House Bill 51, originally known as House Bill 179, is before the Florida Legislature again after failing twice. The bill was reintroduced as Florida’s “Crown Act” to prohibit discrimination against hairstyles in the K-20 education system.
The bill is sponsored by District 67 Representative Fentrice Driskell and co-sponsored by District 47 Rep. Anna Eskamani and District 101 Marie Woodson.
The CROWN Act was created in 2019 by Dove and the Crown Coalition. The bill, first sponsored by former California Senator Holly Mitchell, would introduce new standards to protect hair and hairstyles in public schools and workplaces. Includes, but is not limited to, hairstyles, hair textures, locks, braids, and protective styles including afros.
The Crown Coalition created the acronym CROWN. This means “creating a world of respect and openness for natural hair” to bring attention to the reality of hair discrimination that many black women and men endure.
Former District 45 Representative Kamia Brown was the first to introduce the bill to the House of Representatives. Brown said he was inspired to introduce the law by seeing how children were treated in the education system, especially kindergarteners who were kicked out of school on their first day because they had dreadlocks. Told.
“As an African-American, I feel the importance of hair that tells our story. It has been a topic of conversation for a long time, and its roots go back to slavery.”
The Perception Institute’s “Good Hair” research project found, “On average, white women show a clear bias against black women’s natural hair, which is less sexy, professional and attractive than smooth hair.” I understand that it is classified as
In 2019, the CROWN Research Study for Girls found that “100% of black elementary school girls in predominantly white schools (who reported experiencing hair discrimination) experienced discrimination by age 10. I discovered.
The text of the bill acknowledges America’s history of discrimination due to legal and social constraints that “deem blackness and the physical characteristics associated with it inferior to those of Europeans.”
However, the bill includes all protected hairstyles with historical characteristics associated with race.
Brown hopes the law will change what is considered an expert.
“People are being displaced from their jobs, deprived of housing, and unable to focus on their education,” Brown said. “It is important to educate people about the importance of this bill and their prejudices and prejudices.”
In 2021, Florida A&M University student Zaria Slaughter was discriminated against at the Panera Bread where she worked for five months. Slaughter began her shift with her braided style and heart-trendy feed of her designs, and she received concern from her manager.
“Unfortunately, my manager explained that I shouldn’t have my hair in braids because that would be unprofessional,” Slaughter said. “I struggled with anxiety and immediately thought I had done something wrong. Or I shouldn’t have appeared this way.”
Slaughter took the situation as a signal to resign, but not before explaining to restaurant management that the unfair treatment of black women through protective styling was unacceptable.
If approved by lawmakers and signed by the governor, House Bill 51 will go into effect on July 1, upping the Crown Act in hopes of creating an open world that respects everyone’s natural hair. is.
