How Government Creates Economic Outlaws

By Laura Schoellkopf

[Reprinted from Issues & Views Winter 1997]

Over the years, Issues & Views has informed readers about the negative impact of laws that originated in the 1930s designed primarily to create obstacles for black workers. These state and federal regulations are generally classified as Davis-Bacon laws. A great many of them are still on the books, and enjoy the full support of labor unions, black and white politicians and civil rights leaders. Thanks to the work of legal defense organizations, these laws are now being challenged.

There are many different versions of the American Dream and Dr. JoAnne Cornwell embodies one of the most popular. She is the creative entrepreneur who recognized a demand, met it, and created her own successful company. But Dr. Cornwell's life isn't exactly picture-perfect, because her company is not exactly "legit." It operates behind closed doors unauthorized by the government.

What sort of clandestine operation is she running? Dr. Cornwell's company, called Sisterlocks, sells training programs and videotaped instruction on an African hairbraiding method she has developed. Although she boasts dozens of clients and has trained approximately 100 people in its technique, Sisterlocks must operate in the underground economy. This is because Dr. Cornwell does not possess a cosmetology license.

Such a license would verify her training in such things as eyebrow arching, pedicures, and the use of hair chemicals--all activities never practiced by hairbraiders. Requiring this credential is akin to forcing football players to study tapdancing; it is something that is nice to know, but completely irrelevant to the profession one wishes to practice.

Dr. Cornwell has had to helplessly watch these irrelevant regulations road-block her hairbraiding company's path to legitimacy and success. She and thousands of others nationwide trained in hairbraiding, have found themselves turned into economic outlaws while their talent and livelihood is put in danger by government regulations which far exceed legitimate health and safety objectives.

Obtaining a cosmetology license requires 1,600 hours of technical instruction, while schooling costs anywhere between $5,000 and $7,000 and takes at least nine months to complete. Hairbraiding is not even tested by the licensing examiners and it is not taught by cosmetology schools.

For most would-be hairbraiders, the high cost and extensive time commitment of obtaining a license make the effort economically impossible. Furthermore, no separate or specialized license is available for braiding, even though separate licenses are offered for others who specialize in nails, skin or electrolysis.

Dr. Cornwell is rightly outraged. She has filed suit against the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology to lift the licensing barriers which prevent her from opening her own salon and expanding her training program. She is represented by the Institute for Justice (Washington, DC), which has already successfully deregulated the entire cosmetology industry in Washington, DC.

Natural hairbraiding, as well as hair care in general, has long been a source of economic opportunity for African-American women. Dr. Cornwell says, "This is a subject people in our community don't talk about, but if you ask anyone, they will tell you they got their hair done by the woman down the street or a friend of a friend. I call it an open secret in our community."

Dr. Cornwell's particular situation, however, is unique. Besides being an entrepreneur, she chairs the Africana Studies Department at San Diego State University and teaches in the French Department. Therefore, she does not rely solely on hairbraiding as income. Others are not so lucky. Those at the bottom of the economic ladder, who are most in need of occupations like hairbraiding, are disproportionately hurt by unnecessary regulations.

Because it requires fairly little capital and modest training, in a free and open market the hairbraiding industry would have unlimited potential to open doors for new entrepreneurs, who, in turn, could create new jobs.

Yet those who need it most are denied these opportunities. Dr. Cornwell states, "When you stifle the entrepreneurial urge in any community, you're doing a violence to that community." As welfare reform begins to change the national landscape, occupations such as hairbraiding offer ideal entry-level jobs. Given the chance, most people will choose not to be economic outlaws and would willingly become part of the mainstream economy. It is time for government to get out of their way.

-- Laura Schoellkopf is a senior at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, as well as an intern at the Institute for Justice, which litigates nationwide to advance economic liberty as a civil right. To learn more about cases now being handled by the Institute for Justice, contact John Kramer at (202) 955-1300, or visit their website.

For more about the effects of government regulations, send for a free Davis-Bacon information kit. Contact: Issues & Views, P.O. Box 467, New York, NY 10025; (718) 655-7847.

Copyright © 2001 Issues & Views