PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 26, 2025
Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2025 or the CROWN Act of 2025
This bill prohibits discrimination based on a person's hair texture or hairstyle if that style or texture is commonly associated with a particular race or national origin. Specifically, the bill prohibits this type of discrimination against those participating in federally assisted programs, housing programs, public accommodations, and employment.
Persons shall not be deprived of equal rights under the law and shall not be subjected to prohibited practices based on their hair texture or style.
The bill provides for enforcement procedures under the applicable laws (e.g., the Civil Rights Act of 1964).
People & committees
Rep. Watson Coleman, Bonnie [D-NJ-12] · D–NJ
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Dec 5, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-26 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This bill would expressly prohibit discrimination based on hair texture or hairstyles commonly associated with a race or national origin. It would protect people in employment, housing, and federally funded programs, among other settings. Examples include locs, braids, and Afros. The proposed protections would use enforcement systems under existing civil rights laws.
No individual in the United States shall be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under, any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance, based on the individual’s hair texture or hairstyle, if that hair texture or that hairstyle is commonly associated with a particular race or national origin (including a hairstyle in which hair is tightly coiled or tightly curled, locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros).
No person in the United States shall be subjected to a discriminatory housing practice based on the person’s hair texture or hairstyle, if that hair texture or that hairstyle is commonly associated with a particular race or national origin
It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining (including on-the-job training programs) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against an individual, based on the individual’s hair texture or hairstyle, if that hair texture or that hairstyle is commonly associated with a particular race or national origin
Subsection (a) shall be enforced in the same manner and by the same means, including with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was incorporated in title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Section 1 would name the bill the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2025, or CROWN Act of 2025.
This Act may be cited as the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2025 or the CROWN Act of 2025.
Section 2 presents Congress’s proposed findings and policy views. It describes lost educational and employment opportunities linked to natural or protective hairstyles and calls for nondiscriminatory grooming standards. Its stated purpose is to clarify race and national origin protections under federal civil rights laws; these statements describe the bill’s rationale, not established results of its passage.
Congress finds the following:
people of African descent have been deprived of educational and employment opportunities because they are adorned with natural or protective hairstyles in which hair is tightly coiled or tightly curled, or worn in locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, or Afros.
It is the sense of Congress that—
it is necessary to mandate that school, workplace, and other applicable standards be applied in a nondiscriminatory manner and to explicitly prohibit the adoption or implementation of grooming requirements that disproportionately impact people of African descent.
The purpose of this Act is to institute definitions of race and national origin for Federal civil rights laws that effectuate the comprehensive scope of protection Congress intended to be afforded by such laws and Congress’ objective to eliminate race and national origin discrimination in the United States.
Section 3 would bar federally funded programs from excluding people, denying benefits, or discriminating because of hair texture or hairstyles commonly associated with a race or national origin. It would use the enforcement system of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and that law’s referenced definitions.
No individual in the United States shall be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under, any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance, based on the individual’s hair texture or hairstyle, if that hair texture or that hairstyle is commonly associated with a particular race or national origin
Subsection (a) shall be enforced in the same manner and by the same means, including with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was incorporated in title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), and as if a violation of subsection (a) was treated as if it was a violation of section 601 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2000d).
the term program or activity has the meaning given the term in section 606 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d–4a)
the terms race and national origin mean, respectively, race within the meaning of the term in section 601 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 2000d) and national origin within the meaning of the term in that section 601.
Section 4 would prohibit discriminatory housing practices based on hair texture or hairstyles commonly associated with a race or national origin. It would use the Fair Housing Act’s enforcement system and referenced definitions, including that law’s definition of a discriminatory housing practice.
No person in the United States shall be subjected to a discriminatory housing practice based on the person’s hair texture or hairstyle, if that hair texture or that hairstyle is commonly associated with a particular race or national origin
Subsection (a) shall be enforced in the same manner and by the same means, including with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was incorporated in the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), and as if a violation of subsection (a) was treated as if it was a discriminatory housing practice.
the terms discriminatory housing practice and person have the meanings given the terms in section 802 of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3602)
the terms race and national origin mean, respectively, race within the meaning of the term in section 804 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 3604) and national origin within the meaning of the term in that section 804.
Section 5 addresses public accommodations—places serving the public that are covered by the referenced civil rights provisions. It would prohibit practices barred by sections 201–203 of the Civil Rights Act when based on hair texture or hairstyles commonly associated with a race or national origin. Enforcement would follow Title II of that Act.
5. Public accommodations
No person in the United States shall be subjected to a practice prohibited under section 201, 202, or 203 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.), based on the person’s hair texture or hairstyle, if that hair texture or that hairstyle is commonly associated with a particular race or national origin
Subsection (a) shall be enforced in the same manner and by the same means, including with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was incorporated in title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and as if a violation of subsection (a) was treated as if it was a violation of section 201, 202, or 203, as appropriate, of such Act.
Section 6 would prohibit employers, employment agencies, labor organizations, and joint labor-management training committees from refusing to hire, firing, or otherwise discriminating against someone because of hair texture or hairstyles commonly associated with a race or national origin. Enforcement would follow Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, treating violations as violations of its section 703 or 704, as appropriate.
It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining (including on-the-job training programs) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against an individual, based on the individual’s hair texture or hairstyle, if that hair texture or that hairstyle is commonly associated with a particular race or national origin
Subsection (a) shall be enforced in the same manner and by the same means, including with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was incorporated in title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), and as if a violation of subsection (a) was treated as if it was a violation of section 703 or 704, as appropriate, of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2000e–2, 2000e–3).
Section 7 would also prohibit practices barred by the existing equal-rights provision at 42 U.S.C. 1981 when based on hair texture or hairstyles commonly associated with a race or national origin. It would use that provision’s enforcement system. The bill does not reproduce the underlying practices covered by that law.
7. Equal rights under the law (a) In general No person in the United States shall be subjected to a practice prohibited under section 1977 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981), based on the person’s hair texture or hairstyle, if that hair texture or that hairstyle is commonly associated with a particular race or national origin
Subsection (a) shall be enforced in the same manner and by the same means, including with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was incorporated in section 1977 of the Revised Statutes, and as if a violation of subsection (a) was treated as if it was a violation of that section 1977.
Section 8 would prevent the bill from being interpreted to narrow existing definitions of race or national origin under the Civil Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act, or 42 U.S.C. 1981.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit definitions of race or national origin under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.), the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), or section 1977 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981).
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated December 5, 2025, records introduction in the House on February 26, 2025, and referral that day to the Judiciary and Education and Workforce committees for provisions within their respective jurisdictions.
Source snapshot updated 2025-12-05T21:40:07Z.
2025-02-26: Introduced in House
2025-02-26: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-26. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow preferential carve-out or special exemption was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. Equal access to civil rights protections is not preferential treatment solely because a protected class is expressly described. This conclusion is limited to that version.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Dec 5, 2025. How PlainBill uses AI