California has made major moves in the right direction since announcing The CROWN Act, that will outlaw discrimination against someone's natural hair. CROWN, which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair, was passed unanimously last month in the state. "In a society in which hair has historically been one of many determining factors of a person's race, and whether they were a second-class citizen, hair today remains a proxy for race," the bill reads, according to The Guardian. "Therefore, hair discrimination targeting hairstyles associated with race is racial discrimination."
The bill will be official as of January 1st, 2020 and prohibits schools and employers from setting any kind of policy on one's hair type that includes afros, locks, braids - a discriminatory act that primarily affects the Black community.
“Many black employees – including your staff members – will tell you, if given the chance, that the struggle to maintain what society has deemed a ‘professional image’ while protecting the health and integrity of their hair remains a defining and paradoxical struggle in their work experience, not usually shared by their non-black peers," the state senator who introduced the bill, Holly J Mitchell added.
Cheers to the move made by The Golden State.
