House passes Crown Act, banning discrimination against Black hairstyles

During debate on the House floor Friday morning, Democrats argued that the bill addresses a ‘kitchen table issue’ for Black Americans

By Felicia Sonmez

and

Mariana Alfaro

Updated March 18, 2022 at 1:45 p.m. EDT|Published March 18, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. EDT

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.). (Leigh Vogel)

The House on Friday passed the Crown Act, legislation that would ban discrimination against individuals based on how they choose to wear their hair.

The measure, H.R. 2116 — or the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act — passed on a vote of 235 to 189, with 14 Republicans joining all Democrats in supporting the measure. The legislation was introduced by Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) and prohibits discrimination “based on the individual’s hair texture or hairstyle, if that hair texture or that hairstyle is commonly associated with a particular race or national origin.”