The Lawrence City Commission on Tuesday soundly adopted a local ordinance protecting people from racial discrimination based on hair, making Lawrence the first city in Kansas to do so. “This is huge for our community,” Commissioner Amber Sellers said. “This is huge for our state. This is huge for individuals who live here who are trying to thrive and survive here — that they can balance and feel that they can take their nurtured self and bring it out into the community, unapologetically.” The CROWN Act, which stands for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” combats race-based hair discrimination in the workplace, schools or other sectors. It specifically targets protections for Black people who have textured hair or wear natural hairstyles, such as curls, locs, braids, twists, afros, bantu knots and more. It also aims to protect Indigenous people and people of color from discrimination based on hair that reflects culture or race.
Source: The Lawrence Times
