Minnesota House poised to pass bill banning hair discrimination - Minneapolis Star Tribune

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The Minnesota House is poised to pass a bill that would protect Minnesotans from discrimination based on how they wear their hair.

The so-called CROWN Act, which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, adds a definition of race that is inclusive of natural hairstyles and textures to the Minnesota Human Rights Act. It's an effort to break down barriers that Black Minnesotans face at work, school and in other public spaces for wearing hairstyles such as braids, locs and twists.

The bill, which the House is expected to vote on Monday afternoon, "will clearly define that no one should be prevented from a job or an education because of the way that their hair naturally grows from their head," said Rep. Esther Agbaje, DFL-Minneapolis, the bill's chief House sponsor. At a Feb. 3 committee hearing on the bill, Agbaje, who is Black, said she straightened her hair for most of her life "because of a fear of losing a job, or not being able to be taken as seriously."

"We know that racial discrimination is not always overt, and this bill ensures that discrimination based on biases or stereotypes is stopped or held accountable," Agbaje said Monday. "While natural hair and protective hairstyles are often most associated with people of African descent, the law does protect everyone from having their human rights violated."

The Minnesota Human Rights Act, enacted in 1967, prohibits discrimination based on race, religion, disability, national origin, sex, marital status, familial status, age, sexual orientation and gender identity in areas including employment, housing, public accommodations, public services, education, credit and business.

While Minnesotans who experience discrimination based on their natural hair could file a complaint with the state Human Rights Department under the law's current definition of race, the CROWN Act provides "a more explicit definition," Agbaje said.

"It makes it a lot simpler for judges when they're looking at cases that come before them with a complaint of this nature," she said.

The bill received bipartisan support in the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee, but its chances in the Republican-controlled Senate remain to be seen. A version of the CROWN Act identical to the bill before the House on Monday also passed that chamber in 2020, but went nowhere in the Senate.

A lot has happened since then, including the global racial reckoning that followed George Floyd's murder by a former Minneapolis police officer.

"I believe that the environment is right, and I think that we in Minnesota have been through a lot in order to understand that we have to be a much more inclusive Minnesota," said Sen. Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis, chief sponsor of the Senate bill.

And though the Senate version has no co-sponsors, Champion said, "I'm not going to stop until somebody signs onto this bill."

If the Senate does follow suit, Minnesota will join more than a dozen states and over 30 cities and counties that have passed similar measures. A federal version of the CROWN Act passed the U.S. House in 2020 but stalled in the Senate.

A nationwide survey that CROWN Act proponents conducted in 2019 found Black women are 1.5 times more likely than white women to be sent home from work because of their hair. Black survey respondents were 80% more likely than white respondents to agree with the statement: "I have to change my hair from its natural state to fit in at the office."

"This bill brings clarity and peace of mind to Black people, both men and women, who have been forced to change their natural hair in order to adapt to a workplace," said Tiffani Daniels, managing director of the Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity. "And, on the other side, companies reap the benefits of a more engaged workforce that can more positively contribute in the workplace."

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