US Senator Dianne Feinstein Responds

Hello everyone,

A while back, I did a post on US Air Force Discrimination against women and men, that are on active duty and have dreads / loc's. There is a current ban, that states that if you do have dreads or loc's that you have to cut them off in order to follow regulations. From what I have read, and from what a few people that are on active duty have told me, is that the US Air Force considers Dreads to be a unprofessional and untidy way of a person wearing their hair. In other words, who ever created the ban (and ignorant person in a place of power), doesn't like Dreads because they think they look bad.

I signed a petition to change this regulation; and below is the response I received from US Senator Dianne Feinstein response on Friday, October 2nd, 2009:

Dear Mrs. .... :

Thank you for writing to express your concerns about Air Force regulation 36-2903, titled Dress and Personal Appearance, which was recently updated to include a ban on dreadlocks. I appreciate hearing from you on this topic and welcome the opportunity to respond.

Like you, I have great respect for the role that African American women are playing in our Armed Forces, and understand your contention that the updated regulations governing hairstyle force these women to choose between cutting their hair and chemically treating it in order to conform to the regulation. You may be interested to learn that according to the Air Force, braids, micro-braids, and cornrows that are neat, clean, and professional are acceptable ways of maintaining hair and are unaffected by the new ban on dreadlocks.

Be assured that I have noted your views, and will keep them in mind should the Senate have the opportunity to discuss the appropriateness of this regulation.

Again, thank you for writing. I hope you will continue to keep in touch on issues of importance to you. Should you have any further comments or questions, please feel free to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841. Best regards.

Sincerely yours,

Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator

I am happy to see that there was some sort of response from the Senators office. I has not solved the issue, but at least I voiced my opinion. The petition is still alive and well. If you have not signed it yet, please take moment to sign by clicking here.