Mel B joins a campaign calling for a new UK law to bar Afro hair discrimination

Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Former Spice Girl Mel B is among dozens of Black Britons urging Parliament to update the country’s equality laws and prohibit Afro hair discrimination. In an open letter to lawmakers on Tuesday, campaigners including Mel B, singer Beverley Knight and lawmaker Paulette Hamilton called for the U.K. to introduce a law to recognize Afro hair as a protected characteristic. The letter said people with Afro hair have been treated unjustly in schools and businesses for too long and that current British laws do not address the issue directly. Two dozen U.S. states have recently introduced laws intended to bar employers and schools from penalizing people because of hairstyles including Afros, braids and dreadlocks.