House passes ‘vitally important’ bill that bans discrimination against Black hairstyles

The US House of Representatives has passed the CROWN Act, a bill that would ban discrimination against people with hairstyles associated with a particular race or origin and that many Democrats argued in debate would address a “kitchen table issue” for Black Americans across the country.

Lawmakers passed the bill, H.R. 2116, with a 235-189 majority on Friday. Votes largely fell along party lines, with only 14 Republican lawmakers joining their Democratic counterparts to support the legislation.

In the legislation, it states that “routinely, people of African descent are deprived of educational and employment opportunities” for wearing their hair in natural styles, such as locs, cornrows, braids, Afros and Bantu knots.

Rep Bonnie Watson Coleman, who introduced the piece of legislation, argued in her remarks on the floor on Friday morning that formally banning bias against hair styles was essential to creating a more fair society.

“Here we are today standing on behalf of those individuals – whether my colleagues on the other side recognise that or not – who are discriminated against as children in school, as adults who are trying to get jobs, as individuals who are trying to get housing, as individuals who simply want access to public accommodations and to be beneficiaries of federally funded programs,” Ms Watson Coleman said.

“There’s no logical reason that anyone should be discriminated against on any level because of the texture of their hair or the style of their hair,” the New Jersey representative added.

At least 14 states have passed laws that outlaw hair-based discrimination, with the Massachusetts state House becoming the latest after it passed a version of the CROWN Act unanimously.

House Republicans who opposed the bill used their floor time to question the need for the CROWN Act because they believed that existing laws that protect against race-based discrimination should also be transferrable to hair-based discrimination.

“It’s covered. It’s wrong if it happens,” said Rep Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio.

This line of reasoning was soundly debunked when, before the legislation was put to a vote, a series of Black and African American legislators detailed the discrimination they’d personally experienced because of their hair.

Rep Gwen Moore, a Democratic representative from Wisconsin, laid out how her hair had been targeted divisively in a previous job when someone said that she was “an embarrassment” because of the way it looked.

In a more direct rebuke of Mr Jordan’s dismissal of the legislation, Rep Al Green, who is African American, explained how the Ohio representative’s line of reasoning was dismissing an issue that disproportionately effects Black Americans.

“When you say the American people don’t want it, you cannot exclude Black people. Black people would have this be on the floor. This is a kitchen table issue in Black households,” Mr Green said.

Last month, the same bill that sought to ban natural hair discrimination in employment, public accommodations and housing failed to garner enough support after the House votes fell just shy – 235-188 – of meeting the two-thirds majority required to pass a bill.

Rep Watson Coleman indicated after last month’s failure that they would try again in the coming weeks under regular House rules, which wouldn’t require a two-thirds majority.