Black hair is an intimate part of an individual’s identity and being. Yet as of Saturday, the two-year anniversary of The CROWN Act, only 13 states have fully embraced the act. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The CROWN Act<\/a> (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) is the law that \u201cprohibits race-based hair discrimination, which is the denial of employment and education opportunities because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including braids, locs, twists or Bantu knots.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The politics of Black hair have always been contentious. The numerous times Black girls, in particular, have been penalized for wearing their hair naturally is telling. And when embellishments such as color and extensions are added, the punishments are even greater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2013, twelve-year-old student Vanessa Vandyke was bullied for her \u201cpuffy hair\u201d by fellow students at Faith Christian Academy. Yet rather than ending the bullying, however, the school suggested<\/a> that she \u201cstraighten her hair out\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2016, schoolgirls in South Africa were told to \u201cfix their hair, if they were wearing them in a natural state.\u201d So styles such as cornrows, dreadlocks, and loose braids were deemed as violations of school policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hair, and the politics of Black hair, have always mattered in sports. In 2012, sixteen-year-old Gabby Douglas, the first Black Olympic gymnast to make team USA since Dominque Dawes twelve years prior, was mercilessly eviscerated in the media for not having laid edges during her routines. Embarrassingly, many of Gabby\u2019s detractors were in fact, other Black women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI just made history and people are focused on my hair? It can be bald or short; it doesn\u2019t matter about (my) hair,\u201d said Douglas<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n