Hair Discrimination Essay Sample

Hair discrimination has been an issue rooted in systematic racism and continues to put people of color in disadvantaged positions due to policies that exclude natural hairstyles, like dreadlocks, braids, knots, and afros (Lee BA & Nambudiri, 2021). These same racist policies have been used to justify the exclusion of Black people in professional and educational settings. This paper will discuss the legislation process for House Bill 20-1048 titled “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2020” or the “CROWN Act of 2020” is an anti-discrimination bill that protects race trait hairstyles in schools and in the workplace. The purpose of the legislative bill review is to gain a better understanding of the legislative process of a bill before it becomes law. When a bill is introduced, it does not go into law right away, it has many processes it goes through. These processes include the legislative process, testifying’s, the cost, and funding for the bill, as well as who is responsible for administrating the bill after it becomes law. 

Overview of Bill

Bill HB20-1048 Race Trait Hairstyle Anti-Discrimination Protect was sponsored by both the house and senate committees. The sponsored committees include the house committee Business Affairs and labor and the senate committee State, Veterans, and Military Affairs. The prime sponsors for the bill are representatives, Leslie Herod, Janet Buckner, and Rhona Fields.  The CROWN ACT, which means “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2020”, is a bill introduced to prohibit race-based hair discrimination in educational and employment settings. This law protects against discrimination based on natural hair texture and styles, such styles include cornrows, braids, twists, locs, afros, headwraps, and bantu knots. 

House bill 20-1048 is relevant to social work because social workers help to break down systems of oppression and fight against racism. A key mission of social worker is to improve human well-being and meet the basic needs of everyone, with paying particular attention to those who are oppressed, and vulnerable. No one should be discriminated against because of their natural hairstyle. House Bill 20-1048 helps protect people of color from experiencing racism due to policies that prohibit natural hairstyles in schools and in work settings. The bill is a demonstration of dismantling systematic racism in communities that we serve as social workers. Making it a law to end racism against natural hair styles is a step toward dismantling systematic racism that affects community’s social workers serve. 

The Legislative Process

The general assembly which comprises of both the senate and the house or representatives heard the bill when it was first introduced on January 8, 2020. Throughout the legislative process the bill introduced definitions that would help support it. Some of the definitions included “protective hairstyles” which includes such hairstyles as braids, locks, and twists, and “Race” which includes traits historically associated with race, including hair texture, hair type, and protective hairstyles” (House Bill 20-1048, 2020). HB20-1048 was unamended and has had a success in the legislative process. On February 24, 2020, senator Fields, presented House Bill 20-1048 to the committee at 1:45:37 PM. The bill was sent to a joint committee and was revised on February 28, 2020. As of today, there are no actions planned in this year’s session of the legislature for house bill 20-1048. Those who testified in support of the bill include, Catherine Smith, Suzette Malveaux, Charlotee Sweeney, Erica Cobb, Tiffany Choi, Hashim Coates, Lauren Masias, Corletta Hithon-Davis, Nicole, Mallery, and Monica James. A letter from the Sam Cary African American Bar Association was also read in support of the bill in attachment A. Some of the things highlighted in the letter included making it clear that although race is a protected class the laws does not go far enough to address the cultural aspect that defines one’s race which hair is one identifier “Hair is one such identifier. Black hair is unique; it is beautiful; it is also very fragile. Allowing Black hair to exist in its natural state, such as an afro; or adopting a protective hair style like cornrows, braids, or locs is not only a way to avoid hair damage and serious health risks but it is also a beautiful expression of remaining connected to Black heritage.” (Sam Cary African American Bar Association, 2020). For some Black people their natural hairstyle is an expression of their identity and culture and discriminating against it reinforces the othering of Black identities. The voting record for the bill was YES:3 NO:1 and EXC:1. The bill was passed and signed into law on March 6, 2020, by Governor Polis. 

The fiscal note reflects the legislated CROWNS ACT bill. Since discrimination is a state law, the state is responsible for administrating the bill. The bill also denies school districts and charter schools from applying to waivers that relates to discrimination built on hair texture and protective styles.  The fiscal impacts are state revenue and state expenditure. If the number of civil cases filed increases the filing fees will increase and affect the state revenue. The increase is expected to be minimal for both state revenue and state expenditure because they assume that all entitles will stand by the law. The fiscal note also states that the bill will increase workloads by a slight amount for state agencies if any claims are filed against them. These agencies include the Judicial Department, the Department of Personnel and Administration, the Department of Law, and the Department of Regulatory Agencies. Bill 20-1048 was signed into law on March 6, 2020, by Governor Polis and toke effect on September 14, 2020.

Impact and Opinion

The societal impact of this bill is that it advocates for people of color who have been discriminated against due to their natural hairstyles and hair texture. Black people have endured decades of discrimination in the workplace and in classrooms because their hair did not meet the beauty standards of those settings. Workplace policies should respect all aspects of an employee’s identity. These identities include race, culture, religion, as well as hair texture and styles. The bill was a positive step in the right direction, and I believe it should have passed like it did. This bill does a great job addressing the racism and discrimination that was associated with physical traits such as hair texture. The CROWN ACT brings light to race-based hair discrimination in the workplace and educational system and it demonstrates “allyship and empathy” for those who have been disadvantaged by the system (Lee BA & Nambudiri, 2021). Without this bill people of color would still be facing discrimination and denied educational and employment opportunities due to the nature of their hair. 

Conclusion

I learned that the legislative process for a bill can be a long and tedious process. The legislative process is very important because every step matters and everyone plays a part. The bill must pass both the house and senate to become law. A bill can have one sponsor or many sponsors but the more sponsors it has the more support it has from the committee. Bills just don’t come out of nowhere the idea comes from the public and that is why it is important that the public voices their opinion on the issues that are affecting them. The CROWNS ACT was a bill introduced to protect against “discrimination based on race-based hairstyles by extending statutory protection to hair texture and protective styles such as braids, locks, twists, and knots in the workplace and public schools” (Lee BA & Nambudiri, 2021). The bill was introduced in 2020 and had the success of passing and becoming law that same year. The CROWNS ACT reminds us that race-based hair texture and natural styles should never be a reason why a group of people should be discriminated against. This law gives us an opportunity to stand against discriminatory practices that disadvantage people of color.