Minutes 03-02-2021 Virtual Business Meeting

Browse Search

14 (2) Like one's skin color, one's hair has served as a basis of race and national origin discrimination. (3) Racial and national origin discrimination can and do occur because of longstanding racial and national origin biases and stereotypes associated with hair texture and style. (4) For example, routinely, people of African descent are deprived of educational and employment opportunities because they are adorned with natural or protective hairstyles in which hair is tightly coiled or tightly curled, or worn in locks, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, or Afros. (5) Racial and national origin discrimination is reflected in school and workplace policies and practices that bar natural or protective hairstyles commonly worn by people of African descent. (6) For example, as recently as 2018, the United States Armed Forces had grooming policies that barred natural or protective hairstyles that servicewomen of African descent commonly wear and that described these hairstyles as "unkempt". (7) In 2018, the United States Armed Forces rescinded these policies and recognized that this description perpetuated derogatory racial stereotypes. (8) The United States Armed Forces also recognized that prohibitions against natural or protective hairstyles that African-American servicewomen are commonly adorned with are racially discriminatory and bear no relationship to African-American servicewomen's occupational qualifications and their ability to serve and protect the Nation. (9) As a type of racial or national origin discrimination, discrimination on the basis of natural or protective hairstyles that people of African descent are commonly adorned with violates existing Federal law, including provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), section 1977 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981), and the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.). However, some Federal courts have misinterpreted Federal civil rights law by narrowly interpreting the meaning of race or national origin, and thereby permitting, for example, employers to discriminate against people of African descent who wear natural or protective hairstyles even though the employment policies involved are not related to workers' ability to perform their jobs. (10) Applying this narrow interpretation of race or national origin has resulted in a lack of Federal civil rights protection for individuals who are discriminated against on the basis of characteristics that are commonly associated with race and national origin. (11) In 2019, State legislatures and municipal bodies throughout the United States have introduced and passed legislation that rejects certain Federal courts' restrictive interpretation of race and national origin, and expressly classifies race and national origin discrimination as inclusive of discrimination on the basis of natural or protective hairstyles commonly associated with race and national origin; and WHEREAS, the Orange County Board of County Commissioners has the responsibility to advocate on behalf of all of residents, and recognizes, as espoused by the CROWN Act of 2019, that "clear, consistent, and enforceable legal standards must be provided to redress the widespread incidences of race and national origin discrimination based upon hair texture and hairstyle in schools, workplaces, housing......and other contexts" and to "explicitly prohibit the adoption or implementation of grooming requirements that disproportionately impact people of African descent";