sociated with African Americans or persons of Afri-
can descent have suffered 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 deprivation of educational, employment, 
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 
standards must be provided to redress the wide-
spread incidences of race and national origin dis-
crimination based upon hair texture and hairstyle in 
schools, workplaces, housing, federally funded insti-
tutions, and other contexts; 
(4) it is necessary to prevent educational, em-
ployment, and other decisions, practices, and policies 
generated by or reflecting negative biases and 
stereotypes 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 opportunities for all individuals regardless of 
their race or national origin; 
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(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 
national origin discrimination based upon hair tex-
ture and hairstyle; 
(7) it is necessary to prohibit and provide rem-
edies for the harms suffered as a result of race or 
national origin discrimination on the basis of hair 
texture and hairstyle; and 
(8) it is necessary to mandate that school, 
workplace, and other applicable standards be applied 
in a nondiscriminatory manner and to explicitly pro-
hibit the adoption or implementation of grooming re-
quirements that disproportionately impact people of 
African 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 pro-
tection Congress intended to be afforded by such laws and 
Congress’ objective to eliminate race and national origin 
discrimination in the United States. 
SEC. 3. FEDERALLY ASSISTED PROGRAMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—No individual in the United 
States shall be excluded from participation in, be denied 
the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under, 
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any program or activity receiving Federal financial assist-
ance, based on the individual’s hair texture or hairstyle, 
if that hair texture or that hairstyle is commonly associ-
ated with a particular race or national origin (including 
a hairstyle in which hair is tightly coiled or tightly curled, 
locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros). 
(b) ENFORCEMENT.—Subsection (a) shall be en-
forced in the same manner and by the same means, includ-
ing with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was 
incorporated in title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 
(42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), and as if a violation of sub-
section (a) was treated as if it was a violation of section 
601 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2000d). 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
(1) the term ‘‘program or activity’’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 606 of the Civil 
Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d–4a); and 
(2) the terms ‘‘race’’ and ‘‘national origin’’ 
mean, respectively, ‘‘race’’ within the meaning of the 
term in section 601 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 2000d) 
and ‘‘national origin’’ within the meaning of the 
term in that section 601. 
SEC. 4. HOUSING PROGRAMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—No person in the United States 
shall be subjected to a discriminatory housing practice 
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based on the person’s hair texture or hairstyle, if that hair 
texture or that hairstyle is commonly associated with a 
particular race or national origin (including a hairstyle in 
which hair is tightly coiled or tightly curled, locs, corn-
rows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros). 
(b) ENFORCEMENT.—Subsection (a) shall be en-
forced in the same manner and by the same means, includ-
ing with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was 
incorporated in the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 
et seq.), and as if a violation of subsection (a) was treated 
as if it was a discriminatory housing practice. 
(c) DEFINITION.—In this section— 
(1) the terms ‘‘discriminatory housing practice’’ 
and ‘‘person’’ have the meanings given the terms in 
section 802 of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 
3602); and 
(2) the terms ‘‘race’’ and ‘‘national origin’’ 
mean, respectively, ‘‘race’’ within the meaning of the 
term in section 804 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 3604) 
and ‘‘national origin’’ within the meaning of the 
term in that section 804. 
SEC. 5. PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—No person in the United States 
shall be subjected to a practice prohibited under section 
201, 202, or 203 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 
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U.S.C. 2000a et seq.), based on the person’s hair texture 
or hairstyle, if that hair texture or that hairstyle is com-
monly associated with a particular race or national origin 
(including a hairstyle in which hair is tightly coiled or 
tightly curled, locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, 
and Afros). 
(b) ENFORCEMENT.—Subsection (a) shall be en-
forced in the same manner and by the same means, includ-
ing with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was 
incorporated in title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 
and as if a violation of subsection (a) was treated as if 
it was a violation of section 201, 202, or 203, as appro-
priate, of such Act. 
(c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the terms ‘‘race’’ 
and ‘‘national origin’’ mean, respectively, ‘‘race’’ within 
the meaning of the term in section 201 of that Act (42 
U.S.C. 2000a) and ‘‘national origin’’ within the meaning 
of the term in that section 201. 
SEC. 6. EMPLOYMENT. 
(a) PROHIBITION.—It shall be an unlawful employ-
ment practice for an employer, employment agency, labor 
organization, or joint labor-management committee con-
trolling apprenticeship or other training or retraining (in-
cluding on-the-job training programs) to fail or refuse to 
hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to dis-
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