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) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary, 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 com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To prohibit discrimination based on an individual’s texture 
or style of hair. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Creating a Respectful 
and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2019’’ or the 
‘‘CROWN Act of 2019’’. 
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 tex-
ture 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 
descent are deprived of educational and employment 
opportunities 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. 
(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. 
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(6) For example, as recently as 2018, the 
United States Armed Forces had grooming policies 
that barred natural or protective hairstyles that 
servicewomen of African descent commonly wear and 
that described these hairstyles as ‘‘unkempt’’. 
(7) In 2018, the United States Armed Forces 
rescinded these policies and recognized that this de-
scription perpetuated derogatory racial stereotypes. 
(8) The United States Armed Forces also rec-
ognized that prohibitions against natural or protec-
tive hairstyles that African-American servicewomen 
are commonly adorned with are racially discrimina-
tory and bear no relationship to African-American 
servicewomen’s occupational qualifications and their 
ability to serve and protect the Nation. 
(9) As a type of racial or national origin dis-
crimination, discrimination on the basis of natural 
or protective hairstyles that people of African de-
scent are commonly adorned with violates existing 
Federal 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.). How-
ever, some Federal courts have misinterpreted Fed-
eral civil rights law by narrowly interpreting the 
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meaning of race or national origin, and thereby per-
mitting, for example, employers to discriminate 
against people of African descent who wear natural 
or protective hairstyles even though the employment 
policies involved are not related to workers’ ability to 
perform their jobs. 
(10) 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 
origin. 
(11) In 2019, State legislatures and municipal 
bodies throughout the United States 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 
the basis of natural or protective hairstyles com-
monly associated with race and national origin. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that— 
(1) the Federal Government should acknowl-
edge that individuals who have hair texture or wear 
a hairstyle that is historically and contemporarily as-
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sociated with African Americans or persons of Afri-
can descent systematically suffer harmful discrimi-
nation 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 associ-
ated 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. 2000e) 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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criminate against an individual, based on the individual’s 
hair texture or hairstyle, if that hair texture or that hair-
style is commonly associated with a particular race or na-
tional 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 VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 
(42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), and as if a violation of sub-
section (a) was treated as if it was a violation of section 
703 or 704, as appropriate, of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
2000e–2, 2000e–3). 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section the terms ‘‘per-
son’’, ‘‘race’’, and ‘‘national origin’’ have the meanings 
given the terms in section 701 of the Civil Rights Act of 
1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e). 
SEC. 7. EQUAL RIGHTS UNDER THE LAW. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—No person in the United States 
shall be subjected to a practice prohibited under section 
1977 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981), 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 
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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 section 1977 of the Revised Statutes, and 
as if a violation of subsection (a) was treated as if it was 
a violation of that section 1977. 
SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit defini-
tions of race or national origin under the Civil Rights Act 
of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.), the Fair Housing Act 
(42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), or section 1977 of the Revised 
Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981). 
SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act shall take effect on August 9, 2020. 
Æ 
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