Bill Banning Hairstyle Bias Signed Into MA Law

MASSACHUSETTS — A bill put in place to help end discrimination based on natural and protective hairstyles in workplaces, schools, and organizations will be signed into law Tuesday.

The CROWN Act - which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural hair will now make discrimination against hair a violation of civil rights. Supporters of the bill say Black women have faced the most amount of pressure by trying to alter their hair to conform to policies biased against their natural hairstyles.

Back in March, the Massachusetts Senate unanimously approved the bill two weeks after the Massachusetts House approved legislation that specifically prohibits discrimination based on "natural and protective hairstyles such as braids, locks, twists, Bantu knots, and other formations."

In 2017, Mystic Valley Charter School in Malden came under fire for having a policy of disciplining Black students for their hair braid extensions. Sisters Deanna and Mya Cook fought the school after saying they were specifically targeted for their hairstyles. Parents called the policy "blatant racism" and the school eventually abandoned its policy, initiating the start of this bill.

"This really all started when we were in high school and our school banned us from wearing our hair in box braids. When that happened, me and Mya decided to get the school to change the rule," Deanna said in a statement. "They were very adamant, and we had to protest and do detention sit-ins, to do postcard campaigns and fight to get the rule changed in our school. It sparked a movement for us to push to never have this happen to anyone else again."

Massachusetts is now the eighteenth state to adopt the CROWN Act - which was first 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.

"These biases continue to perpetuate unfair scrutiny and discrimination against Black women and girls for wearing hairstyles inherent to our culture," says EVP & COO of Unilever North America, Esi Eggleston Bracey. "This is unacceptable and why it is imperative that everyone join the movement to make hair discrimination illegal nationwide through the passage of The CROWN Act."

On the federal level, the U.S. House also approved a bill that would ban discrimination against Black people with hairstyles like cornrows, Afros, or tight twists in school, the workplace, or anywhere. This bill would explicitly make any discrimination against hairstyles a violation of federal civil rights law.

"We must never forget how long and hard the struggle for true racial justice has been for Black and brown residents of Massachusetts, which is why I am proud the Senate listened to the voices of those residents and passed this critical legislation as one step toward breaking down discriminatory barriers," said Senate President Karen E. Spilka.

"The CROWN Act ensures that discrimination based on one's hair style, which largely impacts Black residents, has no place in professional or school settings in the Commonwealth," Spilka continued. "I am grateful to Mya and Deanna Cook, who stood up and fought hard to right this wrong for Black women and girls across the state."