Orange County NC Website
11 <br /> said the environmental assessment has been completed, and community meetings will be held <br /> to explain the results. <br /> Commissioner Dorosin asked if the environmental assessment has been sent to elected <br /> officials and posted on the website. <br /> Bonnie Hammersley said yes, because there was a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) <br /> request on the environmental assessment. <br /> Commissioner Greene said this is the same MOU on which the Board was working <br /> many months ago, which was paused to allow for the environmental study. She said the results <br /> of the study are in line with what all expected. <br /> Bonnie Hammersley said yes. <br /> 4. Proclamations/ Resolutions/ Special Presentations <br /> a. Resolution Supporting the CROWN Act and Amending Chapter 12 of the Orange <br /> County Civil Rights Ordinance <br /> The Board considered voting to approve a resolution supporting local, state, and federal <br /> laws that prohibit discrimination based on a person's hair texture or hairstyle if that style or <br /> texture is commonly associated with a particular race, religion, or national origin; and also <br /> adopting an amendment to the Orange County Civil Rights Ordinance prohibiting this <br /> discrimination and authorizing the Chair to sign the resolution amending the Code of <br /> Ordinances. <br /> Annette Moore, Human Rights and Relations Director, stated the term "discrimination <br /> because of sex" includes sexual orientation and gender discrimination. She said in the <br /> ordinance, Section 12, 54-c, this resolution will make it unlawful to discriminate on the basis of <br /> hair texture or hairstyle, if it is commonly associated with race, national origin, or religion. <br /> Chair Price said the ordinance pertains to men and women. She read the resolution: <br /> BACKGROUND: <br /> The Resolution and Amendment support local, state, and federal laws that prohibit <br /> discrimination based on a person's hair texture or hairstyle if that style or texture is commonly <br /> associated with a particular race, religion, or national origin. Specifically, if those laws prohibit <br /> discrimination based on hair texture or hairstyle when participating in federally, state, and local <br /> assisted programs, housing programs, public accommodations, and employment. <br /> While a wide range of hair textures are typical among people of African descent, the decision to <br /> wear one's hair in a particular style is highly personal. The reason behind the decision may <br /> differ depending on the individual. Some wearers adapt styles designed as "protective" to <br /> maintain hair health, or as part of cultural identity, and or a variety of other personal, financial, <br /> medical, religious, or spiritual reasons. There has been a widespread belief that Black <br /> hairstyles are not suited for formal settings, maybe unhygienic, messy, disruptive, or unkempt. <br /> In 2014, the U.S. Department of Defense generally prohibited Black hairstyles. After a <br /> backlash by Black women serving in the Armed Forces, the ban was reversed in 2017, and the <br /> terms "matted and unkempt" were removed from the appearance regulations. These changes <br /> reflected a reevaluation of longstanding bias and discriminatory impact and the harms they <br /> caused on the military troops. <br /> A 2019 Joy Collective Study CROWN Research Study found that discrimination based on <br /> hairstyles has a real, measurable social and economic impact on Black women. The Crown <br /> Study also found that Black women were 80% more likely to agree with the statement that they <br />