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Biden Administration ‘Strongly Supports’ Bill Banning Hair Discrimination
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman vows to reintroduce CROWN Act bill.
The politics of hair are reaching new levels.
With stories of students and potential employees being put out, left out, and called out for simply having natural hair continuing to go viral, an ongoing movement to legally ban hair discrimination has been crossing the country. And now, the White House has joined the conversation.
[SEE ALSO: New Research Shows Race-Based Hair Discrimination Starts As Early As Five]
The Biden administration expressed Tuesday (Mar. 17) that it “strongly supports” the CROWN Act, legislation to make it illegal to discriminate against hair textures and natural hairstyles like cornrows, locs, or braids.
“The President believes that no person should be denied the ability to obtain a job, succeed in school or the workplace, secure housing, or otherwise exercise their rights based on a hair texture or hairstyle,” the administration shared.
The statement came two weeks after Congress failed to pass the CROWN Act of 2022, with Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) calling it a “bad hair bill.” The bill, first introduced by U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-12th) and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) in 2019, would have made it a civil rights violation (and federal crime).
Research shows that Black girls experience discrimination based on their hair texture and styles as early as five years old. Back women are also 1.5 times more likely to have reported having been sent home or know of a Black woman being sent home from the workplace because of her hair.
“Systemic racism comes in many forms,” said Rep. Watson Coleman in a statement last year. “One way is discrimination and bias against ethnic and natural hairstyles that contribute to reduced opportunities for job advancement, particularly for women.”
Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act legislation and movement is spearheaded by Dove and members of the CROWN Coalition which continue to share research to help propel their mission to normalize all hair textures. It has been passed across 14 states and 34 cities and townships over the past five years.
Watson Coleman has expressed her determination to get the bill passed nationally.
“We will bring the CROWN Act back and pass it with a simple majority. We won’t allow Republican antics to stand in the way of Black people having the right to live as their authentic selves,” she posted on Twitter.
