I Am Not My Hair
County Board of Supervisors Unanimously Adopt Supervisor Coggs-Jones Resolution Supporting the CROWN Act
MILWAUKEE – At its Thursday, July 29 meeting the County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a proposal from Supervisor Priscilla E. Coggs-Jones calling on the State of Wisconsin to pass into law the Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act, prohibiting discrimination of natural hairstyles; and declaring July 3, 2021 as CROWN Day in Milwaukee County.
“The CROWN Act is providing Black and Brown people protection in how they choose to wear their hair,” said Supervisor Coggs-Jones. “We have no more time to turn the other cheek and not address the obvious discrimination in the room. Our children, our colleagues, and tax paying citizens of America have been disqualified from competing in school activities because of their hair, let go from jobs because their hairstyle didn’t fit into a corporate culture, and even been asked inappropriate questions like ‘can I touch your hair?’ as if our hair is an exhibit.”
July 3, 2021 was chosen as CROWN Day to mark the third anniversary of California’s passage of the CROWN Act in 2019. The legislation passed after the 2019 study conducted by the CROWN Coalition found that Black women are 1.5 times more likely to be sent home from work due to their hairstyle and traditionally Black hairstyles are seen as 3.4 times more unprofessional than other female employees.
Similar legislation has been reintroduced on Feb. 10, 2021 by Representative LaKeshia Myers (D-Milwaukee).
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.
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