The CROWN Act has been reintroduced in Congress.

On Tuesday (March 11), New Jersey Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D) reintroduced the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act to ban hair discrimination federally, per The Hill.

The legislation would specifically create federal protections against discrimination of natural hairstyles, including curly and kinky hair and protective styles like Bantu knots, locs, braids, and twists.

“There are women, there are girls, there are boys and there are men who have been treated negatively, either in job situations or school situations or even beyond, simply because of the way they wear their hair,” Watson Coleman said in a statement.

“People assume that they’re less than, that they’re unprofessional, that they’re not, not clean and tidy and things of that nature, and they use the texture of the hair or the style of the hair to make impressions and decisions as to whether or not to entertain an interview with them, whether or not they could stay in school that day, whether or not they can receive a promotion, or whether or not they can even represent their companies, simply because the way they wear their hair," she added.

The CROWN Act has been enacted in several states but has failed to pass as federal legislation.

In 2022, the House passed the CROWN Act, but it was stalled in the Senate. Watson Coleman said she now has bipartisan support, including from Republican Senator Susan Collins, so she hopes the legislation will push forward in the chamber.

“This is not controversial legislation. This is very simplistic,” Watson Coleman said. “Wearing Bantu knots and curly cues and other kinds of hairstyles that are typically found associated with Africans and African Americans, that’s nothing other than an expression of how you see yourself. There’s no disrespect intended.”

During a press conference on Tuesday (March 11), Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost voiced his support for the reintroduction of the CROWN Act.

"I believe that natural hair belongs everywhere," Frost said in a statement, adding, "Let's be clear, no one should be discriminated against because of the color of their skin, and nobody should be discriminated against because of the texture of their hair."

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