Let me translate:The facial hair grooming standards of the US Military arose when it was overwhelmingly White.They specify that the soldier must be clean shaven, start to finish in a small span of time.African-Americans often can’t hit that window.This was used to drum out & harass them.
— Ms . Penny Oaken, SkyWitch (@skywitches.net) 2025-03-13T00:57:46.148Z
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There's real basis for this, bans on employee facial hair were found to have a disparate impact on Black men because their hair is more likely to become ingrown if shaved closely (the hairs curl up under the skin). However, key to that case was that being clean-shaven wasn't sufficiently relevant to delivering pizzas. The military has legitimate reasons for the standard.
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