Marilyn Moore

“I love my natural hair” Senator Moore Speaks in Favor of C.R.O.W.N. Act During Senate Session

State Senator Marilyn Moore (D-Bridgeport) spoke in favor of the C.R.O.W.N., or “Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” Act, on the Senate Floor, voting in favor of the important anti-discriminatory legislation that prevents anyone from being treated differently for the act of wearing their natural hair.

“It is a sad commentary that in 2021 there is discrimination against how Black people wear their hair,” said Sen. Moore. “Hair is culture, it is pride, for me it’s my crowning glory. I love my natural hair. This legislation will protect wearers of dreads, braids, and other ethnic styles common among Black men and women.”

Senator Moore also said, “denying people to be proud of their culture is a form of oppression that has been a way of forcing Black and brown people into assimilating them into a European culture.”

Senator Moore spoke about how hair is more than just hair. Senator Moore said hair is so important that when a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, one of her questions is am I going to lose my hair? Senator Moore also said for black women it is about culture and identity, but it does not just hold significance for black women. Hair has significance in every culture.

The C.R.O.W. N. Act, House Bill 6515, seeks to prohibit discrimination on the basis of ethnic hairstyles historically associated with race, specifically adding two key qualifiers to current statute. It expands the definition of “race” in the state’s antidiscrimination laws to be inclusive of traits like hair texture and protective hairstyles, which can include braids, locs and twists, that are historically associated with an individual’s race, and therefore individuals cannot face punishment or different treatment for having them.

This legislation comes at an important time, as currently, up to 80 percent of Black women have said they feel they need to change their natural hair color to fit in at their workplace. Further studies show Black women are more than three times as likely to have their hairstyles called “unprofessional” compared to white women, and that Black women are also 50 percent more likely than white women to have been sent home from the workforce solely due to their hair. This will have multiple positive impacts, not only ending discrimination based on hair but affirming that Black and Brown people do not need to change aspects of their own natural appearance to “fit in,” further removing pressures of discrimination.