SALT LAKE CITY When a young Black woman from Utah County told a Senate committee of getting pencils thrown in my hair to see if they would stick, she was trying to shed light on a form of discrimination that may not be widely known about in the Beehive State.
And while discussion of SB80 to amend Utah s anti-discrimination laws did raise awareness of how hairstyles can lead to racial discrimination, it also brought questions of whether it is really a problem and prompted an apology from one state lawmaker accused of insensitivity for how he addressed women testifying as well as for telling a story of befriending Black children in a store.