Ohio House passes CROWN Act, first step in making hair discrimination illegal

After years of trying to make hair discrimination illegal, the Ohio House passed legislation to prohibit public schools from penalizing students for wearing natural hairstyles.

For Ladosha Wright, hair is identity.

"My whole career has been about the humanity of hair," Wright said.

The Cleveland Heights cosmetologist believes that textured hair gets discriminated against — feeling it herself and seeing other people of color face inequality just because of their hair type and style.

We've been talking to Wright for years, and she continues to advocate at the Statehouse, like she did in February, to stop this form of racial bias.

“We know for certain that textured hair in America has not been treated very well," she said back in 2022. "So a lot of that, well, the bulk of that, has stemmed from not having a history about our hair before slavery."

Two years ago, Wright launched the Ubuntu Hair Love Project at her salon, Reverence Design Team. It's a free community program to educate people struggling with issues related to their hair, give them a place to express their feelings and find ways to deal with the negativity.

RELATED: Cleveland Heights hairstylist launches new program targeting Black hair discrimination

State Rep. Juanita Brent (D-Cleveland) has listened. She and state Rep. Jamie Callender (R-Concord) introduced House Bill 178 , the CROWN Act, which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.

"We want to make sure that if you are having a protective style — no matter if it's braids, if it's locks, or it's puffs — that you can be able to wear that without discrimination within the state of Ohio," Brent said.

This would prohibit Ohio public preschools and K-12 from penalizing students, especially students of color, for embracing their cultural identities.

It passed 83-7. Several of the lawmakers who voted against it said they didn’t believe hair discrimination was real. Brent says this points to a bigger problem at the Statehouse.

"We've been ran mostly by old white dudes, old white and bald," she said. "They're the ones who are making decisions, but they're also not the ones that have to receive this type of level of discrimination."

Brent adds that this is only one form of discrimination Ohio is trying to eliminate, but this is a good first step.

It passed 83-7. All no votes came from white men, with a majority of them being bald.

For people of color, especially black women, this bill could change lives, Brent said.

"It's a human thing and this is the right thing to do," Wright said.

The bill now moves to the Senate for hearings.

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