It’s Not Just Hair: New Orleans CROWN Act Is A First For The Deep South But, Advocates Hope, Just The Beginning
New Orleans attorney Nia Weeks remembers the concerned comments she received from older Black women when she decided to grow locs three years ago.
“You can’t go into a court with locs. No one’s gonna hire you,” they told her.
At its last meeting in 2020, New Orleans City Council made a move to address those worries when it passed the C.R.O.W.N. Act Ordinance, which prohibits race-based hair discrimination, including the denial of employment and housing because of hair texture or protective hairstyles like braids, dreadlocks and bantu knots.
C.R.O.W.N. is an acronym for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair. The C.R.O.W.N. Study, by cosmetic company Dove, revealed Black women are 80 percent more likely to change their hair to fit social norms and workplace expectations. Those changes often include straightening their hair with extreme heat or harsh chemical relaxers.
While Birmingham passed a resolution to recognize July 3 as National C.R.O.W.N. Day last summer, New Orleans was the first municipality in the Deep South to adopt a C.R.O.W.N. Act.
“It was the best Christmas present that I could have even thought of giving to Black women. It was a love letter and a thank you in action,” Weeks said. “Black women are not a monolith, but our hair and the experiences, the prejudice that we experience, is a unified issue, regardless of age, demographics, geography [and] socioeconomic status.”
At about 38 and 32 percent respectively, the Black populations in Mississippi and Louisiana make up a larger proportion of the population than in any other state. Still, race-based hair discrimination persists in these states, creating barriers to employment and education and to freedoms that others take for granted.
Read the full story from our partners at WWNO here.
This story was produced by the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration between Mississippi Public Broadcasting, WBHM in Birmingham, Alabama, WWNO in New Orleans and NPR.
The darter fish and the data center
A newly identified species is already in danger of extinction. A proposed massive data center in Bessemer would “nuke” its habitat, scientists say.
President Trump fires a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Christopher Hanson was appointed to serve on the commission overseeing the nation's nuclear reactors by President Biden in 2020.
Purdue Pharma, Sacklers reach new $7.4 billion opioid settlement
A new $7.4 billion opioid settlement for Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family has been approved by all U.S. states and territories
Top House Democrat asks Microsoft about DOGE code allegedly tied to NLRB data removal
A top House Democrat is asking Microsoft for information about a DOGE staffer's GitHub account connected to whistleblower allegations of sensitive data leaving the National Labor Relations Board.
Sean Combs trial: Judge dismisses juror
Judge Arun Subramanian said that the juror's conflicting statements about which state he currently resides in may have been an attempt to get on and stay on the federal trial of the hip-hop mogul.
The suspect in the shooting of 2 Minnesota lawmakers has been captured and charged
Vance Boelter was captured in a wooded area on Sunday night, and charged in the shootings of two state lawmakers and their spouses. His first court appearance is scheduled for Monday.