AUSTIN -- A long running legislative push to prohibit discrimination based on hairstyles and textures associated with race took a big step toward the finish line Friday after passing in the Texas Senate.
The CROWN Act -- Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair -- now heads to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott.
The bill is part of a national movement to ban racial discrimination against hairstyles and textures, such as dreadlocks, braids and twists. The movement arose after two high profile incidents of Black high school students being told to cut off their dreadlocks or face consequences.
The bill's author, Rep. Rhetta Bowers, D-Rowlett, first filed the bill in 2021 after the Barbers Hill school district about 30 miles east of Houston banned longer dreadlocks and put one student into in-school suspension for not following the policy, which was later overturned in federal court.
"The CROWN Act will materially improve the lives of countless Texans when it becomes law," Bowers said in a statement.
The issue also gained national prominence after a New Jersey incident in which a white wrestling official forced a Black high school wrestler to choose between cutting his dreadlocks or forfeiting the match.
Despite a growing number of states adopting similar legislation, Bowers' first attempt to pass the CROWN Act two years ago failed to advance in the House.
This year, however, the CROWN Act has enjoyed wide bipartisan support, with House members cheering its passage from the House on April 13 and a near unanimous vote out of the Senate Friday.
"The Texas CROWN Act has been a long-term movement, and it has taken several years to get to where we are now -- it has required hard work, it has taken constant reaching across the aisle, and it has taken widespread grassroots organizing by many, to make something like this happen," Bowers said.
The proposed law would ban discrimination of hairstyles and hair textures commonly associated with race. Schools would be prohibited from adopting grooming policies against those hairstyles. It would also be illegal to deny housing or employment for people with hairstyles or textures commonly associated with race.
The bill comes amid a legislative session that has seen several GOP supported bills that have been decried as racist.
A Senate effort to ban diversity, equity and inclusion programs at universities could be up for a vote next week in the House. Meanwhile, a Senate Bill purporting to ban critical race theory at universities appears stalled in the House.
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