In Defense of the CROWN Act: Law and the American Politics of Beauty
(Room Lanier Grand Ballroom H)
25 Aug 21
1:30 PM
-
2:45 PM
Tracks:
Speaker (Non-Member)
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to deny a petition for writ of certiorari in the case of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Catastrophe Management Solutions, California State Senator Holly Mitchell introduced a bill called the CROWN Act; this proposed law “prohibits race-based hair discrimination, which is the denial of employment and educational opportunities because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including braids, locs, twists or Bantu knots.” The decision by the Court of Appeals in favor of Catastrophe Management Solutions was based primarily upon an interpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 whereby the protected classes therein are characterized, most importantly, by their immutability; by contrast, hairstyles are, arguably, mutable characteristics. In order to bolster the arguments in favor of the CROWN Act, and to challenge the decisions of the courts, I will argue that between “mutable” and “immutable” there is an important third category of characteristics that warrants consideration in light of troubling discriminatory practices: “immutable by proxy.” Political, legal, and ethical considerations will be considered.