Recently, she had a client who visited an IHOP in Utah, where workers talked about her hair and that of her family and made humiliating comments. The restaurant apologized, but her customer`s sister was so traumatized by the experience that she skipped her appointment at Green`s salon. On July 3, 2019, California became the first state to pass the Crown Act, which updates the definition of “race” in the California Fair Employment and Housing Act and the California Education Code to include “traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles.” California`s CROWN Act prevents the enforcement of care policies that claim to be racially neutral but actually have a disproportionately negative impact on people of color. California`s CROWN Act went into effect on January 1, 2020. The legislation extends legal protection to hair textures and protective styles (hairstyles that minimize alterations and protect hair) such as braids, locs, twists and knots in the workplace and in public schools. Lawmakers designed the measure to fill a gap in federal civil rights protections that limits legal protection against racial discrimination to immutable racial characteristics such as skin tone, but not to attributes such as hair, cultural practices, weight or personal appearance. A recent study found that African-American women face the highest cases of hair discrimination, and on December 19, 2019, New Jersey became the third state to enact anti-discrimination legislation to “protect people of color who are discriminated against because of their hairstyle.” New Jersey`s CROWN Act amends New Jersey`s anti-discrimination law so that the term “race” includes “characteristics historically associated with race, including hair structure, hair type, and protective hairstyles.” In signing the bill, Governor Phil Murphy said that “no one should feel uncomfortable or discriminated against because of their natural hair.” Belizaire, now a high school graduate at the Advanced Technologies Academy, which focuses on law school, said the experience gave her perspective on what it`s like to be attacked because of a physical characteristic. She said she channels that perspective into a commitment to activism. Greene said the protections in the law relate to natural hair bans that leave people of color in a “catch-22” position: putting on their natural hair or risking being deprived of a job or educational opportunity. “Wait, we don`t use that word here,” Green told his clients. “We just, `He or she has thick, very structured hair and we know how to work with it.` “While we`re seeing more curly hair and natural hair on all sorts of marketing here in the world and we see journalists or celebrities cradling their natural hair, it`s still not as prevalent as it should be,” she said. “You can`t discriminate against anyone because of their hairstyle or natural texture,” Voltmer advised at Wednesday`s presentation, adding that some of the new laws relate to the protection of facial hair and religious clothing.
Proponents of the CROWN Act argue that natural hair discrimination is not a distortion of appearance, but a channel of racial discrimination. The bill stems in part from a 2013 case in Alabama in which the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a racial discrimination lawsuit on behalf of an African-American candidate who was offered a job as a customer service representative but was told her dreadlocks violated the company`s care policy. When she refused to cut and restyle her hair, the company withdrew her job offer. Some local legislators, on the other hand, have tackled discrimination on the surface. Washington DC, for example, has banned discrimination based on personal appearance based on body condition, beard, hairstyle, personal hygiene, and clothing. Michigan is an aberrant state that has explicitly prohibited discrimination based on height or weight. But until recently, Michigan law didn`t protect anyone`s hair. Employees at will could be fired if they showed up for work with their headboards or shaggy hair they didn`t want to cut. Since the CROWN Act legislation is pending in many states and in Congress, you should think twice before reprimanding an employee for their hairstyle choice. Belizaire, who spoke about the bill at the forum earlier this month, was in eighth grade when she first wore her hair to school in a natural style. Her teacher at Las Vegas Middle School, attended by Belizaire, called her to the front of the class, said her afro was a distraction, and quickly sent her to the principal`s office for violating the school`s dress code.