The Crown Act: An end to hair discrimination?
A new act could end hair discrimination against people who choose to wear their natural hair.
Change is on the horizon for black hair. For years, black people, especially Change is on the horizon for black hair. For years, black people, especially women, have been told that their hair is “too kinky,” “unprofessional” and “looks better straight” – meaning chemically altered. This has forced many to wear processed hairstyles in order to feel accepted in school, work and social settings.
Dior Brown, a singer, lyricist and founder of the D.C. Music Summit, understands this all too well. “I heard things like nappy growing up. [That my hair] didn’t look pulled together because I wore it in a fro.”
However, black women, who have been barred from jobs, opportunities, and even relationships based on their hair texture, will now be protected by the CROWN Act. The legislation prohibits discrimination based on hairstyles by extending statutory protection to hair texture and protective styles in the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and state Education Codes.
First passed in California in July 2019, the act has since been approved in a few jurisdictions including Montgomery County, Md., Virgina, New York and New Jersey.
U.S. Senator Cory Booker Introduced it on the federal level in December 2019, while D.C. congressman Eleanor Holmes Norton co-sponsored a companion bill in the House of Representatives.
“The point is making the [CROWN] act applicable, yes, to the District of Columbia, but to every state.” Though there is no specific timeline for its passage nationally, Norton says, “I can only tell you, we got the majority last year which gives us a good chance of moving forward,” and “I am a member of the black caucus, and the majority may be women. I can assure you they will be pressing for this bill.”
Meanwhile, in the local level, mother Oluwatoyin Pyne, has launched a petition to encourage the city council to pass the act. Writing on the campaign’s homepage, she said her 10-year-old daughter who attends a private school, “was targeted and humiliated in front of students and staff as she was kicked out of school because of her hairstyle….It’s important for the D.C. Council to pass The CROWN Act… Under this Act, ALL CHILDREN attending D.C. public, charter AND private schools will be protected, as well as adults.”
Pyne’s experience mirrors several high profile cases around the country. They include Mississippi news anchor Brittany Noble Jones, who was fired in 2015 for wearing her natural hair at work; New Jersey high school wrestler Andrew Johnson who in December 2018, was forced to have his hair cut by a referee or forfeit the match; DeAndre Arnold, a Texas student who was denied graduation in January 2020 unless he cut his dreadlocks and Shreveport, La. highschool cheerleader, Asia Simon, who was dismissed from the team because of her natural hair in February 2020.
Learn more about the CROWN Act by visiting its official website: https://www.thecrownact.com
