NC county adds rule protecting residents with natural hairstyles, calls for CROWN Act

Orange County residents are now protected under local rules against discrimination based on hairstyles associated with race, religion or national origin.

The county commissioners unanimously approved the changes to the county’s discrimination ordinance Tuesday and also voiced support for state and national efforts to pass the CROWN Act.

The CROWN Act has been adopted in seven states and is under consideration in 20 other states, commission Chair Renee Price said. A similar bill, H170, was introduced into the N.C. House last week.

Dove and the CROWN Coalition crafted the CROWN Act — Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural-Hair — in 2019 to prohibit discrimination nationwide against race-based hairstyles and textures, including Afros, twists, Bantu knots and braids.

The U.S. House passed the CROWN Act in September; the Senate has never passed it.

Black women have reported experiencing pressure to spend a significant amount of time and money to make their hair conform to European or white beauty standards by straightening or relaxing their hair.

NC governments pass similar protections

Carrboro, Durham, Greensboro and Mecklenburg County governments also have passed discrimination protections based on hairstyle, texture or hair types. Wake County is considering hair discrimination protections for its employees.

The 2019 CROWN Research Study reported that Black women can face hair discrimination in formal or professional settings. Black women report being targeted for their hair, more policed on workplace appearance and consistently rated less ready for job performance, it said.

Black women were 80% more likely than other women to say they had to change their natural hair to fit in at the office, the report found, and 83% more likely to report being judged harshly on their looks.

A federal ban on hair discrimination could allow local governments to protect their residents. North Carolina does not have a state Fair Employment Law, and the N.C. Supreme Court in 2003 declared Orange County’s ordinance prohibiting employment discrimination unconstitutional. The decision did not affect the county’s enforcement of its public accommodations and housing discrimination rules.

Tuesday’s resolution asks that the General Assembly pass similar hair discrimination legislation and a Fair Employment Law.