[Watch] CROWN Act Coalition Discuss New NC EEO Practices, Efforts to Pass CROWN Act in NC

NORTH CAROLINA — On February 1, 2021, EEO practices under the North Carolina Office of State Human Resources (OSHR) affirmatively prohibited an employer from failing or refusing to hire or discharging any individual, or otherwise discriminating against an individual, based on the individual’s hair texture or hairstyle. The members CROWN Act Campaign Coalition held a virtual news conference on Friday, February 5, 2021, to speak on the recent EEO practices changes and passing the CROWN Act in NC. 

In the recap of the news conference, speakers tell us how they are working to get this legislation passed and their respective experiences with hair discrimination.

The speakers are:

• Senator Natalie Murdock, North Carolina District 20
• Senator Deandra Salvador, North Carolina District 39
• Representative Kandie Smith, North Carolina State Representative – House District 8
• Councilmember DeDreanna Freeman, Durham City Council
• Aisha Powell, State of North Carolina Employee
• Tia Hall, PAC Chair, Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People
• Shemekka Ebony, Co-Founder of CROWN Campaign

[Watch #OnTheScene] CROWN Act of NC Campaign | News Conference Recap:

The Crown Act (CA SB188), which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, has been signed into law in 7 US states, and 3 municipalities since July 2019.  Since February 2019, the Crown Act Campaign has mobilized champions in the community impacted by racial discrimination as hair discrimination, to raise awareness around hair discrimination in their workplace and schools across their communities, nation, and world.

North Carolina State Government is the state’s largest employer with over 81,016 employees all working toward a common goal of making North Carolina great. It is a large organization of various agencies, branches, and universities, each providing an important public service. Careers within the State of North Carolina include public safety, education, transportation, and health care. To meet its needs, the State values skilled, hard-working employees from various educational and experience backgrounds.

With state employees located in each one of the 100 counties in North Carolina, careers in state government are available from the mountains to the coast and all points in between. The University of North Carolina system consists of colleges and universities that consistently receive top honors in various categories.

The new EEO practices are a wonderful stride towards ending racial discrimination, however, this does not prohibit hair discrimination as racial discrimination for all North Carolina workers. This is why passing the CROWN Act in NC is an important next step to protect all workers from workplace discrimination in the form of hair discrimination.  

The Crown Act Campaign Coalition is working hard to protect citizens under the Crown Act for NC. The Crown Act for NC bill will be co-sponsored by Sen. Natalie Murdock, Sen. Deandra Salvador, Sen. Valerie Foushee and others in the Senate, and Rep. Kandie Smith and others in the House. The bill would provide the definition of race for these purposes also include traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles, and would define protective hairstyles for purposes of these provisions.

For more information about the CROWN Act, visit www.thecrownact.com/.