SALT LAKE CITY, Utah—Growing up in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Jestina Clayton started learning to braid corn rows in her mother’s hair at the age of five.
African braiding was a way of life, she said.
Clayton continued braiding for a while after coming to America and living in Utah. But a state law that requires a full cosmetology license for braiders brought an end to her part-time business in 2009, Clayton told BlackAmericaWeb.com.
Two weeks ago, Clayton filed suit challenging the law. She is being represented by the Arlington, Virginia-based Institute for Justice, a non-profit public policy law firm that has successfully challenged similar laws in about seven states.
“African hair braiding is safe, and you shouldn’t need the government’s permission to practice this trade,” said Paul Avelar, staff attorney with the Institute for Justice and lead counsel in this case. “Both the federal and Utah constitutions protect every individual’s right to earn an honest living in their chosen occupation free from pointless government interference. When the government imposes unreasonable regulations, as it has done here, courts must protect the individuals’ rights. No one should have to hire a lawyer or lobbyist just to braid hair.”
Clayton said hair braiding gives her an opportunity to earn a little money. Her husband is in school and works part time. They have two small children and another on the way, she said.
“It’s a growing business here. There are not as many blacks here as there are in other areas, but more people want to have their hair braided,” she said.
Of the 180,000 people living in Salt Lake City, only about 5,600 are black, according to the most recent U.S. Census estimates.
Clayton said she contacted the state’s cosmetology licensing board in 2005 to see if a license was required for hair braiders. “They told me I did not need a cosmetology license as long as I was not using chemicals,” she said.
In 2009, someone reported her business to the licensing board, and she was later told that she had to have a license or face fines for operating without one.
The license requirement in Utah requires that hair braiders take 2,000 hours of courses, Avelar told BlackAmericaWeb.com.
“That could cost as much as $18,000," said Avelar. "Those courses deal with use of chemicals, perms and other treatments that Mrs. Clayton does not use in braiding. She specializes in natural hair.”
“Licensing laws are a convenient cover for protecting a regulated industry from competition,” explained Tim Keller, executive director of IJ-Arizona. “By forcing hair braiders to get an expensive license, cosmetology schools are guaranteed tuition-paying students and licensed cosmetologists are protected
from competition, forcing consumers to pay more.”
Clayton has taken her arguments to the cosmetology licensing board and the Utah Legislature and has been unsuccessful in her attempts to get the law changed.
“I think the problem here is that they just don’t understand African hair braiding, and right now, we’re just not seeing eye-to-eye,” Clayton said.
The ramifications of this lawsuit extend far beyond braiding, Avelar said. Occupational licensing laws in all 50 states restrict entry into hundreds of professions. In the 1950s, less than 5 percent of the workforce was required to obtain a government license to do their job, he said. Today, that number exceeds 30 percent.
“In several other states, there has been an exemption allowed for hair braiders who with natural hair,” Avelar said. "That is what we would like to have here."
