Licensed to Kill
By OAN Reporting Staff
How devastating licensing laws destroy the dreams of African American hair braiders.
One in three jobs requires a license. Some make perfect sense – like an attorney or stock broker. Others make no sense at all: Such as those imposed upon hair braiders.
That’s right – when little girls braid each other’s hair, they are right up there with surgeons and nuclear physicists. The government has decided those who make money in this 5000-year-old tradition need a proper education. These are highly skilled women who are being told they are breaking the law because they don’t possess a piece of paper that indicates they spent a lot of money to learn their craft.
Melanie Armstrong, a braider from Tupelo, Mississippi, testified before her state legislators. She managed to convince them this law was unnecessary. Because of her and others who are also fighting the absurd regulations, some have managed to avoid the need to obtain a cosmetology license for what many refer to as “natural hair care.”
When the federal government forces workers to obtain a license, the schools make money and it drives up the costs for everybody. And, to make things even more insane, these cosmetology schools don’t even teach hair braiding.
Who’s hurt? The poor. Women with little means who are trying to make a living, and customers with few funds who seek their services.
The Institute for Justice is leading the charge to force regulators to back off. In some cases, they are finding success. But battling the government is, much like getting a license, expensive and time consuming.
