“A bill to prohibit discrimination based on an individual's texture or style of hair.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section states congressional findings that hair texture and protective hairstyles (e.g., locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, Afros) commonly associated with people of African descent have historically served as a basis for race and national origin discrimination in education, employment, public accommodations, housing, and the military; that some federal courts have narrowly interpreted existing civil rights laws—including 42 U.S.C. 1981—to permit such discrimination; and that numerous states since 2019 have enacted laws rejecting those interpretations. The section expresses the sense of Congress that federal civil rights laws must protect against such discrimination in schools, workplaces, housing, and other contexts by prohibiting biased grooming policies and providing enforcement and remedies. The section declares the Act's purpose to define race and national origin in federal civil rights laws to include hair texture and hairstyle discrimination.
This section prohibits discrimination in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance based on an individual's hair texture or hairstyle commonly associated with a particular race or national origin (e.g., tightly coiled or curled hair, locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, Afros). It enforces this prohibition through the same mechanisms as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (i.e., prohibiting race- and national origin-based discrimination in federally assisted programs) and defines relevant terms consistent with that Act.
This section prohibits discriminatory housing practices based on a person's hair texture or hairstyle if commonly associated with a particular race or national origin (including tightly coiled or tightly curled hair, locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros). Violations are enforced under the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.) as if they were discriminatory housing practices, using the Act's definitions of relevant terms.
This section prohibits discrimination in public accommodations—such as hotels, restaurants, and theaters—based on a person's hair texture or hairstyle commonly associated with a particular race or national origin (e.g., tightly coiled or tightly curled hair, locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros). Such prohibition is enforceable in the same manner as existing prohibitions under title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
This section prohibits employers, employment agencies, labor organizations, and joint labor-management committees controlling apprenticeship or other training programs from failing or refusing to hire, discharging, or otherwise discriminating against an individual based on the individual’s hair texture or hairstyle commonly associated with a particular race or national origin (e.g., tightly coiled or curled hair, locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, Afros). This prohibition is enforced in the same manner as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (i.e., as a violation of the prohibitions on race or national origin discrimination), using terms defined in that Act.
This section prohibits practices otherwise barred by 42 U.S.C. 1981 (i.e., racial discrimination in making and enforcing contracts, suing, testifying, and enjoying equal protection of laws) when based on a person's hair texture or hairstyle commonly associated with a particular race or national origin (e.g., tightly coiled or tightly curled hair, locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, Afros). This section directs enforcement of such prohibitions in the same manner and by the same means, including jurisdiction, as 42 U.S.C. 1981.
This section establishes a rule of construction providing that nothing in this Act limits definitions of race or national origin under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Housing Act, or 42 U.S.C. 1981 (i.e., Section 1981, which guarantees all persons the same contractual rights as white citizens).