of cultural history. One vivid example is the historical employment of cornrows by enslaved people to mark out escape routes—a practice that demonstrates the profound ancestral significance of these patterns. “Braids have ancestral meaning to us,” Ruiz Guevara stated.
A new era of anti-racism and cultural pride
With the new law in place, Ruiz Guevara and other campaigners are working to ensure its implementation and expand the battle against racial discrimination. The law’s adoption came after a vigorous campaign that included hundreds of calls, letters of support, and the “My Hair Is My Crown” movement in May. However, Ruiz Guevara emphasizes that this is only the beginning. “It has to begin with creating more policies against discrimination,” she said, referring to the larger task of eradicating systematic racism in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico’s new law prohibiting hair discrimination is a watershed moment in the battle for racial equality and cultural pride. Personal experiences and grassroots activism have propelled us to this point, demonstrating the power of community-led efforts to effect meaningful change. As Puerto Rico moves forward, this statute acts as both a safeguard for Afro-descendant people and a symbol of the island’s willingness to confront its own racial history.
