II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4224 

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 1, 2024 

Mr. BOOKER (for himself and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2024’’ or the 

6 ‘‘CROWN Act of 2024’’. 

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

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

9 (1) Throughout United States history, society 

10 has used (in conjunction with skin color) hair texVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 May 30, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4224.IS S4224

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1 ture and hairstyle to classify individuals on the basis 

2 of race. 

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

4 as a basis of race and national origin discrimination. 

5 (3) Racial and national origin discrimination 

6 can and do occur because of longstanding racial and 

7 national origin biases and stereotypes associated 

8 with hair texture and style. 

9 (4) For example, people of African descent have 

10 been deprived of educational and employment oppor11 tunities because they are adorned with natural or 

12 protective hairstyles in which hair is tightly coiled or 

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

14 braids, Bantu knots, or Afros. 

15 (5) Racial and national origin discrimination is 

16 reflected in school and workplace policies and prac17 tices that bar natural or protective hairstyles com18 monly worn by people of African descent. 

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

20 United States Armed Forces had grooming policies 

21 that barred natural or protective hairstyles that 

22 servicewomen of African descent commonly wear and 

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


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

2 rescinded these policies and recognized that this de3 scription perpetuated derogatory racial stereotypes. 

4 (8) The United States Armed Forces also rec5 ognized that prohibitions against natural or protec6 tive hairstyles that African-American servicewomen 

7 are commonly adorned with are racially discrimina8 tory and bear no relationship to African-American 

9 servicewomen’s occupational qualifications and their 

10 ability to serve and protect the Nation. 

11 (9) Some Federal courts have narrowly inter12 preted the protections against discrimination on the 

13 basis of race or national origin found in existing 

14 Federal civil rights laws, including provisions of the 

15 Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.), 

16 section 1977 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 

17 1981), and the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 

18 et seq.), thereby permitting, for example, employers 

19 to discriminate against people of African descent 

20 who wear natural or protective hairstyles, even 

21 though the employment policies involved are not re22 lated to workers’ ability to perform their jobs. 

23 (10) Applying these narrow interpretations has 

24 resulted in a lack of Federal civil rights protection 

25 for individuals who are discriminated against on the 


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1 basis of characteristics that are commonly associated 

2 with race and national origin. 

3 (11) Starting in 2019, State legislatures and 

4 municipal bodies throughout the United States have 

5 introduced and passed legislation that rejects certain 

6 Federal courts’ restrictive interpretation of race and 

7 national origin, and expressly classifies race and na8 tional origin discrimination as inclusive of discrimi9 nation on the basis of natural or protective hair10 styles commonly associated with race and national 

11 origin. 

12 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con13 gress that— 

14 (1) the Federal Government should acknowl15 edge that individuals who have hair texture or wear 

16 a hairstyle that is historically and contemporarily as17 sociated with African Americans or persons of Afri18 can descent have suffered harmful discrimination in 

19 schools, workplaces, and other contexts based upon 

20 longstanding race and national origin stereotypes 

21 and biases; 

22 (2) a clear and comprehensive law should ad23 dress the deprivation of educational, employment, 

24 and other opportunities on the basis of hair texture 


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1 and hairstyle that are commonly associated with 

2 race or national origin; 

3 (3) clear, consistent, and enforceable legal 

4 standards must be provided to redress the wide5 spread incidences of race and national origin dis6 crimination based upon hair texture and hairstyle in 

7 schools, workplaces, housing, federally funded insti8 tutions, and other contexts; 

9 (4) it is necessary to prevent educational, em10 ployment, and other decisions, practices, and policies 

11 generated by or reflecting negative biases and 

12 stereotypes related to race or national origin; 

13 (5) the Federal Government must play a key 

14 role in enforcing Federal civil rights laws in a way 

15 that secures equal educational, employment, and 

16 other opportunities for all individuals regardless of 

17 their race or national origin; 

18 (6) the Federal Government must play a central 

19 role in enforcing the standards established under 

20 this Act on behalf of individuals who suffer race or 

21 national origin discrimination based upon hair tex22 ture and hairstyle; 

