{"id":36864,"date":"2022-04-05T09:27:41","date_gmt":"2022-04-05T09:27:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/04\/05\/how-the-navys-beard-policy-discriminates-against-black-sailors\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:38:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:38:52","slug":"how-the-navys-beard-policy-discriminates-against-black-sailors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2022\/04\/05\/how-the-navys-beard-policy-discriminates-against-black-sailors\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Navy\u2019s beard policy discriminates against Black sailors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Despite suffering from a skin condition as beyond his control as his skin color, the Black Navy chief placed grooming standards above the damage that shaving wrought on his face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roughly 45 percent of Black servicemembers<\/a> grapple to varying levels with pseudofolliculitis barbae<\/a>, known in the military as PFB and to the civilian world as razor bumps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like several Black Navy men who spoke with Navy Times for this report, the chief realized he had the condition years ago, when he started shaving daily in boot camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each day, those cut hairs curled back and grew into his skin, producing a mass of angry, inflamed bumps on his neck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt became that you\u2019re shaving over the bumps, that\u2019s cutting the heads off them, you have bleeding and severe discomfort,\u201d the chief said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pseudofolliculitis barbae, also known as razor bumps, is a skin condition where shaved facial hair grows back into the neck, resulting in painful bumps. It predominantly affects Black men. (Photo courtesy Skin of Color Society)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Those bumps had no time to heal before the razor came out again, he said, and medical did little more than recommend hot towels and tweezers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He tried to shave the hairs in the recesses around the bumps. More pain, bleeding and scarring ensued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the chief gritted through it, because his superiors had told him to shave and the Navy was his future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI came from a super-small town,\u201d he said. \u201cJust me being in the Navy was a huge thing. I was willing to do just about anything to keep from going back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like countless past and present PFB sufferers, most of them Black men, the chief eventually obtained relief via a shaving waiver, or \u201cno-shave chit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Men of any race can suffer from PFB, but the curly nature of a Black man\u2019s facial hair means it hits them particularly hard, afflicting up to three out of five African American men<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And according to several Black sailors who spoke with Navy Times, growing a beard brought them pain relief but ushered in a raft of professional obstacles, petty indignities and institutional side-eye from a Navy that has carried both a formal and informal aversion to facial hair for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou never see a sailor on a poster with a beard,\u201d another chief told Navy Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018The service isn\u2019t meant for you\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Several Black enlisted and commissioned sailors suffering from PFB shared the same sentiment: that the Navy\u2019s formal policies toward their condition \u2014 and the sea service\u2019s informal attitude toward beards \u2014 renders them as less-than among their shipmates, even as the Navy has joined other American institutions in much-publicized efforts to better consider diversity following the police murder of George Floyd in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because PFB mainly afflicts Black men, they say, Navy PFB rules and the norms surrounding shaving and beards end up discriminating against Black sailors in ways big and small, all because of a skin condition they were born with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe razor bump issue is actually as much of a rock in my shoe as Confederate flags on base,\u201d one Black officer said. \u201cThe current climate sends a bad message to Black males that the service isn\u2019t meant for \u2018you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy is the only service that doesn\u2019t allow permanent or years-long medical shaving waivers, a policy couched around safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a new study launched last month at the direction of Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro suggests such policies could change yet again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the auspices of the department\u2019s ongoing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, the new study will offer a fresh assessment of whether a beard prevents a proper facemask seal during shipboard firefighting, while examining other literature on the topic and potential alternatives for bearded sailors and Marines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study could potentially lead to changes in PFB and beard policies that some Black sailors feel have unfairly singled them out for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black sailors told Navy Times they already have to work twice as hard to prove themselves as minorities in a largely white organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re just adding to it with the beard,\u201d a chief warrant officer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A screenshot from a PFB “Commanding Officer’s Toolkit” Navy document. Until earlier this month, commanding officers could kick sailors out who didn’t want to go through laser hair removal therapy to get rid of their skin condition. (Navy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dozens of Black sailors suffering from PFB contacted Navy Times to share their thoughts, and those interviewed for this report all requested anonymity for fear of being punished for speaking out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several said they almost understand where the punitive policies come from, given that the sea service\u2019s largely white leadership has never had to live with or shave through such a skin condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They echoed a shared dilemma: Keep shaving over their razor bumps to fit in with the rest of the clean-shaven fleet and appease some bosses who don\u2019t understand \u2014 enduring pain, scarring and skin made darker from ritualized razor abuse \u2014 or get a no-shave chit, grow a beard and look different in an organization whose ethos rests on everyone following the same standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under policies the Navy changed only last month, PFB sailors faced severe repercussions for their condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They could be kicked out if they refused to undergo laser hair removal therapy, a painful regimen with mixed results that can impact a man\u2019s ability to grow a beard for the rest of their life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have seen the laser treatment scarring and blotches,\u201d one officer said. \u201cNo thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Laser hair removal can cause blisters and ulcers in darker-skinned men, according to the Military Medicine journal. (Photo courtesy of Military Medicine, the International Journal of AMSUS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While officials told Navy Times they have no record of a commander using laser therapy refusal to kick someone out, sailors said that fear has hung over many PFB sufferers throughout the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also faced relatively minor indignities, such as carrying around their no-shave chit to produce for every nosy senior who wanted to know why their face was out of regs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA DDG is 505 feet,\u201d one chief said. \u201cYou can\u2019t walk five to 10 feet without someone saying, \u2018let me see your no-shave chit.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Often, a sailor\u2019s ability to even get a chit depends on whether they have a sympathetic commanding officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSometimes throughout my career, I had a very understanding chain of command, and sometimes I didn\u2019t,\u201d one chief said. \u201cI was at my fourth command before I got my first no-shave chit. That lets you know about the process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t