Alexandria Library's Blog: National Crown Day – July 3rd

Press release from Alexandria Library's Blog:

2021-06-30

Saturday, July 3rd, will mark the 2nd anniversary of the CROWN Act (Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.)  The CROWN Coalition, a national alliance founded by Dove, National Urban League, Western Center on Law & Poverty, and Color of Change originally sponsored the groundbreaking legislation in January, 2019 and was signed into law by California Governor Gavin Newsome six months later.  National CROWN Day is a day of solidarity for the rights of Black men, women and children to wear their natural hair boldly and proudly, without the fear of being fired or expelled.

            In a 2020 survey of over 500 women by All Things Hair, revealed that:

• 44.3% of women reported discrimination due to their hairstyles;
• 46.5% have been told their hairstyles were not professional, and
• 52.3% of women felt pressured to wear their hair differently at work.

            The CROWN Act is a law that prohibits race-based hair discrimination, which is the denial of employment and educational opportunities because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including braids, locs, twists or bantu knots.  Virginia became the 4th state to enact the law on March 4, 2020.  Currently, there are 9 states (CA, NY, NJ, VA, CO, WA, MD, CT, and DE) that have the law on their books.  On the federal side, the House of Representatives passed their version of the CROWN Act on September 21, 2020. If passed by the Senate, the law would protect individuals from discrimination based on hairstyles associated with race at the Federal level, basically making hair discrimination synonymous with racial discrimination.  In 2017, the 5 branches of the US military formally revoked bans on natural hairstyles.

In a statement released by the CROWN Coalition, “Given the heightened spotlight on racial injustice, now is the time to galvanize the country to eradicate all forms of discrimination that negatively impacts the Black community, including hair discrimination.  On National CROWN Day, the Coalition is asking the Black community and its’ allies to share #PassTheCrown and to join the movement by signing the online petition at thecrownact.com, in addition to sending a letter or email to their state and federal legislators in states that have not yet passed The CROWN Act.”

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While library staff cannot provide legal advice, we are happy to guide patrons on how to use legal materials if they wish to find more information on this topic or any other legal issue.  The Law Library (703) 746.4077 is located on the lower level of the Alexandria Circuit Courthouse at 520 King St.  Please contact agifford@alexlibraryva.org for more information.

Contributor: Allison GiffordBranch: Law Library

This press release was produced by Alexandria Library's Blog. The views expressed here are the author’s own.