Evans: House Passes CROWN Act to Ban Hairstyle Discrimination

WASHINGTON (Sept. 22, 2020) – Congressman Dwight Evans (PA-03) announced the House passed the CROWN Act Monday evening.

The bill (H.R. 5309) would explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of hairstyle or hair texture that is commonly associated with a particular race or national origin. It would prohibit such discrimination in federally funded programs, housing, employment, public accommodations, and with respect to the making and enforcement of contracts.

Evans said, "I'm an original co-sponsor of the CROWN Act at the federal level because we need to stamp out hairstyle discrimination, which is often a back-door way to allow racial or national-origin discrimination. Even a celebrity like Gabrielle Union was reportedly fired because her hair was ‘too Black.' We were able to work out a unanimous voice vote to pass this bill in the deeply divided House of Representatives, and I urge the Senate to give it a vote as well."

Evans has also commended Philadelphia Councilwoman Cherelle Parker for introducing a bill to make this change at the local level.

Evans represents Pennsylvania's 3rd Congressional District, which includes Northwest and West Philadelphia and parts of North, South, Southwest and Center City Philadelphia.

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