File this under the exceedingly slim folder labeled βGood News in 2020": Virginia has become the first Southern state to ban hair discrimination, a law that disproportionately impacts black people and their ability to wear their hair as they please.
As CNN reports, the Commonwealth is now the fourth state in the country to pass legislation tied to the CROWN Act, a movement seeking to ban discrimination against natural and protective hairstyles for black people. Rooted in white supremacist thoughts on what constitutes βprofessionalβ or βproperβ grooming, policies mandating how students and workers can wear their hair have been used to punish black people rocking afros, βlocs, twists, braids, and everything in between.
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Virginiaβs hair bill specifically prohibits discrimination based on βtraits historically associated with race, including hair texture, hair type, and protective hairstyles such as braids, locks, and twists.β
In a statement announcing the new bill, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam declared that the law βwill make our Commonwealth more equitable and welcoming for all.
βItβs pretty simpleβif we send children home from school because their hair looks a certain way, or otherwise ban certain hairstyles associated with a particular raceβthat is discrimination,β Northam said. βThis is not only unacceptable and wrong, it is not what we stand for in Virginia.β
The passage of the Virginia bill highlights the groundswell of political support for hair discrimination laws. California, New York, and New Jersey all passed their versions of the CROWN act within the last year. And last month, three statesβCalifornia, Colorado, and Washingtonβpushed bills through their state legislatures banning hair discrimination in the same week. Local and state governments in 22 states are either considering or have already passed such laws.
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