Michigan Just Passed the Crown Act, Why Can’t the Rest of the Country?

In another victory for the Crown Act, Michigan has made it illegal to discriminate based on hair texture or style. On Thursday, Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed the law, which prohibits discrimination in the areas of employment, housing, and education due to natural and protective hairstyles, including afros, dreadlocks, braids or cornrows.

Michigan has tried unsuccessfully to push this bill through in the past in a Republican-led legislature. The bill finally passed this year with a 100-7 vote in the state House, making Michigan the 23rd state in the country to pass some form of the Crown Act. But at the federal level, the bill has struggled to find its way to President Biden’s desk. Although the House passed the Crown Act, 235-to-189, in 2022, the Senate, unfortunately, has not been able to push it through – and Black women continue to feel the impact.

According to the results of a 2023 CROWN Workplace Research study, hair discrimination continues to be an issue for Black women at work. More than half of the Black women in the survey believed they had to wear their hair straight in a job interview to be successful. And two-thirds said they had changed their hair for a job interview.

“Let’s call it what it is: hair discrimination is nothing more than thinly veiled racial discrimination,” said State Senator Sarah Anthony. Anthony is the first Black woman to represent Lansing in the state Senate.

Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II, Michigan’s first Black lieutenant governor and father of a daughter, spoke about the importance of the new legislation at Thursday’s signing.

“Imagine when you choose how to present, and someone tells you that’s wrong,” he said. “What does that do to snuff out the imaginative potential of our young people?”