II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 888 

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2021 

Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. BROWN, Mr. COONS, Ms. WARREN, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. 

PADILLA, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. CARDIN, 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. SANDERS, 

and Mr. WARNOCK) 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 2021’’ or the 

6 ‘‘CROWN Act of 2021’’. 

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

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


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1 (1) Throughout United States history, society 

2 has used (in conjunction with skin color) hair tex3 ture and hairstyle to classify individuals on the basis 

4 of race. 

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

6 as a basis of race and national origin discrimination. 

7 (3) Racial and national origin discrimination 

8 can and do occur because of longstanding racial and 

9 national origin biases and stereotypes associated 

10 with hair texture and style. 

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

12 descent are deprived of educational and employment 

13 opportunities because they are adorned with natural 

14 or protective hairstyles in which hair is tightly coiled 

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

16 braids, Bantu knots, or Afros. 

17 (5) Racial and national origin discrimination is 

18 reflected in school and workplace policies and prac19 tices that bar natural or protective hairstyles com20 monly worn by people of African descent. 

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

22 United States Armed Forces had grooming policies 

23 that barred natural or protective hairstyles that 

24 servicewomen of African descent commonly wear and 

25 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2 rescinded these policies and recognized that this de3 scription perpetuated derogatory racial stereotypes. 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) As a type of racial or national origin dis12 crimination, discrimination on the basis of natural 

13 or protective hairstyles that people of African de14 scent are commonly adorned with violates existing 

15 Federal law, including provisions of the Civil Rights 

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

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

18 Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.). How19 ever, some Federal courts have misinterpreted Fed20 eral civil rights law by narrowly interpreting the 

21 meaning of race or national origin, and thereby per22 mitting, for example, employers to discriminate 

23 against people of African descent who wear natural 

24 or protective hairstyles even though the employment 


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1 policies involved are not related to workers’ ability to 

2 perform their jobs. 

3 (10) Applying this narrow interpretation of race 

4 or national origin has resulted in a lack of Federal 

5 civil rights protection for individuals who are dis6 criminated against on the basis of characteristics 

7 that are commonly associated with race and national 

8 origin. 

9 (11) In 2019, State legislatures and municipal 

10 bodies throughout the United States have introduced 

11 and passed legislation that rejects certain Federal 

12 courts’ restrictive interpretation of race and national 

13 origin, and expressly classifies race and national ori14 gin discrimination as inclusive of discrimination on 

15 the basis of natural or protective hairstyles com16 monly associated with race and national origin. 

17 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con18 gress that— 

19 (1) the Federal Government should acknowl20 edge that individuals who have hair texture or wear 

21 a hairstyle that is historically and contemporarily as22 sociated with African Americans or persons of Afri23 can descent systematically suffer harmful discrimi24 nation in schools, workplaces, and other contexts 


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1 based upon longstanding race and national origin 

2 stereotypes and biases; 

3 (2) a clear and comprehensive law should ad4 dress the systematic deprivation of educational, em5 ployment, and other opportunities on the basis of 

6 hair texture and hairstyle that are commonly associ7 ated with race or national origin; 

8 (3) clear, consistent, and enforceable legal 

9 standards must be provided to redress the wide10 spread incidences of race and national origin dis11 crimination based upon hair texture and hairstyle in 

12 schools, workplaces, housing, federally funded insti13 tutions, and other contexts; 

14 (4) it is necessary to prevent educational, em15 ployment, and other decisions, practices, and policies 

16 generated by or reflecting negative biases and 

17 stereotypes related to race or national origin; 

18 (5) the Federal Government must play a key 

19 role in enforcing Federal civil rights laws in a way 

20 that secures equal educational, employment, and 

21 other opportunities for all individuals regardless of 

22 their race or national origin; 

23 (6) the Federal Government must play a central 

24 role in enforcing the standards established under 

25 this Act on behalf of individuals who suffer race or 


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1 national origin discrimination based upon hair tex2 ture and hairstyle; 

