Posted on 06/17/2006 11:14:42 AM PDT by Jay777
The American Civil Liberties Union is investigating complaints from more than a dozen black employees at a Six Flags theme park who were told their hairstyles were inappropriate.
Jonathan DeLeon, 17, was hired at Six Flags America in Largo, Md., in March to wear the costumes of Sylvester and Daffy Duck. A few weeks later, he said he was told to cut his braids, which were at least 3 feet long.
Though his mother cut more than 2 feet of his hair, park officials were dissatisfied, he said.
"They told me I had to cut them even shorter or go home," DeLeon told The Washington Post. "They said they wanted an all-American thing. That's what they said to all the black people. I had already cut it a lot, so I just left."
The 2006 Six Flags America handbook states that employees are not allowed to have "any hairstyle that detracts or takes away from Six Flags theming."
Terry Prather, the park's general manager, said that the policy is not discriminatory and that exceptions are made for employees with religious and medical reasons for not cutting their hair.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.nwsource.com ...
it's just work place policy.. and it was in the books at the time they were hired... stupid people don't read I guess.
3 foot, 2 foor or 1 foot long dreads look like gang wear to me.
THey should check with Disney, who mastered how to control employee appearance.
So go find another job, whiner. The world needs ditchdiggers, too.
Where would we be without the ACLU?
This has less to do with hair and more to do with race. Whiners
all they did was hire a bunch of homo's
Too much hair and not enough Flair. A simple misunderstanding.
This suit may have legs. The parks idea of making it "family friendly" smells of making everyone look white.
I posted the news here first before on my blog to gather opinions. From what I read, the policy is standard grooming policy that any private organization could have. I don't have the policy, so I can't find out if say long hair on a male is prohibited, in which case there would not be any kind of racial motivation. It does mention partially shaven heads such as mohawks, and while I know Mr. T was black, most people who have mohawks that I have met are usually white punk kids.
What the heck do they mean by "all American"? What does that entail, exactly? Blonde, short hair, parted to the side? This is ridiculous. America does not have a "look", and the great thing about living here is that we are supposed to have the FREEDOM to look however we want. It wouldn't hurt my feelings make me uncomfortable at all to see culturally diverse people working at a damn theme park. Are they going to tell women to cut their hair, or not braid it? I doubt it, unless they're not white. (I am white, blonde, and have blue eyes btw, but I still think this is ridiculous.)
Just the blacks? I seriously doubt it. No man, black or white has any business wearing his hair 1-3 feet long and expecting employers to tolerate it.
Or maybe they just don't care for men who wear their hair 1-3 feet long. It is their right to wear their hair like a woman. And it is Six Flags' right to tell them to get lost.
We do live in America, and people do have the freedom to wear there hair anyway they like. Private businesses also have the right not to hire people that don't conform to the image that they want to present.
Jonathan has a choice. Get a haircut and work for Six Flags, or find other employment. Real jobs have real requirements and real grooming standards. He and the ACLU are obviously looking for a racial-prejudice issue that is nonexistant here. I hope the ACLU spends a lot of money on this frivolousness because it will all go down the drain. Of course, on the flip-side are the legal costs to Six Flags, which would be a travesty.
Let's get this straight. No government is telling them to cut his hair. A private business is, and it's none of your communist business ACLU.
I have been to many Six Flags theme parks, and I have personally seen lots of different looks. I have seen white punks working at the one in Cali, and no one gave them a second look. Anyway, it's a kind of carnie atmosphere there, so wierd looks should actually help their business. Why is long hair so threatening?
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