Workplace and classroom administrators have fired or suspended Blacks who wear natural hairstyles, deeming their hair inappropriate for school and unprofessional for work.
The CROWN Act — Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair — protects individuals from hair discrimination. It is a partnership between Dove, the National Urban League, Color of Change, and the Western Center on Law and Poverty. The national campaign started in 2019.
It supports the belief that Black people should be able to wear their hair as it naturally grows out of their heads and not be forced to straighten their hair to fit standards created by White people.
The CROWN Act was created to change discriminatory policies. It demands protection against the workplace, charter, and K-12 public schools’ discrimination against protective hairstyling and hair texture.
Senator Holly J. Mitchell (CA) celebrates Gov. Cavin Newsom signing The CROWN Act on July 3, 2019 (Photo Credit: JOY Collective)
Holly Mitchell, former California State Senator (2013-2020), created and sponsored the CROWN Act bill. It was passed on June 27, 2019, by the California Legislature and was signed into law on July 3, 2019.
The CROWN Act was the first legislation against hairstyle and hair texture discrimination to be passed at the state level.
Why the CROWN Act Is Needed
Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Acts protected biases and discrimination that targeted afros but not other cultural stylings such as braids or locs.
Without nationwide legal protection against hair bias and discrimination, Blacks are compelled to conform to Eurocentric standards or face the consequences.
The CROWN Act seeks to give added protection to Black hair and abolish policies that try to force Blacks to abide by Eurocentric hair standards, for example, straight hair vs. tightly coiled hair.
Imani Jackson, A black woman working as a salesperson at American Screening LLC, a drug and medical testing supply company in Louisiana, was fired in 2021 for not covering her afro-textured hair with a wig.
Wearing the wig was uncomfortable in the Louisiana heat and humidity, so Jackson decided to stop wearing the wig and started wearing her tight curly hair in a bun.
The owner ordered Jackson to “fix” her hair and return to wearing the straight wig to look professional. But employees who did not have tightly curled hair were allowed to wear their hair in buns or ponytails.
When Jackson refused to wear the wig, she was fired.
HAIR DISCRIMINATION AND ITS EFFECTS
Hair discrimination is most common in elementary schools, where children face hair discrimination as early as age five.
This discrimination continues into their teen years, affects their self-esteem and confidence, and causes them to miss school due to hair dissatisfaction.
Black women are 80% more likely to alter their natural hair to conform to workplace dress codes.
Black women are more likely to be sent home from work than their non-Black counterparts due to their hairstyle or texture.
Hair discrimination policies criminalize natural hair, justifying adults' expulsion from employment and removing Black kids from classrooms.
Black people risk facing the consequences for keeping their natural hair.
NATURAL HAIRSTYLES AND TEXTURES
What is Natural Hair?
Natural hair has not been altered using chemical straighteners such as permanent relaxers. Pressing or straightening using a flat iron, hot comb, brush or blow dryer is still considered natural because once the hair is wet, it will revert to its natural state.
But isn’t all hair natural since it naturally grows from your head?
Sometimes connotations come into play. Natural hair may be thought of as being not just unprocessed but “un-oppressed.” It’s not being changed to conform to Eurocentric beauty standards but a matter of choice and ease of maintenance.
For people of African ancestry, hair is deeply rooted in culture. It’s a crowning glory, a cause for celebration. And choosing to wear hair in a straight style that requires heat or chemicals should be a choice, not a mandate.
Straight hair was considered “good hair.” But good hair is any style you desire, whether natural or processed. Clean, healthy hair is what matters. Your hair, your right to maintain it as you see fit.
What Is Protective Styling?
Protective styling preserves hair health and shields it from the damage caused by combing, brushing, and harsh weather conditions that can cause hair to contract or expand weakening hair fibers.
These styles promote hair growth by discouraging manipulation and limit the pulling and tugging of constant hair styling. And since less manipulation is used or needed, they save time.
Protective styles include wigs, braids, cornrows, Bantu knots, buns, plaits, chignon, locs, updos, and two-strand twists. These styles help hair ends, the oldest and most fragile parts of your hair.
Some workplaces and schools have dress codes and grooming policies that discriminate against natural hairstyles. Rules that depict the texture and tight curls that easily allow hair to be shaped into braids, locs, and afros as unkempt and unprofessional.
This lack of understanding and lack of empathy leads to school and workplace bias that believes everyone should live by just one standard of beauty.
Black Hair Discrimination
Attacks on Black hair cover a broad spectrum. Children. Adults. Kids at school. Kids playing sports. Men and women on the job working to provide for themselves and their families.
It’s not just hair. It’s the entire person who’s being discriminated against. You can’t separate the two. Hair discrimination has a wide and lasting effect.
For centuries hair has been one of many traits used to define an individual’s race. Hair discrimination linked to hairstyles of a particular race and the policies that criminalize natural hair to justify firing adults from employment and expelling Black kids from school is racial discrimination.
Mya and Deanna Cook
As high school students, twin sisters Mya and Deanna Cook’s battle against hair discrimination began in 2017 when they were just 15 years old.
They were given in-school detention at their Mystic Valley school, threatened with school suspension, and told they would not be allowed to attend junior prom all because they refused to stop wearing braided hair extensions.
Deanna was removed from the track team, and Mya was not allowed to participate in softball.
MYA AND DEANNA COOK (Photo Credit: Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe)
As the sisters' battle against discrimination became widely known, it drew the attention of the Massachusetts attorney general, Marna Healey. Her office sent a letter ordering the school to stop enforcing its discriminatory policy.
Also, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts filed a complaint with the state’s education department calling for eliminating the policy banning hair extensions.
