What historical struggles led to contemporary textured hair legislation?

Roots

In the quiet contemplation of a single strand of hair, particularly one graced with the distinct patterns of curl or coil, we find an astonishing archive. It holds not merely proteins and cells, but the whispers of ancestors, the resilience of cultural memory, and the very spirit of a people. For those whose heritage connects to African lineages, hair has always been far more than aesthetic adornment; it is a profound declaration of identity, spirituality, and belonging. This intrinsic connection to textured hair heritage stands as the deep wellspring from which contemporary legislation flows, born from historical struggles that sought to diminish what was inherently sacred.

From the vibrant tapestries of pre-colonial African societies, hair carried messages. Intricate styles communicated age, marital status, tribal identity, wealth, and even spiritual beliefs. The Yoruba people, for instance, wove complex patterns to send messages to the divine, while the Maasai regarded the crown as a portal for spiritual energy. Grooming was a communal practice, strengthening bonds and passing down ancestral wisdom (Afriklens, 2024; Mbilishaka, 2025).

When the transatlantic slave trade violently uprooted Africans from their homelands, one of the earliest and most dehumanizing acts was the forced shaving of heads. This act aimed to strip away cultural identity, severing a vital connection to ancestry and collective memory (Odele Beauty, 2021; Wikipedia, 2024). Yet, even in the brutal crucible of enslavement, the spirit of hair heritage persisted, finding new forms of expression and resistance.

The journey from ancestral veneration of textured hair to modern legal protection reveals a long, arduous struggle for self-definition against oppressive forces.

Hair’s Elemental Being ❉ A Heritage View

Understanding textured hair from its elemental biology helps us appreciate its strength and unique needs. Each coiled strand, differing from straighter hair types, possesses a distinct helical structure, prone to dryness due to the journey natural oils take down its curves. This biological reality, often misunderstood or devalued by Eurocentric beauty norms, led to practices aimed at altering, rather than honoring, its inherent form. Ancestral care, however, developed in harmony with this biology, utilizing natural oils, butters, and herbs to nourish and protect.

• Botanical Essences ❉ Traditional societies across Africa and the diaspora incorporated natural elements like shea butter, coconut oil, and various herbal infusions for cleansing, conditioning, and scalp health.
• Scalp Wellness ❉ Practices centered on massaging the scalp to stimulate blood flow and support healthy growth, recognizing the head as a vital center of spiritual connection.
• Protective Measures ❉ Many traditional styles, such as braids and cornrows, served a dual purpose ❉ aesthetic expression and safeguarding the hair from environmental damage.

The very science of textured hair, when viewed through the lens of heritage, echoes these ancient understandings. What modern trichology describes as elasticity and moisture retention, ancestral wisdom understood as the hair’s very life force, to be respected and sustained. The struggles that led to contemporary legislation began with the systematic denial of this intrinsic value and the imposition of standards alien to the hair’s nature.

How Did Early Colonial Attitudes Shape Hair Perception?

Colonial powers often framed textured hair as “primitive” or “uncivilized,” a direct reflection of their dehumanizing agenda against enslaved African people. This classification of Afro-textured hair as closer to fur or wool than human hair served as a perverse justification for enslavement and exploitation (Halo Collective, 2023). This laid the foundation for centuries of discrimination, intertwining hair perception with racial subjugation.

The journey from a valued part of being to a target of control marks the initial chapter in the struggles for textured hair legislation. It shows how the elemental biology and cultural practices became politicized, turning natural expression into a contested ground.

Ritual

The ritual of textured hair care and styling, for generations, was a tender thread connecting Black and mixed-race communities to their past, to one another, and to their authentic selves. Yet, this very intimacy, this cultural practice, became a battleground for systemic control. The struggle for self-expression through hair transformed from a private act of heritage into a public fight for dignity, laying the groundwork for the legislative actions we witness today.

The legacy of forced assimilation permeated societies long after the formal abolition of slavery. Hair became a visible marker of conformity or defiance. In workplaces and educational institutions, policies, both explicit and implicit, enforced Eurocentric grooming standards. This meant that afros, braids, locs, and other styles inherent to Black hair culture were deemed “unprofessional” or “distracting” (EPI, 2023; IDRA, 2023).

The pressure to chemically straighten or alter hair to fit these restrictive norms led to physical harm and psychological distress, reinforcing internalized racism (Mbilishaka et al. 2023).

How Did Sumptuary Laws Target Hair?

