Hair highlights police bias in Philadelphia

Can you imagine your boss coming to you and reprimanding you for your hair? To have your boss instruct you to change your hairstyle because it is not ‘clean or professional’. And imagine in this instance that there are several other people in your workplace that have the same exact hairstyle, and nothing is said to them as they happen to be of a different race.

Sounds like a blatant bias does it not? I would say it is.

The hairstyle in question is cornrows. A popular style among many African Americans, men and women alike. Which is not to be confused with dreadlocks, as some do make that mistake.

The workplace is the police in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia to be exact. Where the regulations regarding hairstyle require a military look.

But the person in question is not an African American. It’s a White cop – Officer Thomas Strain.

Now does that change anything in what you were thinking as you were reading along? For me it has not. But obviously in Philadelphia there is a bias, this time against White cops, over what is a simple situation.

This is just as wrong as if a Black police officer was told to cut his cornrows. In fact, I believe either all the officers need to remove the cornrows or every officer that wants to wear them can. As long as they are neat and keep up to date, it’s no different than a dozen different hairstyles that I have seen officers in every police force in the nation wear.

These days politicians are using accusations of bias, and racism, for anything and everything that does not match their point of view. It doesn’t matter how trivial the subject, nor if any factual evidence exists. Which is a shame and a problem at the same time.

This is an obvious case of bias. It doesn’t matter that the officer in question is White. And while hair preferences may be transitory and benign to most, it is a real issue as it indicates other problems. Yet with so many fake and politically advantageous uses of the serious issue of bias and racism, this gets shoved under a carpet – as do all real issues.

Personally I hate when any rule or law is split or modified just because of the color of my skin. Either I am just as good and qualified as anyone else, or I am not. To create special rules just for me infers a weakness or inferiority in me. Which is an insult and a lie. Which doesn’t change because the issue is trivial.

In stating that the White officer can’t have cornrows, the police department is stating that Black officers have to be treated with different rules. That they are not the same as any other officer. It’s an insult to EVERY non-White officer.

What other rules and regulations are not the same? What else might one officer be allowed that another cannot do? And would that include violations of the law? Because it seems to be credible that such disparities might just exist.

I am a man. A Black and Latino man. Which makes me no better or worse than anyone just on the basis of my skin. Or my hairstyle. To judge me as such is to insult me.

The same is occurring in this case. Every officer in the department has been insulted and ranked. They have been told de facto that they are not the same and therefore better or worse because of skin and hairstyle. I can think of little more explicit examples of bias. It should not be allowed to happen.