House Passes CROWN Act Banning Discrimination Based on Hairstyle, Texture
Callie Patteson, New York Post, March 18, 2022
The House of Representatives approved legislation Friday that would codify actions deemed to discriminate against black people who have certain styles or textures of hair — such as Afros or cornrows — as federal civil rights violations.
Fourteen Republicans joined all 221 Democrats in supporting the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act, sending it to an uncertain fate in the Senate. President Biden has expressed support for the measure.
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The measure claims that racial discrimination can and does occur due to “longstanding racial and national origin biases and stereotypes associated with hair texture and style.”
“For example, routinely, people of African descent are deprived of educational and employment opportunities because they are adorned with natural or protective hairstyles in which hair is tightly coiled or tightly curled, or worn in locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots or Afros,” the legislation reads.
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Most Republicans called the legislation unnecessary, with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) saying, “This is what Democrats are focused on. Fourteen months of chaos and we’re doing a bill on hair.”
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