On Friday March 18, 2022, The House passed The CROWN Act, which is legislation that prohibits discrimination against race-based hairstyles. Some of these hairstyles mentioned include, afros, cornrows, and locs. It’s exciting to see this Act brought into legislation on a bigger level, as many states have enacted their own versions of the CROWN Act.
The goal is to pass the law to end hair texture discrimination and segregation in all fifty states. Though hair inclusion seems a given, individuals with natural hair texture will disagree because they face hair exclusions in salons daily. That’s why we were thrilled when we learned that on November 17, 2023, New York State passed legislation requiring the Cosmetology State Board to include “training, education, and testing on all hair types and textures.”
New York’s Cosmetology State Board To Include Training, Education, and Testing On All Hair Types and Textures
This transformative initiative in New York was crafted and championedby The Professional Beauty Association (PBA) in conjunction with itsTexture Education Collective (TEC), founded by Aveda, DevaCurl, L’Oreal USA, and Neill. We consider this legislation to be life-changing for Naturalistas and members of the natural hair community because this will close the hair segregation gap.
Up to this point, people with natural hair texture could only get their hair done in salons within their neighborhoods and communities because most salons don’t have professionals trained in the abovementioned hair texture. From now on, natural-haired people will be able to walk into any salon in the state to get service because there will be experts. We hope that all the other states in the country follow New York’s example and require the same training to make meaningful strides toward hair inclusion in the country.
Read about other strides and efforts made to favor the CROWN Act below.
All About As Early As Five
Dove’s new short film, As Early As Five,shows how hair discrimination is as far back as an elementary school in a Black girl’s life.
Dove has played a huge role in helping to end race-based hair discrimination by showing support and research for the CROWN Act. They also launched a short film, As Early As Five, inspired by the real stories of those facing hair discrimination in school and the workplace.
As Early As Five is the new short film released by Dove, which was fueled by their CROWN Act research. The film looks at how Black girls start experiencing discrimination against their hair in elementary school as a kid and have to deal with this up into adulthood at the workplace. Nobody should have to feel fearful of losing their job or missing out on opportunities in school because of their hairstyle. Everyone should have the freedom to wear their hair in whatever style they choose.
Dove hopes that As Early As Five will raise awareness for the CROWN Act and ignite a sense of urgency among parents, school administrators, and advocates to sign the petition to makerace-based hair discrimination illegal.
Because of Dove and the CROWN Coalition’s efforts, the CROWN Act has already been passed as a law in 14 states. Learn more about what Dove and the CROWN Coalition have accomplished.
House of Representatives Pass CROWN Act
CROWN Act Passed by House of Representatives
Thanks to Representative Cedric Richmond, combined with Dove and The Crown Coalition efforts, the United States House of Representatives passed the CROWN Act on September 21, 2020. For many years, Black women have faced discrimination against their natural hair. Dove recognized that Black hair is beautiful, and there clearly had to be a change, which is why they co-founded the CROWN Coalition.
Whether it’s in the workplace or everyday life, Black women are being pressured to conform to narrow beauty standards set by society. Did you know a Black woman is 80% more likely to change her natural hair in order to fit social norms at work?
We could not be happier that this bill has finally been passed and is one step closer to becoming a law! Keep scrolling to find out more about the CROWN Act, what Dove did to help make a change, and what this means for the future of natural hair.
Dove’s Work With CROWN Act Coalition
What is the CROWN Act?
The CROWN Act is a law that prohibits discrimination based on hair texture and style, specifically towards natural hair. With help from the CROWN Coalition and multiple representatives, the bill has been passed by the House of Representatives and made a law in seven states. However, Black people can still be discriminated against in many states. Children can even be denied entry to school because of their hair. Because of this, there’s still more work that needs to be done, which is why Dove is accelerating their work with the CROWN Coalition.
The bill will now have to be approved by 51 of the 100 US Senate Representatives. If that happens, the bill will then be passed on to the President to sign into law.
What is Dove doing to promote change?
Dove cofounded the CROWN Coalition to help pass the bill across the U.S. This year; Dove is accelerating their work with their Coalition members by putting additional initiatives into action, like legislative advocacy and social change efforts to help end racial discrimination.
They are also updating the name, and the CROWN letters will now stand for:
Creating a
Respectful &
Open
World for
Natural Hair
In addition to updating the letters, Dove is creating the new CROWN Fund and pledging $5M to invest in efforts that will eliminate barriers to progress for the next generation of Black lives. To further help, Dove is also expanding their Dove Self-Esteem Project to help empower young people in the Black community.
Dove 2021 CROWN Research
Throughout 2021, Dove has continued to do research to find out the impact hair discrimination has on girls. It’s common for hair discrimination to start as early as 5 years old and only continue from there. In fact, 86% of Black teens experience hair discrimination by the age of 12. It’s no surprise that this has a big impact on girls’ self-esteem.
Dove found that while 90% of Black girls think their hair is beautiful, 81% of the girls who attend a primarily white school have straight hair. This is due to the discrimination girls still experience at school because of their hair. In majority-white schools, 66% of Black girls experience hair discrimination, and even 45% of Black girls in all school environments have experienced a hair bias. The trauma from going through this can be so bad that girls have had to miss up to a week of school.
The CROWN Act is working to make an important change, and shows how much work still needs to be done to fully end hair discrimination.
What happens next?
We could not be more thrilled over this news and the positive direction the CROWN Act is headed. While this is a step in the right direction, there’s still more work that needs to be done.
Since the House of Representatives has passed the CROWN Act, the bill will now move on to the Senate, where it will be voted on. If it’s passed through the Senate, the CROWN Act will then head to the White House, where the President will decide whether or not to sign the bill. According to a statement made earlier this week, the White House fully supports this bill and looks forward to working with Congress to enact it and ensure it’s implemented effectively.
Once the CROWN Act is signed by the President, the bill will officially be a law, making it illegal to discriminate against a Black person’s hair texture or style forever.
