Are you familiar with the CROWN Act? The Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act is not just about hair; it’s about protecting everyone’s Human Rights.
The Pennsylvania CROWN Act is based on the understanding that natural hair should be embraced, and there should be no space where wearing one’s natural hair is deemed unacceptable, inappropriate, or unprofessional. Afterall, who gets to determine what is deemed “unprofessional”?! Well, to answer that question, we’d have to add a little historical context.
Historical Context
When we look back to the tignon law of 1786, a law enacted by the Spanish Governor of Louisiana Esteban Rodríguez Miró, which forced Black women to wear a tignon headscarf with the clear intentions of visibly and symbolically associating the FREE WOMEN, to the subordinate and inferior status associated with the enslaved. Over time, our ancestors transformed these obstacles into stepping stones of fashion and innovation that even the white women began copying their headdress fashion and style. Beauty has always been beyond skin deep, and these moments of radical self-love and appreciation serve as a constant reminder to move beyond the status quo of performative diversity and representation.
Looking ever further into the history of hair as a manipulation tactic to dehumanize and control a group of people, colonizers and human traffickers of the slave trade would shave the hair of the captured people to further remove their sense of identity and belonging to a tribe or community grouping. Studies have shown that hair styles were used in ancient Africa to convey social status, relationships to one another, as well as tribal associations and hierarchy across regions.
Implications of the CROWN Act Policy Changes
Now, when we look at current trends, seven states have already banned discrimination based on hair style and texture, including New York, New Jersey, and Maryland, and more than 23 states have introduced bills to ban this form of discrimination. Several local governments across the country (including Lancaster County) have also amended their ordinances to include hair style and hair texture into the definition of race in their nondiscrimination statutes. Legislation has been introduced in the PA House of Representatives and in the Senate that would amend the Human Relations Act and clarify the term “race” to also include traits historically associated with race, such as hair texture and protective hairstyles.
You can join the movement to end race-based hair discrimination by emailing your representatives or signing the current petition to urge Pennsylvania Legislators to vote YES on PA CROWN Act (HB 1066 and SB 531). Hair discrimination remains a source of racial injustice and has profound consequences particularly for African Americans who choose to wear their hair in its natural state or in a protective style. Protecting natural hair and its protective styles is not just about hair, it has implications beyond bodily autonomy and harassment/assault.
Why does this even matter?
The CROWN Act carries implications beyond just hairstyles, it includes:
- Workplace harassment and discrimination – who gets hired, fired, promoted, overlooked?!
- Personal Health and Safety – safer hair maintenance practices; decreased exposure to harsh chemicals and adverse health effects from toxic chemicals in hair products
- Environmental Health and Safety – reduction in pollution for the processing, packaging, shipping, and disposal of associated cosmetics products
- Culture Shift – professional and academic sectors re-defining what is “professional” hair?
- Economic Impact – access to employment and social mobility, and on a larger scale, the opportunities in the business of hair and other hair types previously disregarded in the general marketplace.
The Business of Black Hair
When we talk about the business of Black hair in the broader context of the cosmetics and beauty industry, we can’t dismiss the dwindling sales of harsh chemical relaxers and cosmetics in contrast to the increased demand for natural ingredient-based products. This need has created opportunities for new market players and investors to help transform the cosmetics scene as more -owned niche products enter the marketplace; resulting in greater diversity of consumer products than ever before. As the saying goes “money talks” and the coils/curls of melanin-rich tresses have spoken up for better representation. Representation absolutely matters, especially in the executive suite, where decision makers determine industry focus and direction -that is why we now see stores and brands availing more products and space to expand that ever-limited aisle section titled “Ethnic Products.”
Health & safety of manufacturing
Similarly, as we have seen an increased demand for more eco-friendly natural hair products, health and safety has become a growing concern as more people become aware about toxic chemicals more often used in cosmetics. In recent years, the use of harsh, chemical-laden cosmetic products has declined as women return to more natural hair styles. The market analysis firm Mintel estimates that sales of hair relaxers marketed to women dropped by almost 40 percent between 2008 -2015 and continues today. Conversely, sales of shampoos, conditioners and styling products marketed for use on “natural hair” are steadily increasing. Between 2013 and 2015 alone, sales of “natural” hair styling products increased by about 27 percent, now comprising 35 percent of the hair care market
Although Black people make up approximately 13 percent of the U.S. population, estimates suggest that African Americans account for almost 22 percent of the $42 Billion-a-year personal care products market. This means that the potential for exposure to harmful ingredients through cosmetics products is higher within the community than any other demographic.
An analysis of ingredients in over 1,100 beauty and personal care products marketed to women revealed about one in 12 was ranked highly hazardous on the scoring system of EWG’s Skin Deep® Cosmetics Database. A significant concern is the lack of funded research to better understand the health hazards of cosmetics and other personal care products marketed to women. If you are a Black-owned cosmetics manufacturer/small business, consider joining the Cosmetic Science Review (CSR) Business directory today. Advocacy organizations such as Black Women for Wellness, West Harlem Environmental Action, and Women’s Voices for the Earth have reported on the issue and published guides for minimizing exposure to potentially hazardous ingredients, but the body of scientific research is woefully sparse. Still, the available studies raise serious concerns.
Support the CROWN Act Today!
The CROWN Act is not just about institutional policy changes, it’s about embracing cultural shifts and dismantling the ways we police other people’s bodies and indoctrinate them to police themselves. Remember, beauty is beyond skin deep, and we must create opportunities for folks to show up authentically, even across our various professional spaces.
#BeautyBeyondSkinDeep #BeyondPerformativeDiversity #LetsHARPaboutIt