A striking historical example of direct legal control over Black women’s hair is the Tignon Law of 1786 in Spanish colonial Louisiana. Governor Esteban Rodríguez Miró enacted this law, formally titled the “proclamation of good government,” compelling free Black women to cover their hair with a tignon, a headscarf (Wikipedia, 2023; JouJou Hair Studio, 2023). This legislation arose from the resentment of white women who felt their status was threatened by the elaborate, beautiful hairstyles of free Creole women of color, who adorned their hair with jewels and feathers, attracting the attention of white men (JouJou Hair Studio, 2023; The New York Historical, 2024). The law’s purpose was to reassert social hierarchy, visually tying free Black women to the enslaved class and preventing them from “competing too freely with white women for status” (Gould, cited in JouJou Hair Studio, 2023).

The Tignon Law, a stark historical marker, illustrates how external powers tried to suppress the vibrant self-expression of Black women through their hair.

However, the free Black women of Louisiana, with their characteristic spirit, subverted this oppressive measure. They adorned their tignons with luxurious fabrics, vibrant colors, and intricate knots, transforming a symbol of subjugation into a statement of defiance and artistry (Wikipedia, 2023; The New York Historical, 2024). This act of aesthetic protest solidified the tignon as a powerful cultural marker, demonstrating how resistance could bloom even within the confines of legal constraint (Maroons.Black, 2022).

Styling as a Site of Historical Contention

The struggle did not cease with the Tignon Law’s eventual fade from active enforcement. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the hot comb and chemical relaxer became prevalent tools, often presented as a means to achieve “good hair” and social acceptance (PMC, 2023; Halo Collective, 2023). Yet, this assimilation came at a cost, contributing to hair damage and a disconnect from ancestral textures.

The 1960s saw the emergence of the “Black Is Beautiful” movement, which championed natural hairstyles like the afro as symbols of pride, power, and a rejection of Eurocentric beauty standards (JSTOR Daily, 2019; Odele Beauty, 2021). This period marked a powerful cultural shift, but it also ushered in new forms of discrimination.

Legal challenges began to surface, highlighting the absence of specific protections for textured hair. For instance, in 1981, a Black woman sued American Airlines because the company demanded she not wear her hair in braids. The court sided with the airline, reasoning that braids were not an “immutable racial characteristic,” unlike the afro, thereby setting a precedent that allowed for discrimination against certain styles (JSTOR Daily, 2019). This ruling, which also saw Cheryl Tatum lose her job at Hyatt Regency for wearing cornrows, underscored the legal loopholes and the deeply ingrained bias that allowed hair-based discrimination to persist unchecked.

• School Policies ❉ Black students frequently faced disciplinary action, suspension, or exclusion from educational opportunities for wearing natural or protective styles like locs, braids, or afros, often under vague “grooming” or “professionalism” clauses. One study indicated that 66 percent of Black girls in majority-white schools reported experiencing hair discrimination (LDF, 2023).
• Workplace Standards ❉ Black individuals, especially women, faced pressure to alter their hair to conform to perceived corporate norms, sometimes leading to job loss or rescinded offers. One statistic states that Black women’s hair is 2.5 times more likely to be perceived as unprofessional, and they are 54% more likely to straighten their hair for job interviews (TestGorilla, 2023).
• Social Stigma ❉ Beyond formal policies, subtle microaggressions and biases contributed to psychological distress, affecting self-esteem and belonging (TestGorilla, 2023; ResearchGate, 2023).

The journey from revered cultural practice to a target of legal and social control illustrates the profound historical struggles. These battles over personal presentation, rooted deeply in racial prejudice, created the undeniable need for explicit legal protections.

Relay

The cumulative weight of centuries of struggle, from sumptuary laws to contemporary workplace and school discrimination, ultimately propelled the push for explicit legal protections for textured hair. This historical relay race, carried forward by advocates and impacted individuals, has sought to codify respect for Black and mixed-race hair heritage into law, recognizing it as an integral aspect of racial identity. The contemporary textured hair legislation, often known as the CROWN Act, stands as a testament to this enduring fight for bodily autonomy and cultural validation.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, a monumental piece of legislation, prohibited race-based discrimination. However, it did not explicitly define race to include phenotypical markers such as hair texture or culturally significant hairstyles (EPI, 2023; McLane Middleton, 2023). This omission created a legal loophole, allowing employers and educational institutions to enforce appearance policies that disproportionately affected Black individuals, claiming these policies were “neutral” despite their discriminatory impact. Courts often grappled with whether hair discrimination constituted racial discrimination, leading to inconsistent rulings that often favored the discriminatory policies (McLane Middleton, 2023; ResearchGate, 2023).

What Is the Genesis of Contemporary Hair Legislation?

The modern legislative movement gained significant traction in 2019, with California spearheading the effort. In partnership with Dove and the CROWN Coalition, then-State Senator Holly J. Mitchell introduced the CROWN Act, an acronym for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair” (African American Museum, 2023; GovDocs, 2024).

