Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
RES-2021-012 4 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> RESOLUTION OF AMENDMENT <br /> RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF ADOPTION OF THE CROWNACT OR OTHER <br /> LEGISLATION PROHIBITING RACE-BASED HAIR DISCRIMINATION IN ORANGE <br /> COUNTY AND THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA <br /> WHEREAS, Orange County is a community that prides itself on being composed of people <br /> who value diversity of backgrounds, cultures,beliefs, traditions and experiences; and <br /> WHEREAS, appreciation for diversity in all forms strengthens a community, fosters a <br /> welcoming environment, and is critical to a thriving, successful city; and <br /> WHEREAS, discrimination based upon natural hair texture and styles remains a source of <br /> racial bias, impacting educational and employment opportunities for people of color, <br /> particularly women and men of Black African descent; and <br /> WHEREAS, Orange County has developed a locally applicable non-discrimination ordinance <br /> that will prohibit discrimination in employment, public accommodations, and fair housing <br /> access against individuals who wear "protected hairstyles," which is defined in the pending <br /> ordinance as "any hairstyle, hair type, or hair texture historically associated with race such <br /> as, but not limited to, braids, locks, twists, tight coils or curls, cornrows, Bantu knots, and <br /> afros"; and <br /> WHEREAS, current state and federal law prohibit discrimination on the basis of race and <br /> ethnicity in employment, public accommodations, housing and schools, yet offers no <br /> protection to individuals with specific hair styles or textures related to race or ethnicity; and <br /> WHEREAS, a national movement to address the effects of long-term, insidious race <br /> discrimination in reaction to hairstyles and textures commonly associated with communities <br /> of color is being spearheaded by the CROWN Coalition, a national alliance founded by Dove, <br /> the National Urban League, Color of Change, and the Western Center on Law&Poverty; and <br /> WHEREAS,with the assistance of the Coalition,a wave of legislation has been enacted across <br /> the United States over the past eighteen months, both at the federal and state level, which <br /> specifically adds race-based hair discrimination to the legal definition of race discrimination; <br /> and <br /> WHEREAS,beginning in California in July 2019, The CROWNAct("Creating a Respectful and <br /> Open Workplace for Natural Hair") now has been adopted in seven states and legislation is <br /> under consideration in more than twenty other states, as well as in Congress; and <br /> WHEREAS, at the federal level, the "CROWN Act of 2019" has been introduced by <br /> Representative Cedric Richmond (LA-2) in the form of H.R. 5309 in December 2019 and by <br /> Senator Cory Booker(NJ) in the form of S. 3167 in January 2020,and would amend a panoply <br /> of existing federal civil rights law prohibiting race discrimination in federally assisted <br />