ANN ARBOR, MI — Ann Arbor officials are proposing an amendment to the city’s non-discrimination ordinance to make race-based hair discrimination illegal.
The city’s Human Rights Commission enthusiastically and unanimously supported the proposal, referred to as The CROWN Act, this week. It’s now expected on City Council’s agenda for a first reading June 7.
Council Member Travis Radina, D-3rd Ward, introduced the proposal to ban discrimination based on traits traditionally associated with race, including hair texture and style.
CROWN stands for “Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.” It’s a campaign created in 2019 by Dove and the CROWN Coalition to extend anti-discrimination protections to hairstyles such as braids, locs, twists and knots in workplaces and in public schools.
Radina’s proposal is similar to a proposed amendment to Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act sponsored by state Rep. Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing, and co-sponsored by local state Reps. Felicia Brabec and Yousef Rabhi.
Anthony first proposed the change in state law in July 2019 but it never made it out of committee. She reintroduced it in February and it has dozens of co-sponsors but has yet to move through the Republican-controlled Judiciary Committee.
In a Facebook post, Radina said Mayor Christopher Taylor and Council Members Elizabeth Nelson, D-4th Ward, and Linh Song, D-2nd Ward, have joined him in co-sponsoring the proposal to update the city’s non-discrimination ordinance.
The ordinance already prohibits discrimination based on age, arrest record, color, disability, educational association, familial status, family responsibilities, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, height, HIV status, marital status, national origin, political beliefs, race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, source of income, veteran status, victimization by domestic violence or stalking or weight.
The proposed amendment would further define race to include “protective hairstyles” historically associated with race, including but not limited to braids, locs, twists and head wraps.
The ordinance change is informed by conversations with local Black community leaders who specifically asked to include head wraps as a named protection, Radina said.
Radina talked about the history of the CROWN Act campaign, noting California updated its state law in 2019 and Delaware recently became the ninth state to do so.
“Part of the reason why this is important is because Dove actually conducted a workplace study on this as part of launching the campaign and identified a lot of the discrimination that happens,” Radina said. “I think many of us have personally probably witnessed at least micro-aggressions around Black hair in the workplace. I’ve certainly seen that happen and we’ve had difficult conversations in my workplace about that.”
Dove’s study found Black women were 30% more likely to be made aware of workplace appearance policies than their non-Black coworkers, 1.5 times more likely to be sent home from work because of their hair and 3.4 times more likely to be perceived as unprofessional based on their hair.
Radina cited those statistics and also mentioned the recent case of a 7-year-old girl whose hair was cut at school without her parents’ permission, a case that has drawn concern from the Michigan Department of Civil Rights.
“We know that it’s a problem here in Michigan,” Radina said. “Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a lot of movement in the state Legislature right now, but the CROWN campaign and state Rep. Sarah Anthony in particular is really leading the charge to try to grow momentum across the state.”
Ingham County, Flint and Lansing recently passed similar amendments to their non-discrimination ordinances, Radina said, suggesting Ann Arbor should follow.
Judah Garber, one of Ann Arbor’s human rights commissioners, said he wishes the ordinance had been in place when he worked at the county courthouse.
“It would have been very helpful,” he said.
“I’ve even had instances in the workplace like this. They’re incredibly awkward,” said Aidan Sova, another Ann Arbor human rights commissioner. “And I don’t think that anybody in Ann Arbor should be subjected to such awkwardness.”
Sova expressed hopes the ordinance changes can build momentum and push the state Legislature to do more.
Commissioners discussed whether the city should add language to the ordinance stating race is a social construct and the notion of race as a biological concept is scientifically debunked. They’re leaning instead toward stating that in a resolution, which Commissioner Keta Cowan said she will draft.
MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS:
Ann Arbor to hire diversity officer with goal of more equitable, antiracist community
Juneteenth now an Ann Arbor holiday, but NAACP says battle for equality continues
Ann Arbor police oversight group hosting forum on anniversary of George Floyd killing
Judge denies class-action status in lawsuit over Ann Arbor water and sewer rates
Despite pushback from landlords, Ann Arbor bans criminal background checks
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Ann Arbor officials aim to ban race-based hair discrimination - MLive.com"
Post a Comment