Could Ohio ban hair discrimination? Behind the years-long fight to pass the CROWN Act

Many Black women in Ohio report facing bias in the workplace over their hair. State Rep. Juanita Brent is looking to change that.

Brent, D-Cleveland, recently reintroduced House Bill 178 that, if passed, could help to dismantle systemic bias against Black Ohioans' natural hair. The issue is personal to her and to Black women across the state, she said.

“I’ve had jobs where they told me, you need to straighten your hair,” Brent said. “And it was so normal for me to hear that. I didn't even find that it was wrong, because it was so systemic.”

The CROWN, or Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act would ban hair discrimination in employment, places of public accommodation, housing, education, and credit practices. It would also give individuals who have been discriminated against due to their hair the right to sue.

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Convincing other lawmakers to prioritize the issue hasn’t been easy. This is the third legislative session in a row that Brent has introduced the legislation. In previous sessions, the bill did not get a vote in the House.

This session, the act is cosponsored by Rep. Jamie Callender, R-Concord, marking the first time it has had Republican sponsorship. In a Republican-dominated legislature, Brent said Callender’s support has made “a world of difference” in garnering bipartisan support.

“We are constantly hearing stories about how social media, reality TV, and other media sources are impacting children and young adults' self-image. Your employer should not be counted among those stressors based on how you wear your hair,” Callender said in testimony supporting the bill last month.

The bill is the latest in a national wave of anti-hair discrimination laws. Versions of the CROWN Act have passed in 22 states, as well as several Ohio cities including Cleveland, Akron, Cincinnati and Columbus. The U.S. House of Representatives also tried to pass a CROWN Act federally in 2022, but the bill was blocked by Senate Republicans late last year.

Discrimination against Black women’s hair has a deep history in the United States, Brent said. In the 18th century, enslaved Black women were often required to cover their hair because it “threatened the social order.”

“It was a history, a time, where you saw Bblack women in scarves, not because we wanted to cover up our heads, but because we really had to,” Brent said. “So there's always been this time in the United States, particularly in Ohio, where we were controlling the bodies of Black women, and particularly when it comes to our hair.”

The 2023 CROWN Workplace Research Study found Black women’s hair is 2.5 times as likely to be perceived as unprofessional, and that over 20% of Black women between the ages of 25 and 34 have been sent home from work due to their hair.

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Brent said there are still many places she doesn’t feel comfortable wearing her natural hair because it “doesn’t fit the social norm of being in Ohio.”

The CROWN Act expands upon the definition of race as a protected class under Ohio’s Civil Rights Act. It specifies that race includes traits commonly associated with race, including hair texture and protective hairstyles.

Brent said representatives on both sides of the aisle have voiced their support.

The only opposing testimony against the bill so far this year came from Kevin Shimp of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, who argued that the CROWN Act would violate the ability of individual employers to implement their own workplace policies “designed to protect the health and safety of employees and customers.”

Others who testified in favor of the bill pointed out the economic impact that professional discrimination against Black employees can have. Brent also said she feels that hesitancy from some lawmakers to pass the bill may be “rooted in racism.”

Yet with the support of Callender, the passage of similar bills in other states, and growing bipartisan backing, she remains “semi-optimistic” that the CROWN Act could pass.

The bill has been referred to the House Civil Justice committee for deliberation.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: With bipartisan support, Ohio CROWN Act could ban hair discrimination