Clarke says military style rules are hair-raising
If a person is patriotic enough to want to serve in the U.S. military, does it matter how their hair looks?
U.S. Rep. Yvette D. Clarke says it shouldn’t be a factor.
Clarke (D-Brownsville-Crown Heights) has requested that the Pentagon suspend enforcement of regulations that prohibit many hairstyles worn by African-American women until a review ordered by Secretary of Defense Charles Hagel has been completed.
The regulations limit braids to one-fourth of an inch in width and one-eighth of an inch in length and prohibit wearing more than two flat braids. The Huffington Post reported back in April that many African-American women in the military complained that the new rules are racially biased.