Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Creating a Respectful 
and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2021’’ or the 
‘‘CROWN Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS; PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Throughout United States history, society 
has used (in conjunction with skin color) hair texture 
and hairstyle to classify individuals on the basis of 
race. 
(2) Like one’s skin color, one’s hair has served as 
a basis of race and national origin discrimination. 
(3) Racial and national origin discrimination 
can and do occur because of longstanding racial and 
national origin biases and stereotypes associated with 
hair texture and style. 
(4) For example, routinely, people of African de-
scent are deprived of educational and employment op-
portunities because they are adorned with natural or 
protective hairstyles in which hair is tightly coiled or 
tightly curled, or worn in locs, cornrows, twists, 
braids, Bantu knots, or Afros. 
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(5) Racial and national origin discrimination is 
reflected in school and workplace policies and prac-
tices that bar natural or protective hairstyles com-
monly worn by people of African descent. 
(6) For example, as recently as 2018, the U.S. 
Armed Forces had grooming policies that barred nat-
ural or protective hairstyles that servicemembers of 
African descent commonly wear and that described 
these hairstyles as ‘‘unkempt’’. 
(7) The U.S. Army also recognized that prohibi-
tions against natural or protective hairstyles that Af-
rican-American soldiers are commonly adorned with 
are racially discriminatory, harmful, and bear no re-
lationship to African-American servicewomen’s occu-
pational qualifications and their ability to serve and 
protect the Nation. As of February 2021, the U.S. 
Army removed minimum hair length requirements 
and lifted restrictions on any soldier wearing braids, 
twists, locs, and cornrows in order to promote 
inclusivity and accommodate the hair needs of sol-
diers. 
(8) As a type of racial or national origin dis-
crimination, discrimination on the basis of natural 
or protective hairstyles that people of African descent 
are commonly adorned with violates existing Federal 
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law, including provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 
1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), section 1977 of the 
Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981), and the Fair 
Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.). However, some 
Federal courts have misinterpreted Federal civil 
rights law by narrowly interpreting the meaning of 
race or national origin, and thereby permitting, for 
example, employers to discriminate against people of 
African descent who wear natural or protective hair-
styles even though the employment policies involved 
are not related to workers’ ability to perform their 
jobs. 
(9) Applying this narrow interpretation of race 
or national origin has resulted in a lack of Federal 
civil rights protection for individuals who are dis-
criminated against on the basis of characteristics that 
are commonly associated with race and national ori-
gin. 
(10) In 2019 and 2020, State legislatures and 
municipal bodies throughout the U.S. have introduced 
and passed legislation that rejects certain Federal 
courts’ restrictive interpretation of race and national 
origin, and expressly classifies race and national ori-
gin discrimination as inclusive of discrimination on 
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the basis of natural or protective hairstyles commonly 
associated with race and national origin. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress 
that— 
(1) the Federal Government should acknowledge 
that individuals who have hair texture or wear a 
hairstyle that is historically and contemporarily asso-
ciated with African Americans or persons of African 
descent systematically suffer harmful discrimination 
in schools, workplaces, and other contexts based upon 
longstanding race and national origin stereotypes and 
biases; 
(2) a clear and comprehensive law should ad-
dress the systematic deprivation of educational, em-
ployment, and other opportunities on the basis of hair 
texture and hairstyle that are commonly associated 
with race or national origin; 
(3) clear, consistent, and enforceable legal stand-
ards must be provided to redress the widespread 
incidences of race and national origin discrimination 
based upon hair texture and hairstyle in schools, 
workplaces, housing, federally funded institutions, 
and other contexts; 
(4) it is necessary to prevent educational, em-
ployment, and other decisions, practices, and policies 
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generated by or reflecting negative biases and stereo-
types related to race or national origin; 
(5) the Federal Government must play a key role 
in enforcing Federal civil rights laws in a way that 
secures equal educational, employment, and other op-
portunities for all individuals regardless of their race 
or national origin; 
(6) the Federal Government must play a central 
role in enforcing the standards established under this 
Act on behalf of individuals who suffer race or na-
tional origin discrimination based upon hair texture 
and hairstyle; 
(7) it is necessary to prohibit and provide rem-
edies for the harms suffered as a result of race or na-
tional origin discrimination on the basis of hair tex-
ture and hairstyle; and 
(8) it is necessary to mandate that school, work-
place, and other applicable standards be applied in a 
nondiscriminatory manner and to explicitly prohibit 
the adoption or implementation of grooming require-
ments that disproportionately impact people of Afri-
can descent. 
(c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to institute 
definitions of race and national origin for Federal civil 
rights laws that effectuate the comprehensive scope of protec-
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