Good Hair/Bad Hair: A Discussion about the CROWN Act and Discrimination [Free ABA Event]

Hosted by the American Bar Association

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Students and employees with natural hair have faced continued discrimination from school and workplace regulations as controversy over what is considered a racial characteristic protected by law leaves natural hairstyles such as locs or afros vulnerable to discrimination and anti-Black bias. This webinar will provide attorneys and related professionals with a comprehensive background of both historical and current race-related discrimination through the regulation of hair textures and styles commonly associated with race and culture.

At the 2020 Annual Meeting, the American Bar Association adopted Resolution 100B20A, which urges federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal governments to enact legislation banning race discrimination on the basis of the texture, style, or appearance of a person’s hair and supports enactment of the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act of 2019 or similar legislation that advances antidiscrimination on the basis of the texture, style, or appearance of a person’s hair. Following the recent passage of the CROWN Act in the U.S. House of Representatives as of March 18, 2022, our panel will discuss the effects of the Act expanding hair textures, styles, and cultural headdresses within the definition of race and examples of application, tools of enforcement, and types of related discrimination. Our esteemed panel will also discuss the psychological and economic impacts related to racial discrimination through hair texture and styles.

Speakers include:
Abre’ Conner – ABA Young Lawyers Division Chief Policy Officer and Speaker; Health Directing Attorney, Law Foundation of Silicon Valley
Wendy Greene – Professor of Law, Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law
Keeshea Turner Roberts (Moderator) – Adjunct Clinical Law Professor and Supervising Attorney, Fair Housing Clinic, Howard University School of Law; Co-Chair, African American Affairs Committee, ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice