US House passes bill to prohibit discrimination based on hair

Black people who wear natural hairstyles such as Afros, cornrows or tightly coiled twists should not face bias in society, schools and the workplace, the US House said

The bill now goes to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain. US President Joe Biden has already said he would sign the bill, known as the Crown Act, into law

3-MIN READ3-MIN

Elected officials in the US House of Representatives have voted to ban all types of racial discrimination based on hair. The bill is explicitly aimed at protecting African-Americans who sometimes face discriminatory rules. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:03am, 19 Mar 2022

Black people who wear natural hairstyles such as Afros, cornrows or tightly coiled twists should not face bias in society, schools and the workplace, the US House said on Friday in voting to make it explicit that such discrimination is a violation of federal civil rights law.

“There are folks in this society who think because your hair is kinky, it is braided, it is in knots or it is not straightened blonde and light brown, that you somehow are not worthy of access,” Democratic congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, the lead sponsor of the bill, said during debate on the House floor. “Well, that’s discrimination.”

The House voted 235-to-189 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of hair texture and hairstyles such as hair that is tightly coiled, curled, or worn in locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, or Afros. The bill now goes to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain. President Joe Biden has already said he would sign the bill, known as the Crown Act, into law.

Deanna Cook, left, poses for a photograph with her mother Colleen at their home in Malden, Massachusetts on March 15. Photo: The Boston Globe via AP

All but 14 Republicans voted against the measure, calling it unnecessary and a distraction. They said protections against hair discrimination already exist in several federal laws.

“This is what the Democrats are focused on,” said Ohio Republican congressman Jim Jordan. “Fourteen months of chaos and we’re doing a bill on hair.”

But House Democrats noted that, in several instances, judges have dismissed civil rights cases on the basis that the law does not directly cover discrimination on the basis of hair. The House bill makes clear that hair is in fact included.

Supporters pointed to a 2019 study by Dove that showed that one in five Black women working in office or sales settings have said they had to alter their natural hair. The study also found Black pupils are far more likely to be suspended for dress code or hair violations.

Coleman, a New Jersey Democrat, began to work on the proposal after two incidences of discrimination made national headlines. One involved Mya and Deanna Cook of Malden, Massachusetts.