The Texas Senate has overwhelmingly passed a bill on Friday that would ban race-based hair discrimination in schools, employment, and housing.
The bill which was signed by the Texas Governor and has now become a law codifying the state’s ban on racial discrimination based on hairstyle or hair texture.
This law, when added to the state’s labor, property, and education regulations will prohibit discrimination based on specific hairstyles, such as braids, dreadlocks, and twists.
The Crown Act House Bill 567, which was written and first submitted in the state by State Rep. Rhetta Bowers (D-Garland), was approved by the House in April with a vote of 143-5.
The push to pass the CROWN Act in Texas started in the State Legislature in early 2019.
The Crown Act, led by the Crown Coalition is a group of dedicated and concerned black women working and standing for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” by extending legal protection to hair texture and protective styles such as braids, locs, twists, and knots in the workplace and public schools.
Adjoa B. Asamoah is one of the primary architects who has been driving the passage of the bill.
Adjoa B. Asamoah is an award-winning impact strategist, international influencer, and racial equity, diversity, and inclusion champion with expertise that includes leading organizations through systems change and leveraging cultural intelligence and behavioral psychology to create winning campaigns.
As one of the leading voices behind creating the first office of African-African Affairs on the municipal level in the nation, Asamoah saw the creation of the Crown Act movement as a natural extension of her dedication to racial equity.
Other states that have passed the CROWN Act since the national coalition was created in 2019, include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington.
