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.
She hoped key research could help save her eyesight. Then the Trump funding cuts came
Jessica Chaikof says research into gene therapies could someday save her eyesight. But she worries cuts to federal research funding could mean that therapy won't be ready in time.
6 new books out this week, including true stories of trailblazers
But for many working adults, the summer can often feel the same as the rest of the year. So, maybe our idea of a "summer read" should encompass a wider swath of books? Here are a few out this week.
Purple Heart Army veteran self-deports after nearly 50 years in the U.S.
Sae Joon Park left for South Korea on Monday. His removal order was the result of drug possession and bail jumping charges from over 15 years ago — offenses that, he said, stemmed from untreated PTSD.
TikTok bans #SkinnyTok. But content promoting unhealthy eating persists
The social media platform TikTok recently banned a hashtag called #SkinnyTok after European regulators warned it was promoting extreme weight loss. But eliminating this kind of content is not easy.
RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz say health insurers will cut red tape on ‘prior authorizations’
In recent years, health insurers ramped up the practice of requiring doctors to get their approval before tests and procedures. On Monday, health leaders announced voluntary reforms from insurers.
The Trump administration is making an unprecedented reach for data held by states
States hold troves of sensitive personal data that were previously never shared with the federal government or across federal agencies. The Trump administration is trying to change that.
