Minnesota One Step Closer To Banning Hair Discrimination With CROWN Act

Minnesota is one step closer in its journey toward passing legislation banning natural hair discrimination. On Wednesday (Jan. 11), the Minnesota House of Representatives voted for a third time to pass the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act.

[SEE ALSO: Lizzo’s Natural Hair Journey Was ‘Final Frontier’ To Loving Herself]

The CROWN Act is a legal movement spearheaded by the CROWN Coalition over the past six years to make discrimination against people of color for their hair a human rights issue. In Minnesota, the CROWN Act would update the definition of “race” in the Minnesota Human Rights Act to include “traits associated with race, including but not limited to hair texture and hairstyles such braids, locs, and twists.”

Previous research by the CROWN Coalition shows that Black girls experience discrimination based on their hair texture and styles as early as five years old. In addition, Black women are 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.

“It is time we put an end to the discriminatory practice of hair discrimination in Minnesota,” said the bill’s chief author, Rep. Esther Agbaje (DFL- Minneapolis). “This bill will ensure Black Minnesotans have the right to show up to work as their authentic selves without the fear of being reprimanded due to the style of their hair.”

The Act has been signed into law in nearly two dozen states and territories across the country. It has even passed through the U.S. House before being voted down in the U.S. Senate. As the fight continues, Minnesota could be the latest to change the tides after the MN House passed the bill 111-19. The House previously passed the CROWN Act in 2020 and 2022, but it was not taken up for a vote by the then-Republican Senate majority.

The bill, said Agbaje, would show that “Black people and children no longer must conform to Eurocentric beauty standards to be accepted. It is my hope that over time, we will build a society that celebrates everyone’s diversity and ability to be themselves.”

The bill is now heads to the Minnesota Senate for consideration.

Here is a list of all the states that have passed the CROWN Act or similar anti-hair discrimination laws thus far:

• California (2019)
• New York (2019)
• New Jersey (2019)
• Maryland (2020)
• Virginia (2020)
• Colorado (2020)
• Washington (2020)
• Connecticut (2021)
• Delaware (2021)
• New Mexico (2021)
• Nevada (2021)
• Nebraska (2021) 
• Oregon (2021) 
• Illinois (2022) –extended from in schools only in 2021 to now include the workplace
• Maine (2022)
• Tennessee (2022)
• U.S. Virgin Islands (2022)
• Massachusetts (2022)

Is your state not listed? You can join the movement by clicking here to sign a petition calling on governors and state lawmakers to get on board.