New England Diary

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Regulation upon regulation upon….

Adapted from Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocalProv.com

Department of Excess Regulations, Rule #17rwqdewew19:

Massachusetts has enacted a law banning discrimination based on a person's hair texture or style.

The sponsor of the bill that led to the law, Boston Democrat Lydia Edwards, the Senate's only Black member, said:

"You must understand what systemic racism does is not just prohibit economic opportunity and jobs. It diminishes the soul. It diminishes yourself of who you are because of something you cannot control. And it took me so long, so long, as a part of my life to ever say that my hair is long, that it is beautiful and that is natural."

The Age of Me continues….

One problem with this sort of micro-anti-discrimination law is that it can be used to protect people who might be about to be fired for other things than their hair, such as incompetence. And do we need to cite yet another personal characteristic as a basis for another law promoting hyper-sensitivity? And can we please edge away from a society of endless individual aggrievement?