Why is the Crown Act Important?

Author: Regan Quick

Howdy,

Here is the blog post explaining what the CROWN Act is and three news stories about hair discrimination in the news since 2019. I’ve attached a linked news article for each story, and the official website for the CROWN Act movement.

The Crown Act

First passed in the California state house, the CROWN (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Act was passed into law on July 3rd of 2019 taking a step forward in the fight for equity and inclusion through the elimination of race-based discrimination. As of 2024 the CROWN Act has been passed in 24 state legislatures. This law prohibits the discrimination of any individual in the workplace or in public schools based on race-based hairstyles, hair texture, and the use of protective hair styles including but not limited to braids, locs, twists and knots. The Official CROWN Act (thecrownact.com)

There have been efforts to pass the CROWN act on a national level by Congress for years. In 2022 the House of Representatives advanced the national CROWN Act, but the effort stalled out in the senate. More recently, in May of 2024 Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey reintroduced the legislation hoping for successful passage of the CROWN Act through the US congress and the chance for the legislation to make it to the Oval Office. In a statement the Biden administration has claimed they strongly support federal passage of the CROWN act and would enact it into law. Democrats reintroduce federal CROWN Act legislation to ban hair discrimination | CNN

Why is the CROWN act important?

After passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 it became illegal to discriminate against individuals based on race, but in the 60 years that followed racial discrimination has persisted through the practice of hair discrimination.

In 2019 teenager Kerion Washington from Fort Worth, Texas was denied the opportunity to work at an amusement park, Six Flags, unless he agreed to cut his dreadlocks. Washington’s story made national news, and he was eventually sought out by IMG Models, and Kerion was able to launch his new career as a model fulfilling a lifelong dream of being in the industry. Six Flags later remarked that they would be changing their policy regarding employee’s natural hair, but this change would be too little too late as Kerion had already had his first encounter of being racially discriminated against for his natural hair. The Teen Discriminated Against by Six Flags for His Natural Hair Just Signed with a Modeling Agency | Teen Vogue

In December of 2018 a New Jersey high school student, Andre Johnson, was videotaped having his dreadlocks cut off before being allowed to participate in a wrestling match. The video later grabbed national attention, and support came in for the young athlete. Eventually, the referee that forced Johnson to cut his locs was suspended and became the subject of a state investigation. N.J. wrestler forced to cut dreadlocks still targeted over hair, lawyer says (nbcnews.com)

More recently, at the beginning of the 2023-2024 academic school year a Texas teenager was suspended because his hair violates school dress code. Darryl George, a high school junior, was suspended on August 31st for wearing his hair in a protective style that extends past his shirt collar, eyebrows, and earlobes. Although Texas is one of the states that has passed the CROWN act, the judges on this case ruled that the actions taken by the school board weren’t in violation of the CROWN Act because the CROWN Act doesn’t protect individuals for their hair length even if it’s in relation to their protective styles. The George family has now filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Texas Governor and Attorney General claiming the administration is failing to enforce the CROWN Act. In the meantime, Darryl George, now 18, has continued to miss the opportunity to receive an education and experience normalcy in the state of Texas, and he has spent the entirety of the school year in in-school suspension or at an off-site disciplinary program. Texas school legally punished Black student over hairstyle, judge says | AP News.