This groundbreaking law amended the definition of race in state anti-discrimination statutes to explicitly include traits historically associated with race, notably hair texture and protective hairstyles such as braids, locs, twists, and knots (McLane Middleton, 2023). California’s adoption marked a watershed moment, affirming that denying opportunities based on such inherent characteristics was a form of racial bias.

Following California’s lead, a wave of states began to enact similar legislation. As of September 2024, twenty-seven states and Washington, D.C. have passed CROWN Act laws, with many more jurisdictions considering or having already filed similar bills (GovDocs, 2024). These state-level victories are crucial, as they provide immediate protections where federal legislation has faced obstacles.

The push for a federal CROWN Act has also been a central part of this legislative relay. Introduced multiple times in the U.S. Congress, most recently in 2021 by Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman and Senator Cory Booker, the federal bill seeks to prohibit discrimination based on hair texture or hairstyle across federally assisted programs, housing, public accommodations, and employment (Wikipedia, 2022; The CROWN Act, 2024). While the House of Representatives passed the federal CROWN Act in March 2022, it has yet to clear the Senate, underscoring the ongoing nature of this struggle even at the highest levels of governance (EPI, 2023; Respect My CROWN, 2024).

How Do Recent Cases Emphasize Legislative Need?

Despite the passage of CROWN Act laws in many states, incidents of hair discrimination persist, highlighting the continued importance of these legislative efforts and their rigorous enforcement. These cases often reveal the deeply ingrained biases that legislation aims to dismantle.

Consider the case of Darryl George, a Black high school student in Texas, who faced ongoing suspensions in 2023 for refusing to cut his locs, which school officials claimed violated dress code policies on hair length (NPR, 2024; Respect My CROWN, 2024). This occurred even as Texas’s CROWN Act was poised to go into effect. While a federal judge dismissed most of George’s claims, the case drew national attention to the need for clear, enforceable protections that prevent students from being denied educational opportunities because of their hair (NPR, 2024). Similarly, the Illinois CROWN Act was spurred by the case of four-year-old Jett Hawkins, who was sent home from school for wearing braids (Wesleyan College, 2021; Edutopia, 2023).

These modern instances echo historical patterns where policies, regardless of stated intent, function to police Black bodies and cultural expression. The legislative response, therefore, becomes a critical tool in affirming the right to wear one’s hair naturally and authentically, acknowledging its deep connection to racial and cultural heritage.

The CROWN Act stands as a contemporary legal shield, reflecting a societal reawakening to the profound cultural identity intertwined with textured hair.

The fight for hair freedom is a relay passed through generations, from enslaved ancestors who resisted forced hair alterations to civil rights activists who wore afros as a political statement, and now to legislative advocates pushing for protective laws. This body of legislation is not merely about hair; it secures the right to self-definition, allowing individuals to carry their heritage proudly without fear of reprisal in schools, workplaces, or public spaces.

Reflection

To truly comprehend the genesis of contemporary textured hair legislation, we must perceive it as more than a collection of legal statutes. It stands as a profound testament to an enduring heritage, a living declaration whispered through generations of Black and mixed-race communities. The struggle for legislative protection, when seen through this lens, becomes a narrative of reclaiming what was always sacred ❉ the inherent dignity and identity expressed through a strand of hair. Every legislative victory, every CROWN Act passed, is a hard-won chapter in a story that began with ancestral reverence and continued through periods of profound suppression.

The coils and crowns, the twists and locs, they are not mere styles; they are living archives, embodying histories of resistance, wisdom passed down through communal rituals, and the persistent pulse of self-acceptance. The legislative movement today is a direct response to a historical trajectory where hair, a fundamental aspect of self and heritage, became a target of control, an instrument of social stratification, and a symbol of imposed inferiority. From the deliberate head-shaving of enslaved Africans to the restrictive sumptuary laws of colonial Louisiana, and then to the discriminatory school and workplace policies of recent decades, the message was clear ❉ conform or be penalized. Yet, the answer from those communities was always clear ❉ resist, adapt, and reaffirm.

Roothea’s ‘Soul of a Strand’ ethos reminds us that each hair follicle carries a blueprint of deep history, a connection to ancient practices, and a call to honor the self. This unfolding legislative landscape is not the end of a journey, but a powerful continuation of cultural affirmation. It reflects a growing collective understanding that freedom of hair is inextricably tied to fundamental human rights and the liberty to express one’s full, authentic heritage in every facet of life. The legal protections we see today are monuments built from the sheer will of a people who refused to allow their intrinsic beauty and inherited wisdom to be legislated away.