Anti-Discrimination | The Crown Act | Racial Discrimination | Racial Beauty
News Reporters and The Crown Act
The costly nature of ethnic hair on the job

On January 1, 2020, California became the first state to pass an anti-discrimination hair law for schools and the workplace. The Crown Act (Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair).
Kumasi Aaron, and Jobina Fortson, African American news anchors from San Francisco KGO ABC7, shared their own stories about having to straighten their hair or wear wigs to conform with a more European look in order to advance their TV journalism careers. And anchor, Ama Daetz, explained why she finally stopped straightening her naturally curly hair.
“People have lost jobs, sources of income because of how they chose to wear their hair.” — Kumasi Aaron
“It can cost more than $250 for me to do my hair on one visit. It’s very expensive to maintain, especially straight hair. And it takes about an hour to maintain each night.” — Jobina Fortson
To conform to the workplace standards, many women of color, in particular, spend large sums of money on European hairstyles, risk their hair health, and find time-consuming maintenance routines part of an unspoken job description.
In my view, a costly workplace standard should be compensated. Since 2021, only seven more states have passed the Crown Act.
Sources
Michelle Obama says Americans were not ready for her natural black hair… Johnathan Edwards, The Washington Post, 2022/11/17: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/11/17/michelle-obama-black-hair-braids/
Mom could have gone to college, good hair: https://www.rogerogreen.com/2022/11/17/mom-could-have-gone-to-college/
Kumasi Aaron, Jobina Fortson, 6: 03 min. Ama Daetz, 1: 16 min, January 2, 2020:
PBS.org/newshour — How hair discrimination impacts black Americans in their personal lives and the workplace. Yamiche Alcindor, April 2, 2021:
The Crown Act Official Campaign:
Forbes.com Kiara McClendon, 1/13/2021:
Original Source: The Crown Act — The Cost of Ethnic Hair:
Abc7news.com: High school wrestler forced to cut locks or forfeit the match:

