West Virginia City Eyes Black Hair Non-Discrimination Bill

BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) — The city of Beckley is poised to join Morgantown and Charleston in passing a local ordinance to protect Black West Virginians from discrimination based on how they choose to wear their hair.

The Register-Herald reports Tarsha Bolt has been pushing for change since her son was told to remove his dreadlocks for high school basketball.

His hair conformed to U.S. Army policy for Junior Reserves Officers' Training Corps, but violated the basketball teams' standard.

When he removed his dreadlocks, his hair no longer met the Army standard.

A majority of city council members told the paper that they support prohibiting discrimination based on hair textures and hairstyles.