Members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) are urging Congress to pass the CROWN Act.
According to WWD, on Tuesday (Oct. 18), a statement sent to the U.S. Senate from dozens of members of SAG-AFTRA, including Zöe Kravitz, Niecy Nash, Kerry Washington, and Rosario Dawson, called for the law to end hair discrimination in the United States.
In a press release, Fran Drescher, SAG-AFTRA president, said: “The CROWN Act is a huge step in ending discrimination based on hair in public education and work spaces. People should feel free to style their hair how they feel most comfortable without the threat of prejudice and unequal treatment.”
Additionally, Jason George, chair of the SAG-AFTRA Hair and Makeup Equity Work Group, stated: “When you work in an industry where you can be hired — or not hired — largely on how you look, you become acutely aware of how damaging it can be to discriminate against someone based on something as extraneous as how they wear their hair.”
He continued, “Until our nation’s leaders say, in no uncertain terms, that it is not acceptable to discriminate against someone based on their hair, private employers and institutions will continue to skirt the issue with ease.”
In addition to George, other Hair and Makeup Equity Work Group members include Yvette Nicole Brown, Tiffany Yvonne Cox, Michelle Hurd, Ezra Knight, Linda Powell, and Sheryl Lee Ralph.
The law, formally titled “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” or CROWN, passed in the U.S. House of Representatives 235 to 189 in March. According to the publication, the bill now sits with the Senate and has been enacted in 19 states, including California, New Mexico, New York, and Massachusetts. The law’s protections would apply to all 50 states if passed by the Senate and President Biden.