The war on barbershops
Yet another example of our ludicrous economic policies mixing it up with our ludicrous law enforcement policies:
As many as 14 armed Orange County deputies, including narcotics agents, stormed Strictly Skillz barbershop during business hours on a Saturday in August, handcuffing barbers in front of customers during a busy back-to-school weekend.
It was just one of a series of unprecedented raid-style inspections the Orange County Sheriff’s Office recently conducted with a state regulating agency, targeting several predominantly black- and Hispanic-owned barbershops in the Pine Hills area.
In "sweeps" on Aug. 21 and Sept. 17 targeting at least nine shops, deputies arrested 37 people — the majority charged with "barbering without a license," a misdemeanor that state records show only three other people have been jailed in Florida in the past 10 years.
At least nobody was killed, no dogs shot. And it’s even more interesting that these raids took place in an affluent, white community where…oh wait. Strike that. This was a black community without strong political connections. Funny how that works.
My grandfather was a barber, so these sorts of things perk my ears. I understand the arguments as to why haircare professionals need to be regulated, but the nature in which they go about it often leaves much to be desired and seems based in large part simply to provide barriers to entry. In some states, my grandfather wouldn’t be able to cut hair unless he took a whole bunch of classes/certifications on hair-coloring and bleaching. The notion ostensibly being that people that people that put chemicals in others hair need to be regulated. Which makes sense… but what about those who simply want to cut hair? There’s a sort of all-in mentality where haircare is A Profession and something that ordinary people shouldn’t be allowed to do. For some things, this makes sense I suppose, but some flexibility here would be good.Report
My wife cuts my hair like the guy in basic training did.
This sounds like the honkey bastards are getting even for affirmative action and bad housing loans that tanked the economy…sounds like vigilanteism to me.Report
One of the most useful functions of licensure requirements is for people to have something to lose if various standards aren’t upheld. When you go into a shop where combs, brushes, and razors are used dozens of times a day over years, I think it’s reasonable for people to not want to leave with lice, and history has shown the threat of license revocation to be a useful motivation to make sure the appropriate santiation standards are met. Too, when I go into a shop to pay someone to put a straight-edge razor to my throat, it pleases me to know that some basic checks have been made. So I’m 100% fine with barber licenses — whether they are too onerous or too broad in any particular juristiction is something for those voters to sort out. Where I live it appears the licensing requirements are unusually strict for barbers, but given the number of licensed shops, it clearly is not an insurmountable barrier, and it’s not something I’ve ever heard people complain about.
But 14 armed deputies? In two `sweeps’? Arresting people, putting them in handcuffs, and dragging them away? Has Orange County ever done that for, say, health code violations in restaurants, where people could really get sick and die? If not, then WTF is going on here?Report
“Too, when I go into a shop to pay someone to put a straight-edge razor to my throat, it pleases me to know that some basic checks have been made.”
I smile to myself whenever I see the “employees must wash hands” sign in a restroom.
It makes me feel good to know that the government is looking out for me.Report
Yes, yes, washing-hands signs are all symptomatic of the nanny state that we `sheeple’ love so much, and a proper free market would take care of food-handling guidelines much more efficiently if only we would let go of our overweening attachment to our orwellian desire for big brother.Report
You’re lucky to live in the part of town that doesn’t have cops kick down the door to make sure that the sign isn’t crooked.
Ah, well. I’m sure that it’s good to have doors kicked down from time to time… “pour encourager les autres.”Report
Would you do business with a barber shop if there is word out about lax hygienic standards and other undesirable characteristics? Seems to me like the problem takes care of itself.
Licensure only serves to hamper business, foster complacency, and facilitate oppression.Report
They’re everywhere…everywhere!Report