Michael P. Maslanka, assistant professor of law, UNT Dallas College of Law.
I am not a fan of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” (Why was Captain Picard always yanking down on his uniform? You’d think he would have a bespoke outfit; after all, it is the 24th century.) Still, my all-time favorite “Star Trek” episode is “Transfigurations.” The Enterprise gives refuge to an alien fleeing from his home planet. Others from his species are in pursuit and intend to kill him. Why? He is evolving from a corporeal existence to an incorporeal one. Evolutionary change is apparently hard to accept in some parts of the galaxy. But the alien survives and Picard gets to express his gratitude for being able to witness a new species coming into existence.
My memory of this episode was triggered by the recent decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Catastrophe Management Solutions, 852 F. 3d 1018. The issue: Does an employer violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by taking an adverse employment action against a black woman because she wears her hair in dreadlocks? The status quo: No, because race is an immutable characteristic (like skin color or even curly/kinky hair in an Afro) but dreadlocks are a mutable characteristic because it is a hair style choice, not an inherent and unchangeable feature.
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