(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) British courts announced that they were weighing the decision to remove the requirement for traditional barristers wigs for criminal lawyers following complaints from black barristers, according to the National Pulse.
“Following questions from barristers about wigs and hair discrimination, the Bar Council set up a working group to consider court dress in the context of all protected characteristics,” said a spokesman for the Bar Council. “The findings of the working group are currently being discussed with the judiciary as part of our regular dialogue on equality and diversity matters.”
Michael Etienne, a black barrister in the court, claimed that the tradition was racist in the midst of a 2022 trial, as it would mean covering up his Afro hairstyle.
Barristers of all races must wear the wigs, traditionally made from horsehair, but only when litigating criminal cases. The Bar Council removed the wig requirement for family, civil or Supreme Court cases in the late 2000s.
This, however, did not stop some woke lawyers from kicking up a fuss about their uniforms.
“The wigs certainly should go,” said lawyer Leslie Thomas, who is black. “There isn’t any place in a modern society for barristers to be wearing 17th-century fashion.”
Additionally, he described them as “ridiculous” and “culturally insensitive.” He also argued for the removal of win collars, a starched collar tied about the neck.
Barrister’s wigs are yet another element of traditional English court dress under attack from cancel-culture activists who are eager to subvert Western traditions they see as contributing to the perceptions of systemic oppression they must endure while living in an affluent, First-World society that insufficiently values their heritage.
Nonetheless, some culturally British individuals also seem to share the opinion that the archaic practices have overstayed their value to the society and drifted into the realm of ridiculousness.
Until 2000, speakers of the House of Commons wore wigs, stockings and buckled shoes until former Speaker Michael Martin did away with the tradition of his own volition.
The English family court dispensed the wig requirement in 2007, and the Supreme Court followed in 2009.
