Responding to numerous incidents of discrimination against Black children in schools and adults in the workplace – predominantly women – a coalition of advocacy groups, Dove USA and California State Sen. Holly Mitchell came together in 2019 to craft the CROWN Act, which stands for “Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.” This legislation prohibits discrimination based on hair style and texture, including braids, locs, twists and bantu knots.
The bill was signed into law that year by Gov. Gavin Newsom, and has since become law in more than a dozen other states and is pending in several more. Dozens of municipalities around the country have also adopted the law and, on March 22nd of this year a federal version of the law cleared the U.S. House of Representatives and is now pending in the Senate.
In this episode of the Deep Dive we are joined by now Los Angeles County Second District Supervisor Holly Mitchell to talk about her landmark bill and where the CROWN Act might go from here.