Royal Crown
By Jade Henry
FWIS Contributing Youth Writer
A woman's Royal Crown represents a symbol of power, dignity, strength, and authority. Have you ever heard of the CROWN Act? If not, you will learn about it in this essay. C.R.O.W.N. means Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.
‘The CROWN Act was created in 2019 by Dove and the CROWN Coalition, in partnership with then State Senator Holly J. Mitchell of California, to ensure protection against discrimination based on race-based hairstyles by extending statutory protection to hair texture and protective styles such as braids, locs, twists, and knots in the workplace and public schools.”
Girls of African American descent have all different textures of hair and are very creative in styling their straight, coily, curly or kinky hair into beautiful styles that reflect their mood, their dress, and their personality. Hairstyles give Black Girls confidence and stimulates conversation on how to be creative with their Crown.
January 1, 2020 was the official start date of the CROWN Act, which was initially sponsored by Senator Holly J. Mitchell in January 2019 and signed into law by California Governor Gavin Newsom on July 3, 2019.
The Fair Employment and Housing Act was amended by California, the first state to enact a CROWN law, adding provisions regarding hair discrimination. In Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, the CROWN Act is legal. It is our responsibility to do everything we can to make the Crown Act legal in all fifty states. Currently in Indiana the Crown Act prohibiting race-based hair discrimination did not pass. The Republican super majority killed the bill causing it to not have a vote or hearing. State Democratic representative Vanessa Summers said she will continue to work on getting the crown act passed in the Indiana general assembly.
It was discovered that compared to Black women with straighter hair, those with coily or textured hair are twice as likely to encounter microaggressions at work. Over twenty percent of Black women in the 25–34 age range also reported that their hair was the reason their employer sent them home from work.
Are you in favor of the Crown Act in Indiana? If so, please write your legislators so that the law can be passed in 2024.