Together, they succeeded in getting the hair policy removed from the girls’ school and neighboring schools.
The policies were not applied consistently at their Boston-area high school, Mystic Valley Regional Charter School. Hair extensions were banned for all students but selectively enforced for students of color. Also, only Black and biracial students had their hair inspected for extensions.
Twins Deanna and Mya and their parents, Aaron and Colleen Cook, joined Governor Charlie Baker at the signing of the CROWN Act bill on July 26, 2022, at the State House in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo Credit: Reba Saldanha/Boston Herald)
The sisters fought the discrimination many Black girls face, being criminalized because of their appearance. They fought for change and made their voices heard. Now the law in Massachusetts prevents school and workplace discrimination against people wearing natural hairstyles.
DeAndre Arnold
In January 2020, several months before his high school graduation, DeAndre Arnold was given an ultimatum. Cut his locs or be banned from attending his Barbers Hill graduation ceremony. On top of that, if he didn’t cut his locs, he would be forced to attend in-school suspension for the remainder of the school year.
Instead, he chose to change schools and keep the dreadlocks he had been growing for years. DeAndrea’s father is from Trinidad, and long dreadlocks are a part of the culture.
Barber Hills contended that their policy was not racist and that all male students were held to the same grooming standards.
Yet Christina Beeler, a former attorney with the Juvenile and Capital Advocacy Project at the University of Houston Law Center, showed that Barbers Hill policy was selectively enforced. She searched Barbers Hill yearbooks and saw photos of white male students with long hair.
“White male students aren't being held to the same standard,” Beeler said. “It’s so clear that white male students and black students are being treated differently.”
DeAndre’s stance drew the attention of Matthew A Cherry, the writer of the book and movie “Hair Love” and the movie’s producers Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union. They invited DeAndre to attend the Oscars, where the short animated film was nominated for and won best short animated film.
“We’ve all been so inspired by your story, and this is the very least we can do to thank you for standing up for yourself and for your right to wear your natural hair at school,” Cherry said.
As a guest on the Ellen Show, DeAndre was awarded a $20,000 scholarship check from Shutterfly presented to him by Alicia Keyes.
Brittany Noble Jones, a black news anchor, decided to wear her natural after the birth of her son. In 2019, her bosses accused her of having “shaggy and unkempt hair” and terminated her on-air job.
Andrew Johnson (Image Credit: SNJ Today/Mike Frankel)
Andrew Johnson, New Jersey High School wrestler, was forced by the referee to cut his hair or fail to participate in his wrestling match.
The issue with Johnson’s hair was not the length. The referee claimed that Johnson’s hair was “unnatural.”
jett hawkins law
Gus “Jett” Hawkins (Photo Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago)
It was March 2021 when Gus “Jett” Hawkins arrived at preschool. He was especially excited to show everyone his braided hairstyle. Instead of welcoming him, school administrators called his mother, Ida Nelson, to inform her that Jett’s hairstyle violated the school’s dress code.
In response, Jett’s mother, Ida Nelson, sought to educate others on the CROWN Act. She took her fight first to social media, then to the news media. Senator Mike Simmons, who wears free-style locs, joined the fight and soon the Jett Hawkins Law was passed into law, banning hair discrimination in schools.
On June 29, 2022, the CROWN Act was signed into Illinois state law. Sponsored by state senator Mattie Hunter, it extends to the Jett Hawkins Law and prevents hair discrimination in the workplace and public areas such as theaters, parks, stores, and restaurants.
The Crown Act legislation
Many states have passed the CROWN Act or similar bills that will give Blacks protection from hair bias.
Alaska is the 19th state to provide legal protections against hair discrimination.
The CROWN Act and Laws Inspired by the CROWN Act
Have Been Signed in 23 States:
U.S. Virgin Islands (Territory) - On April 11, 2022, The U.S. Virgin Islands enacted ‘The Virgin Islands Crown Act of 2022,’ which prohibits discrimination based on hair texture or hairstyle.
Washington, D.C. - 1977 Human Rights Act, Includes protection of personal appearance, including hairstyles.
Senator Holly J. Mitchell’s Presentation of SB 188 (California’s CROWN Act Bill)
Hair discrimination, according to the NAACP, is systemic and based on racism. Although the CROWN Act legislation on the state level gives Blacks legal safety from the consequences of keeping their natural hair at work or school, there is still a need for federal protection.
Grooming policies and dress codes at many workplaces and schools prohibit natural hairstyles, such as Bantu knots, afros, locs, and braids. The policies criminalize Black hair, justifying the consequences of keeping natural hairstyles by removing Blacks from their jobs or classrooms.
CROWN stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair
After decades of advocates calling for policy change at the federal level, congressional action on hair discrimination based on race came to pass.
The U.S. Congress passed the CROWN Act bill that bans hair discrimination based on race in federal programs, workplaces, and public accommodations. The bill now awaits Senate approval.
The bill will prohibit hair style and texture discrimination and bias at the federal level if the Senate enacts it and the President signs it into law.
Everyone should be able to get a job, secure housing, succeed in the workplace or school, and exercise their right to have naturally textured hairstyles without facing discrimination or bias.
READ more ABOUT IT
Learn More About It
Banning Hair Discrimination Emerges as Racial Justice Issue.
DOJ defends 2 Texas teens in fight with school district over long locs, by CNN, JULY 27, 2021.
8 times kids stood up for their natural hair, by Zoë Ettinger, April 24, 2020.
Black Hairstyles: Historical Significance and Etymology, Illinois State Board of Education
Natural Hair Discrimination, Frequently Asked Questions (Legal Defense Fund)