The United States has been making great strides towards combating natural hair discrimination.
Due to the CROWN (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Act, the USA is another step closer to legally eradicating hair discrimination in all 50 states.
This week, the United States House of Representatives passed the CROWN Act, created to legally protect black people from being judged because of their hair textures and cultural hairstyles.
Cedric Richmond is one of the Representatives that introduced the CROWN Act to the House. He tweeted:
The people’s House just passed the #CROWNAct. I’m proud to have introduced this legislation and thank my colleagues @RepBarbaraLee @RepMarciaFudge @RepPressley for their contributions to this bill and for wearing their own crowns with pride and dignity. pic.twitter.com/NE89Ws65eH
— Rep Cedric Richmond (@RepRichmond) September 21, 2020
American politician, Ilhan Abdullahi Omar announced the news on Twitter:
For far too long, Black women have been penalized for simply existing as themselves—that ends today.
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) September 21, 2020
The House just passed the CROWN Act to end hair discrimination.
This passage is long overdue, but an important step forward to combat racial discrimination. https://t.co/v4D76QZT6H
So, what needs to happen next for The CROWN Act to be made law, nationwide?
The act will now need to be considered by the Senate, a minimum of 51 of 100 US Senate representatives must consent to this act before it’s passed to the President.
Currently, only seven of the fifty states have passed this law: California, New York, New Jersey, Washington, Virginia and Colorado.
Calfornia Senator Holly J. Mitchell introduced the CROWN Act in January 2019. It was then signed into Calfornia law by Governor Gavin Newsom on 13th July 2019 and officially went into effect on 1st January 2020.
If the Senate passes the CROWN Act, afro hair discrimination could be considered illegal in all states.
The President makes the final decision to veto or (hopefully) sign it into law. Although, it seems like American citizens have no control over what happens now – this is untrue.
Publically get in touch with the Senators via Twitter. Tell them why The CROWN Act is necessary to you, why it should be important to them and how this law would positively affect people now and in the future. Here’s a list of the current Congressperson’s Twitter handles.
CURLYTREATS will continue to provide updates about The CROWN Act.
For full information see: The Official Campaign of the CROWN Act
