Black Women Whose Hair Cost Them Their Jobs

CBS News

Akua Agyemfra

According to CBC News, 20-year-old Akua Agyemfra was fired from her job as a server at Toronto-based Jack Astor’s Bar & Grill for wearing her natural hair in a bun. It seems Agyemfra was still in training when she was told she needed to wear her hair down or straight and was made to take her hair out in front of other co-workers to prove her hair couldn’t lay “down” without being processed or straightened.

She posted on Facebook:

“I know most black women at restaurants are forced to wear wigs or weaves or extensions, or are forced to straighten their hair everyday. Don’t get me wrong, I think extensions look great. I’ve been wearing them ever since I was a little girl. I love when I get my braids. It’s the protective style I choose and works for me. But why am I scrutinized when I decide to take them out? That’s not fair.  I’m not going to compromise my roots and edges because my employer wants me to. My scalp has a right to breathe just as much as the woman standing beside me.”