I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5309 

To prohibit discrimination based on an individual’s texture or style of hair. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 5, 2019 

Mr. RICHMOND (for himself, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. 

PRESSLEY, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. 

BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. 

CLAY, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, 

Mr. EVANS, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. LAWSON

of Florida, Mr. LEWIS, Ms. MOORE, Ms. OMAR, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. 

PLASKETT, Mr. RUSH, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. 

VEASEY, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Ms. WILSON of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To prohibit discrimination based on an individual’s texture 

or style of hair. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Creating a Respectful 

3 and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2019’’ or the 

4 ‘‘CROWN Act of 2019’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS; PURPOSE. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) Throughout United States history, society 

8 has used (in conjunction with skin color) hair tex9 ture and hairstyle to classify individuals on the basis 

10 of race. 

11 (2) Like one’s skin color, one’s hair has served 

12 as a basis of race and national origin discrimination. 

13 (3) Racial and national origin discrimination 

14 can and do occur because of longstanding racial and 

15 national origin biases and stereotypes associated 

16 with hair texture and style. 

17 (4) For example, routinely, people of African 

18 descent are deprived of educational and employment 

19 opportunities because they are adorned with natural 

20 or protective hairstyles in which hair is tightly coiled 

21 or tightly curled, or worn in locs, cornrows, twists, 

22 braids, Bantu knots, or Afros. 

23 (5) Racial and national origin discrimination is 

24 reflected in school and workplace policies and prac25 tices that bar natural or protective hairstyles com26 monly worn by people of African descent. 


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1 (6) For example, as recently as 2018, the 

2 United States Armed Forces had grooming policies 

3 that barred natural or protective hairstyles that 

4 servicewomen of African descent commonly wear and 

5 that described these hairstyles as ‘‘unkempt’’. 

6 (7) In 2018, the United States Armed Forces 

7 rescinded these policies and recognized that this de8 scription perpetuated derogatory racial stereotypes. 

9 (8) The United States Armed Forces also rec10 ognized that prohibitions against natural or protec11 tive hairstyles that African-American servicewomen 

12 are commonly adorned with are racially discrimina13 tory and bear no relationship to African-American 

14 servicewomen’s occupational qualifications and their 

15 ability to serve and protect the Nation. 

16 (9) As a type of racial or national origin dis17 crimination, discrimination on the basis of natural 

18 or protective hairstyles that people of African de19 scent are commonly adorned with violates existing 

20 Federal law, including provisions of the Civil Rights 

21 Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), section 1977 

22 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981), and the 

23 Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.). How24 ever, some Federal courts have misinterpreted Fed25 eral civil rights law by narrowly interpreting the 


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1 meaning of race or national origin, and thereby per2 mitting, for example, employers to discriminate 

3 against people of African descent who wear natural 

4 or protective hairstyles even though the employment 

5 policies involved are not related to workers’ ability to 

6 perform their jobs. 

7 (10) Applying this narrow interpretation of race 

8 or national origin has resulted in a lack of Federal 

9 civil rights protection for individuals who are dis10 criminated against on the basis of characteristics 

11 that are commonly associated with race and national 

12 origin. 

13 (11) In 2019, State legislatures and municipal 

14 bodies throughout the United States have introduced 

15 and passed legislation that rejects certain Federal 

16 courts’ restrictive interpretation of race and national 

17 origin, and expressly classifies race and national ori18 gin discrimination as inclusive of discrimination on 

19 the basis of natural or protective hairstyles com20 monly associated with race and national origin. 

21 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con22 gress that— 

23 (1) the Federal Government should acknowl24 edge that individuals who have hair texture or wear 

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1 sociated with African Americans or persons of Afri2 can descent systematically suffer harmful discrimi3 nation in schools, workplaces, and other contexts 

4 based upon longstanding race and national origin 

5 stereotypes and biases; 

6 (2) a clear and comprehensive law should ad7 dress the systematic deprivation of educational, em8 ployment, and other opportunities on the basis of 

9 hair texture and hairstyle that are commonly associ10 ated with race or national origin; 

11 (3) clear, consistent, and enforceable legal 

12 standards must be provided to redress the wide13 spread incidences of race and national origin dis14 crimination based upon hair texture and hairstyle in 

15 schools, workplaces, housing, federally funded insti16 tutions, and other contexts; 

17 (4) it is necessary to prevent educational, em18 ployment, and other decisions, practices, and policies 

19 generated by or reflecting negative biases and 

20 stereotypes related to race or national origin; 

21 (5) the Federal Government must play a key 

22 role in enforcing Federal civil rights laws in a way 

23 that secures equal educational, employment, and 

24 other opportunities for all individuals regardless of 

25 their race or national origin; 


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1 (6) the Federal Government must play a central 

2 role in enforcing the standards established under 

3 this Act on behalf of individuals who suffer race or 

4 national origin discrimination based upon hair tex5 ture and hairstyle; 

6 (7) it is necessary to prohibit and provide rem7 edies for the harms suffered as a result of race or 

8 national origin discrimination on the basis of hair 

9 texture and hairstyle; and 

10 (8) it is necessary to mandate that school, 

11 workplace, and other applicable standards be applied 

12 in a nondiscriminatory manner and to explicitly pro13 hibit the adoption or implementation of grooming re14 quirements that disproportionately impact people of 

15 African descent. 

16 (c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to institute 

17 definitions of race and national origin for Federal civil 

18 rights laws that effectuate the comprehensive scope of pro19 tection Congress intended to be afforded by such laws and 

20 Congress’ objective to eliminate race and national origin 

21 discrimination in the United States. 

