Leslie Taylor

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The irony in a Virginia Beach restaurant's alleged banning of patrons who wear their hair in dreadlocks or cornrows is the slogan the nightspot trumpets in bold red letters on its Web site:

"Ti'ings take time, mon."

A clear nod to Jamaica, where dreadlocks were made popular by singer and songwriter Bob Marley, who wore his hair in long, flowing locs.

Yet the Kokoamos Island Bar, Grill and Yacht Club in Virginia Beach is accused in two lawsuits -- one filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, the other by the ACLU of Virginia -- of enacting a hair policy that effectively discriminates against blacks.

The policy prohibits braids, twists, cornrows and dreadlocks, along with baggy pants and "gangsta" attire.

A "deplorable violation of this nation's civil rights laws," Rena Comisac, acting assistant attorney general for the DOJ's Civil Rights Division told our sister newspaper, The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk.

Indeed, and a ridiculous prohibition to boot. It takes the standard "no shoes, no service" to the discriminatory extreme.

The sad truth is that when skin color alone cannot serve as just basis for denying entry into a restaurant or rejecting a job application, people find ways to exact their discrimination on the basis of appearance.

Sagging pants, cornrows, dreadlocks and Afros say "radical," "noncomformist." And that creates a certain discomfort and fear, a desire to set apart.

I implore my son, in his early 20s, to keep his hair and beard trimmed. Wear the baggy jeans, but with a belt and a pressed shirt, don't care if it's T-shirt, polo or button-down.

Because intelligent and talented as he or any young black man may be, the assumptions based on appearance are bound to impede their eventual lot in life.

Or their entrance into a restaurant.

It is unfortunate that living in a society that doesn't wholly embrace the physical self-expression that young people -- of any color -- make means they must sacrifice a little piece of themselves. I understand why they resist bowing to conformity, much the same way I proudly sported a floppy 'fro years ago, to hell with societal consequences. The "Black Is Beautiful" hair floating about my head didn't seem to stand in the way of education and employment, not then.

But choosing to step outside the norm today, particularly for young people of color, carries a risk. The discomfort and fear their nonconformity creates is linked to a prevalent youth culture that glorifies guns and violence.

Earl Graves, publisher of Black Enterprise magazine, wrote several years ago that black people "must often perform a difficult yet graceful balancing act between the demands of the cultures of their respective companies and the cultural identity that is the foundation of their ability to thrive in an ultra-competitive environment.

"Before you decide to grow dreadlocks and ditch your suit and tie for a FUBU jeans and '05' football jersey ensemble, you need to ask some honest questions about the price you're willing to pay for the sake of personal expression in a business environment."

The reality is this country is not ready to wrap its arms around appearances that are too far left of center.

A Glamour magazine associate editor several months ago was speaking to a group of women about corporate fashion. She ticked off a list of do's and don'ts. "Political" hairstyles such as Afros and dreadlocks, she said, were a Glamour "don't."

Several black women in the audience took offense. The media got hold of the incident. And by the time it aired on National Public Radio, the magazine was reeling in damage control. The associate editor is now an "ex-staffer."

This country may not be ready for reality outside the norm, but as in Virginia Beach, it should be prepared to deal with the legal consequences.

Taylor is a member of The Roanoke Times editorial board.