End the Wig. End the Erasure

Abolish Colonial Wigs in UK Courtrooms Now.

 

Every timtime African, Caribbean, South Asian, or Indigenous lawyer walks into a UK courtroom and puts on a white, powdered wig, something deeper than tradition is being forced onto their head — a symbol of oppression, of erasure, of a system that has never fully made space for them.

 

These wigs, once worn by colonisers, judges, and aristocrats, are relics of a time when power was held by the few and built on the backs of the many. For centuries, Britain colonised, exploited, and divided entire nations — and now, in a Britain that claims to value diversity, it still asks those same people to perform justice in the very image of their oppressors. It's not just outdated. It’s painful. It’s ironic. And it’s wrong.

 

Legal professionals of colour are being asked to hide their identity behind a costume that was never made for them. Something as personal and political as hair — especially for Black and Brown people — should never be regulated by outdated tradition. Wearing that wig doesn't uphold justice. It upholds elitism and cultural silence.

 

If we’re not all required to walk into court in full breeches and ballgowns, then why are we still wearing wigs? Why cling to this one particular tradition so tightly, especially when it serves no practical purpose and makes many feel excluded, alienated, and invisible?

 

The UK is no longer a single-story nation. It’s a multicultural country where millions of people from colonised backgrounds now live, learn, work, and serve. The courts should reflect that reality, not deny it.

 

It’s time for the legal system to evolve.

It’s time to ditch the wigs — and everything they represent.

Let lawyers show up as themselves. Let the courts step into the future.