Black corrections officers fight ’extreme’ hair policy

Edie Gross

HAYNESVILLE, Va. — When she served in the Army, Donna Tate-Allison’s colleagues called her sergeant.

When she worked in communications at the White House, Bill Clinton called her ma’am.

And during her first 18 months working at the Haynesville Correctional Center, everyone called her officer.

But recently, officials at the prison about 60 miles southeast of Fredericksburg branded the 46-year-old with a nickname she never bargained for: “extreme.”

She was fired in May for violating the Department of Corrections’ grooming policy, which forbids “extreme, eccentric or trendy haircuts.” Since then, the governor’s office has gotten involved in the matter.

Tate-Allison said Haynesville Warden Daniel T. Mahon told her that her short dreadlocks, which she pins tightly to her head underneath a hat, were not allowed.

“I said, ‘Is my hair a threat to the inmates? Is it a threat to the facility? If so, I’ll cut it,’” Tate-Allison said. “He said, ‘No, your hair is not a threat. It’s extreme, and I’m not going to have it in my facility.’”

Tate-Allison and fellow corrections officer Juanita Hudson, both African Americans, said they felt they were being discriminated against.

Hudson, who wears her hair in short braids against her scalp, said she was told in April that cornrows, dreadlocks and braids would not be allowed.

“Everything that was read off was African American hairstyles,” said Hudson, 43.

When she asked for a copy of the rule prohibiting those styles, she was told it didn’t exist.

So on May 2, she filed a grievance, which is still pending.

“These people are not living in 2007,” Hudson said. “I will put up with nepotism. I will put up with favoritism. But I’m not putting up with racism, and that’s all it is.”

Mahon’s secretary referred calls to Larry Traylor, director of communications for the Virginia Department of Corrections. Traylor said his office could not comment on personnel issues.

“However, as we have indicated to those involved, we are currently reviewing our entire employee grooming policy,” he said in an e-mailed statement.

Both women had worked at the Haynesville Correctional Center for about 18 months — much of that time with their hair in dreads or braids — before any trouble started.

In April, Hudson was told her braids had to go. She thought as long as her grievance was pending, she could keep her hairstyle.

But after officials suspended her for two days in May — only a day after giving her a favorable performance review — she took her braids out.

Tate-Allison was also told her dreadlocks violated the policy. She said she told Mahon that if she cut her hair short, she would be left with “parts and sections,” violating the department’s ban on “trendy” hairstyles. And if she shaved her head bald, it would be considered extreme.

She offered to wear a wig instead, but she said Mahon balked at that suggestion.

“He said, ‘That defeats the purpose,’” she said.

At Mahon’s request, she said, she brought in a letter from her pastor outlining the cultural and religious significance of her hairstyle. She said she believes that Jesus died with dreadlocks and she wants to emulate him.

But Mahon was unmoved, she said. She was fired on May 16.

Convinced that her hair didn’t violate the DOC’s policy, she contacted the NAACP in Richmond.
A week later, she and Hudson joined King Salim Khalfani, executive director of the Virginia NAACP, on the steps of the General Assembly building for a news conference. Khalfani said he had already complained to the governor’s office.

“This guy did that down in the Northern Neck because he thought he could get away with it,” Khalfani said recently. “But we had some brave people who challenged it. We contend she never violated the policy.”

At the Northern Neck Regional Jail, Superintendent Jeff Frazier said cornrows and dreadlocks are OK, as long as they’re pinned up.

The same rules apply at the Rappahannock Regional Jail, said Superintendent Joe Higgs, whose main concern is that hairstyles don’t pose a safety hazard.

“If an inmate can reach up and grab something and hurt you, then that inmate has an advantage,” Higgs said.

Though the DOC policy specifically bans unnatural hair dyes, like fluorescent or neon colors, it doesn’t define “extreme, eccentric or trendy.”

“There’s a lot of interpretation left to the superintendent,” Higgs said. “To try and tighten it up or make it more rigid only makes more problems for yourself.”

On June 13, Tate-Allison received an e-mail from Clyde Cristman, deputy secretary of public safety, saying the DOC had decided to reinstate her with back pay while it reviewed the grooming policy at the governor’s request.

But when she reported for work, she said she was told she would be in a non-uniformed position at a local probation office instead of a corrections officer.

She declined the position and instead will begin working with youth at a group home in Warsaw next month. But she still wants an apology from the DOC.

Tate-Allison said she worked for the federal government, in the Army and as a civilian for about 20 years, and her hair was never a problem.

Hudson, meanwhile, re-braided her hair and has been told she can keep it that way until her grievance is finalized this week.

“I’m not asking for a suitcase,” Tate-Allison said. “I’m challenging the policy to get it clear and consistent for state agencies.”

(The Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg, Va.)