Markeshia Ricks Pre-Pandemic File Photo
State Rep. Robyn Porter at the Capitol (pre-pandemic).
Afros. Bantu knots. Braids. Cornrows. Dreadlocks. Twists.
In seven states, the law bars employers from discriminating workers for wearing those hairstyles.
New Haven State Rep. Robyn Porter aims to make Connecticut the eighth, joining California, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Colorado, Washington, and Maryland.
Porter and Danbury State Sen. Julie Kushner have introduced a bill — called The CROWN Act: Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair — that would bar discrimination based on specifically those hairstyles in housing, schools, and employment and in credit transactions.
The bill was first introduced last session, and failed.
The second attempt to pass it began Tuesday, as Porter hosted a press conference about it, then championed it along with others at a hearing of the legislature’s Labor and Public Employee Committee, which Porter co-chairs. Over 100 people signed up to testify at the hearing.
“Conformity is a means to survival” for many Black women in America, Porter said: Instead of being judged on the quality of their work, they are judged on “how we wear our hair to work.”
She cited statistics from a Dove 2019 CROWN Research Study indicating that Black women are 50 percent more likely to report being sent home or know of someone who was sent home because of their hair, and 80 percent are more likely to change their hair from their natural state to meet workplace expectations.
“I have been one of those Black women,” Porter said.
Christina Jackson, a 13-year-old Youth Ambassador from the Hartford region YWCA, introduced herself as “a proud woman of color filled with Black girl magic.” She spoke of feeling pressured to change her hairstyle on her competitive gymnastics team.
Jackson used to wear her hair in box braids that were braided into two cornrows. Coaches told her that this hairstyle was “too floppy,” while not saying the same of her white peers, who had loose ponytails that constantly needed to be adjusted, Jackson said.
For meets, she straightened and “burned” her hair into buns, which both “ruined my hair and bruised my self-esteem.”
“I’m only 13, and I already know a small portion of what older Black women feel in their workplaces,” Jackson continued. She was met with silent applause and encouragement in the Zoom chat.
At the hearing, State Rep. Henry Arora warned of potential unintended consequences of the bill, including legal barriers for employers.
State Rep. Anne Hughes, co-chair of the Progressive Democratic Caucus, spoke in support of the bill, and criticized Arora. “I apologize on behalf of this committee for you having to explain your humanity,” Hughes said to Porter.
If the bill passes the committee, it would advance to the full state House of Representatives for debate and a vote.
Sam Gurwitt pre-pandemic file photo
State Rep. Robyn Porter: “I have been one of those Black women.”
Let's be clear - pressure to conform to a dress code is peer pressure not corporate pressure. You can't legislate that and it's been around since the dawn of time. You also can't legislate against corporate dress codes. I know of a bank that requires clean glasses, hosiery for females, coats and ties for men - facial hair to the extent you have it, is dictated as to length and grooming.