3 (7) it is necessary to prohibit and provide rem4 edies for the harms suffered as a result of race or 

5 national origin discrimination on the basis of hair 

6 texture and hairstyle; and 

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

8 workplace, and other applicable standards be applied 

9 in a nondiscriminatory manner and to explicitly pro10 hibit the adoption or implementation of grooming re11 quirements that disproportionately impact people of 

12 African descent. 

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

14 definitions of race and national origin for Federal civil 

15 rights laws that effectuate the comprehensive scope of pro16 tection Congress intended to be afforded by such laws and 

17 Congress’ objective to eliminate race and national origin 

18 discrimination in the United States. 

19 SEC. 3. FEDERALLY ASSISTED PROGRAMS. 

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

21 States shall be excluded from participation in, be denied 

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

23 any program or activity receiving Federal financial assist24 ance, based on the individual’s hair texture or hairstyle, 

25 if that hair texture or that hairstyle is commonly associVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 Apr 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S888.IS S888

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1 ated with a particular race or national origin (including 

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

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

4 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Subsection (a) shall be en5 forced in the same manner and by the same means, includ6 ing with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was 

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

8 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), and as if a violation of sub9 section (a) was treated as if it was a violation of section 

10 601 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2000d). 

11 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

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

13 meaning given the term in section 606 of the Civil 

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

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

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

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

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

19 term in that section 601. 

20 SEC. 4. HOUSING PROGRAMS. 

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

22 shall be subjected to a discriminatory housing practice 

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

24 texture or that hairstyle is commonly associated with a 

25 particular race or national origin (including a hairstyle in 


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1 which hair is tightly coiled or tightly curled, locs, corn2 rows, twists, 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 the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 

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

8 as if it was a discriminatory housing practice. 

9 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section— 

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

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

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

13 3602); and 

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

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

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

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

18 term in that section 804. 

19 SEC. 5. PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS. 

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

21 shall be subjected to a practice prohibited under section 

22 201, 202, or 203 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

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

24 or hairstyle, if that hair texture or that hairstyle is com25 monly associated with a particular race or national origin 


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

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

3 and Afros). 

4 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Subsection (a) shall be en5 forced in the same manner and by the same means, includ6 ing with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was 

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

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

9 it was a violation of section 201, 202, or 203, as appro10 priate, of such Act. 

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

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

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

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

15 of the term in that section 201. 

16 SEC. 6. EMPLOYMENT. 

17 (a) PROHIBITION.—It shall be an unlawful employ18 ment practice for an employer, employment agency, labor 

19 organization, or joint labor-management committee con20 trolling apprenticeship or other training or retraining (in21 cluding on-the-job training programs) to fail or refuse to 

22 hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to dis23 criminate against an individual, based on the individual’s 

24 hair texture or hairstyle, if that hair texture or that hair25 style is commonly associated with a particular race or naVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 Apr 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S888.IS S888

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1 tional origin (including a hairstyle in which hair is tightly 

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

3 Bantu knots, and Afros). 

4 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Subsection (a) shall be en5 forced in the same manner and by the same means, includ6 ing with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was 

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

8 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), and as if a violation of sub9 section (a) was treated as if it was a violation of section 

10 703 or 704, as appropriate, of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 2000e–2, 2000e–3). 

12 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section the terms ‘‘per13 son’’, ‘‘race’’, and ‘‘national origin’’ have the meanings 

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

15 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e). 

16 SEC. 7. EQUAL RIGHTS UNDER THE LAW. 

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

18 shall be subjected to a practice prohibited under section 

19 1977 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981), based on 

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

21 or that hairstyle is commonly associated with a particular 

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

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

24 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 section 1977 of the Revised Statutes, and 

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

6 a violation of that section 1977. 

7 SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

8 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit defini9 tions of race or national origin under the Civil Rights Act 

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

11 (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), or section 1977 of the Revised 

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

Æ 


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