22 SEC. 3. FEDERALLY ASSISTED PROGRAMS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—No individual in the United 

24 States shall be excluded from participation in, be denied 

25 the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under, 


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1 any program or activity receiving Federal financial assist2 ance, based on the individual’s hair texture or hairstyle, 

3 if that hair texture or that hairstyle is commonly associ4 ated with a particular race or national origin (including 

5 a hairstyle in which hair is tightly coiled or tightly curled, 

6 locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros). 

7 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Subsection (a) shall be en8 forced in the same manner and by the same means, includ9 ing with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was 

10 incorporated in title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

11 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), and as if a violation of sub12 section (a) was treated as if it was a violation of section 

13 601 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2000d). 

14 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

15 (1) the term ‘‘program or activity’’ has the 

16 meaning given the term in section 606 of the Civil 

17 Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d–4a); and 

18 (2) the terms ‘‘race’’ and ‘‘national origin’’ 

19 mean, respectively, ‘‘race’’ within the meaning of the 

20 term in section 601 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 2000d) 

21 and ‘‘national origin’’ within the meaning of the 

22 term in that section 601. 

23 SEC. 4. HOUSING PROGRAMS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—No person in the United States 

25 shall be subjected to a discriminatory housing practice 


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1 based on the person’s hair texture or hairstyle, if that hair 

2 texture or that hairstyle is commonly associated with a 

3 particular race or national origin (including a hairstyle in 

4 which hair is tightly coiled or tightly curled, locs, corn5 rows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros). 

6 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Subsection (a) shall be en7 forced in the same manner and by the same means, includ8 ing with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was 

9 incorporated in the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 

10 et seq.), and as if a violation of subsection (a) was treated 

11 as if it was a discriminatory housing practice. 

12 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section— 

13 (1) the terms ‘‘discriminatory housing practice’’ 

14 and ‘‘person’’ have the meanings given the terms in 

15 section 802 of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 

16 3602); and 

17 (2) the terms ‘‘race’’ and ‘‘national origin’’ 

18 mean, respectively, ‘‘race’’ within the meaning of the 

19 term in section 804 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 3604) 

20 and ‘‘national origin’’ within the meaning of the 

21 term in that section 804. 

22 SEC. 5. PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—No person in the United States 

24 shall be subjected to a practice prohibited under section 

25 201, 202, or 203 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 


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1 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.), based on the person’s hair texture 

2 or hairstyle, if that hair texture or that hairstyle is com3 monly associated with a particular race or national origin 

4 (including a hairstyle in which hair is tightly coiled or 

5 tightly curled, locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, 

6 and Afros). 

7 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Subsection (a) shall be en8 forced in the same manner and by the same means, includ9 ing with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was 

10 incorporated in title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 

11 and as if a violation of subsection (a) was treated as if 

12 it was a violation of section 201, 202, or 203, as appro13 priate, of such Act. 

14 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the terms ‘‘race’’ 

15 and ‘‘national origin’’ mean, respectively, ‘‘race’’ within 

16 the meaning of the term in section 201 of that Act (42 

17 U.S.C. 2000e) and ‘‘national origin’’ within the meaning 

18 of the term in that section 201. 

19 SEC. 6. EMPLOYMENT. 

20 (a) PROHIBITION.—It shall be an unlawful employ21 ment practice for an employer, employment agency, labor 

22 organization, or joint labor-management committee con23 trolling apprenticeship or other training or retraining (in24 cluding on-the-job training programs) to fail or refuse to 

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1 criminate against an individual, based on the individual’s 

2 hair texture or hairstyle, if that hair texture or that hair3 style is commonly associated with a particular race or na4 tional origin (including a hairstyle in which hair is tightly 

5 coiled or tightly curled, locs, cornrows, twists, braids, 

6 Bantu knots, and Afros). 

7 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Subsection (a) shall be en8 forced in the same manner and by the same means, includ9 ing with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was 

10 incorporated in title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

11 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), and as if a violation of sub12 section (a) was treated as if it was a violation of section 

13 703 or 704, as appropriate, of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

14 2000e–2, 2000e–3). 

15 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section the terms ‘‘per16 son’’, ‘‘race’’, and ‘‘national origin’’ have the meanings 

17 given the terms in section 701 of the Civil Rights Act of 

18 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e). 

19 SEC. 7. EQUAL RIGHTS UNDER THE LAW. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—No person in the United States 

21 shall be subjected to a practice prohibited under section 

22 1977 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981), based on 

23 the person’s hair texture or hairstyle, if that hair texture 

24 or that hairstyle is commonly associated with a particular 

25 race or national origin (including a hairstyle in which hair 


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1 is tightly coiled or tightly curled, locs, cornrows, twists, 

2 braids, Bantu knots, and Afros). 

3 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Subsection (a) shall be en4 forced in the same manner and by the same means, includ5 ing with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was 

6 incorporated in section 1977 of the Revised Statutes, and 

7 as if a violation of subsection (a) was treated as if it was 

8 a violation of that section 1977. 

9 SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

10 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit defini11 tions of race or national origin under the Civil Rights Act 

12 of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.), the Fair Housing Act 

13 (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), or section 1977 of the Revised 

14 Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981). 

15 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

16 This Act shall take effect on August 9, 2020. 

Æ 


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