Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2025 or the CROWN Act of 2025
This bill prohibits discrimination based on a person's hair texture or hairstyle if that style or texture is commonly associated with a particular race or national origin. Specifically, the bill prohibits this type of discrimination against those participating in federally assisted programs, housing programs, public accommodations, and employment.
Persons shall not be deprived of equal rights under the law and shall not be subjected to prohibited practices based on their hair texture or style.
The bill provides for enforcement procedures under the applicable laws (e.g., the Civil Rights Act of 1964).
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1638 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1638
To prohibit discrimination based on an individual's texture or style of
hair.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 26, 2025
Mrs. Watson Coleman (for herself, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Ms.
McClellan, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mrs.
Ramirez, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Doggett, Ms. Adams, Ms. Brown, Mr. Cohen, Ms.
Tlaib, Ms. Sewell, Ms. Norton, Mr. Green of Texas, Ms. Jacobs, Ms.
Underwood, Mr. Kennedy of New York, Mr. Fields, Mr. Mullin, Ms. Wilson
of Florida, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Mr.
Krishnamoorthi, Mr. McGarvey, Mrs. McIver, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Pocan, Ms.
Kelly of Illinois, Ms. Sherrill, Mrs. Sykes, Mr. Thompson of
Mississippi, Ms. Strickland, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Foster, Mr. Grijalva, Mr.
Carson, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Evans of
Pennsylvania, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Horsford, Mr. Turner of Texas, Ms.
Brownley, Ms. Stevens, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Takano, Mr. Torres of New York,
Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Vargas, Mrs. Foushee, Mr. Conaway, Mr. Davis
of North Carolina, Mr. Amo, Mr. Ivey, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms.
Plaskett, Mrs. Hayes, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Carter of
Louisiana, Ms. Bynum, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mrs. McBath, Mr. Bell, Ms.
Waters, Mr. Veasey, Mr. Mfume, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Pressley, Ms. Moore
of Wisconsin, Ms. Omar, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mr. Frost, and Mr.
Jeffries) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on
Education and Workforce, 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 committee 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 Representatives 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 2025'' or the ``CROWN Act of 2025''.
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, people of African descent have been
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 practices that bar natural
or protective hairstyles commonly worn by people of African
descent.
(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 description perpetuated
derogatory racial stereotypes.
(8) The United States Armed Forces also recognized that
prohibitions against natural or protective hairstyles that
African-American servicewomen are commonly adorned with are
racially discriminatory and bear no relationship to African-
American servicewomen's occupational qualifications and their
ability to serve and protect the Nation.
(9) Some Federal courts have narrowly interpreted the
protections against discrimination on the basis of race or
national origin found in existing Federal civil rights laws,
including provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C.
2000a 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.),
thereby permitting, 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 these narrow interpretations has resulted in
a lack of Federal civil rights protection for individuals who
are discriminated against on the basis of characteristics that
are commonly associated with race and national origin.
(11) Starting 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 origin discrimination as inclusive
of discrimination on 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 associated with African
Americans or persons of African 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 address 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 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, employment, 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;
(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 texture and hairstyle;
(7) it is necessary to prohibit and provide remedies 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 prohibit the adoption or
implementation of grooming requirements 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 protection 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, any program or activity receiving
Federal financial assistance, based on the individual'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,
cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros).
(b) Enforcement.--Subsection (a) shall be enforced in the same
manner and by the same means, including 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 subsection
(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 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,
cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros).
(b) Enforcement.--Subsection (a) shall be enforced in the same
manner and by the same means, including 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 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.), 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, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros).
(b) Enforcement.--Subsection (a) shall be enforced in the same
manner and by the same means, including 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 appropriate, 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 employment practice for
an employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-
management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or
retraining (including on-the-job training programs) to fail or refuse
to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate
against an individual, based on the individual'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,
cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros).
(b) Enforcement.--Subsection (a) shall be enforced in the same
manner and by the same means, including 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
subsection (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 ``person'', ``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 is tightly
coiled or tightly curled, locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots,
and Afros).
(b) Enforcement.--Subsection (a) shall be enforced in the same
manner and by the same means, including 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 definitions 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).
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Workforce, 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 committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Workforce, 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 committee concerned.
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