23 (7) it is necessary to prohibit and provide rem24 edies for the harms suffered as a result of race or 


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1 national origin discrimination on the basis of hair 

2 texture and hairstyle; and 

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

4 workplace, and other applicable standards be applied 

5 in a nondiscriminatory manner and to explicitly pro6 hibit the adoption or implementation of grooming re7 quirements that disproportionately impact people of 

8 African descent. 

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

10 definitions of race and national origin for Federal civil 

11 rights laws that effectuate the comprehensive scope of pro12 tection Congress intended to be afforded by such laws and 

13 Congress’ objective to eliminate race and national origin 

14 discrimination in the United States. 

15 SEC. 3. FEDERALLY ASSISTED PROGRAMS. 

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

17 States shall be excluded from participation in, be denied 

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

19 any program or activity receiving Federal financial assist20 ance, based on the individual’s hair texture or hairstyle, 

21 if that hair texture or that hairstyle is commonly associ22 ated with a particular race or national origin (including 

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

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


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1 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Subsection (a) shall be en2 forced in the same manner and by the same means, includ3 ing with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was 

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

5 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), and as if a violation of sub6 section (a) was treated as if it was a violation of section 

7 601 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2000d). 

8 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

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

10 meaning given the term in section 606 of the Civil 

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

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

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

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

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

16 term in that section 601. 

17 SEC. 4. HOUSING PROGRAMS. 

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

19 shall be subjected to a discriminatory housing practice 

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

21 texture or that hairstyle is commonly associated with a 

22 particular race or national origin (including a hairstyle in 

23 which hair is tightly coiled or tightly curled, locs, corn24 rows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros). 


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1 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Subsection (a) shall be en2 forced in the same manner and by the same means, includ3 ing with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was 

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

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

6 as if it was a discriminatory housing practice. 

7 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section— 

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

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

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

11 3602); and 

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

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

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

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

16 term in that section 804. 

17 SEC. 5. PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS. 

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

19 shall be subjected to a practice prohibited under section 

20 201, 202, or 203 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

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

22 or hairstyle, if that hair texture or that hairstyle is com23 monly associated with a particular race or national origin 

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


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

2 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 title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 

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

8 it was a violation of section 201, 202, or 203, as appro9 priate, of such Act. 

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

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

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

13 U.S.C. 2000a) and ‘‘national origin’’ within the meaning 

14 of the term in that section 201. 

15 SEC. 6. EMPLOYMENT. 

16 (a) PROHIBITION.—It shall be an unlawful employ17 ment practice for an employer, employment agency, labor 

18 organization, or joint labor-management committee con19 trolling apprenticeship or other training or retraining (in20 cluding on-the-job training programs) to fail or refuse to 

21 hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to dis22 criminate against an individual, based on the individual’s 

23 hair texture or hairstyle, if that hair texture or that hair24 style is commonly associated with a particular race or na25 tional origin (including a hairstyle in which hair is tightly 


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

2 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 title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

7 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), and as if a violation of sub8 section (a) was treated as if it was a violation of section 

9 703 or 704, as appropriate, of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 2000e–2, 2000e–3). 

11 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section the terms ‘‘per12 son’’, ‘‘race’’, and ‘‘national origin’’ have the meanings 

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

14 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e). 

15 SEC. 7. EQUAL RIGHTS UNDER THE LAW. 

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

17 shall be subjected to a practice prohibited under section 

18 1977 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981), based on 

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

20 or that hairstyle is commonly associated with a particular 

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

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

23 braids, Bantu knots, and Afros). 

24 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Subsection (a) shall be en25 forced in the same manner and by the same means, includVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 May 30, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4224.IS S4224

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1 ing with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was 

2 incorporated in section 1977 of the Revised Statutes, and 

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

4 a violation of that section 1977. 

5 SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

6 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit defini7 tions of race or national origin under the Civil Rights Act 

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

9 (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), or section 1977 of the Revised 

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

Æ 


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