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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 03-02-2021; 4-a - Resolution Supporting the CROWN Act and Amending Chapter 12 of the Orange County Civil Rights Ordinance 1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: March 2, 2021 Action Agenda Item No. 4-a SUBJECT: Resolution Supporting the CROWN Act and Amending Chapter 12 of the Orange County Civil Rights Ordinance DEPARTMENT: Human Rights and Relations ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Resolution Renee Price, Chair, BOCC, (919) 245- Ordinance Amendment 2130 Annette Moore, Human Rights and Relations, (919) 245-2317 PURPOSE: To consider a Resolution supporting local, state, and federal laws that prohibit discrimination based on a person's hair texture or hairstyle if that style or texture is commonly associated with a particular race, religion, or national origin; and also approving an amendment to the Orange County Civil Rights Ordinance prohibiting this discrimination. BACKGROUND: The Resolution and Amendment support local, state, and federal laws that prohibit discrimination based on a person's hair texture or hairstyle if that style or texture is commonly associated with a particular race, religion, or national origin. Specifically, if those laws prohibit discrimination based on hair texture or hairstyle when participating in federally, state, and local assisted programs, housing programs, public accommodations, and employment. While a wide range of hair textures are typical among people of African descent, the decision to wear one's hair in a particular style is highly personal. The reason behind the decision may differ depending on the individual. Some wearers adapt styles designed as "protective" to maintain hair health, or as part of cultural identity, and or a variety of other personal, financial, medical, religious, or spiritual reasons.' There has been a widespread belief that Black hairstyles are not suited for formal settings, maybe unhygienic, messy, disruptive, or unkempt.' In 2014, the U.S. Department of Defense generally prohibited Black hairstyles. After a backlash by Black women serving in the Armed Forces, the ban was reversed in 2017, and the terms "matted and unkempt"were removed from the appearance regulations. These changes reflected a reevaluation of longstanding bias and discriminatory impact and the harms they caused on the military troops. ' Locs may also be worn by some Black people for religious purposes, such as Rastafarians. See generally Brief for NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund,Inc. et al., as Amici Curiae Supporting Appellants,EEOC v. Catastrophe Mgmt. Solutions, No. 14-13482 (llth Cir. Dec. 28, 2016), https://www.naacpldf.org/files/about- us/EEOC v CMS Final.pdf. 2 Petition for Writ of Certiorari, supra note 17, at *6-7; see also NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. & American Civil Liberties Union, Letter to Florida Department of Education, ACLU (Nov. 29, 2018), https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/florida-department-education-complaint-chargerace-discrimination 2 A 2019 Joy Collective Study CROWN Research Study found that discrimination based on hairstyles has a real, measurable social and economic impact on Black women. The Crown Study also found that Black women were 80% more likely to agree with the statement that they had to change their hair from its natural state to fit in at the office than White women. Wearing one's hair in a natural or protective style may also have significant physical and psychological harm to those who have to choose between maintaining their livelihood and education or their cultural identity and hair health.3 Black women have faced significant socio-economic pressure to conform to white or European beauty standards by straightening or relaxing their hair, which can cause emotional distress, including dignitary and stigmatic harm. Because of this stress, Black women are likely to spend more money on their hair, spend more money on professional hair styling appointments and products, and experience anxiety related to hair. These experiences highlight the consequences of being compelled to conform to the standards of White and European beauty standards or stigmatized for wearing one's hair in a natural style. The North Carolina Supreme Court, in 2003, declared the employment law section of the Orange County Civil Rights Ordinance (the Civil Rights Ordinance") unconstitutional. Later that year, the Board of Commissioners attempted to get statewide legislation passed that would allow counties to pass local ordinances protecting the rights of residence against employment discrimination. The legislation passed the House but stalled in the Senate. Today, North Carolina does not have a statewide Fair Employment Law, nor does it allow localities to protect its residents from employment discrimination. Staff recommends the following: 1. Supporting H.R 5309, Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN)Act of 2020 prohibiting discrimination based on the individual's hair texture or hairstyle. (See Report Accompany H.R. 5309) 2. Supporting a similar CROWN Act legislation in North Carolina AND a North Carolina Fair Employment law to support the enforcement of the CROWN Act and other employment discrimination laws in North Carolina 3. Amending Chapter 12 of the Civil Rights Ordinance to prohibit discrimination based on a individual's hair texture or hairstyle, if the hair texture or hairstyle is commonly associated with the person's race, national origin, or religion (including a hairstyle in which hair is tightly coiled, locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros) The terms "national origin" and "religion" have the same meaning as in §12-6 of the Orange County Civil Rights Ordinance. The terms "national origin," "religion," and "race" include discrimination based on hair texture or hairstyle commonly associated with a particular race, national origin, or religion (including a hairstyle in which hair is tightly coiled, locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros). FINANCIAL IMPACT: The financial impact associated with this action is unknown. Enforcement of this Ordinance could lead to the need for more investigative personnel in the Human Rights and Relations Department. 3 See generally Dr. Gillian Scott-Ward,Moving Past Racist Grooming Standards Terrorizing our Children,Medium(Jan. 10, 2018),https:Hmedium.com/@gillianscottward/moving-past-racist-groomingstandards-terrorizing-our-children-40df73b9ecb3. 3 SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: The following Orange County Social Justice Goal is applicable to this item: • GOAL: FOSTER A COMMUNITY CULTURE THAT REJECTS OPPRESSION AND INEQUALITY The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race or color; religious or philosophical beliefs; sex; gender or sexual orientation; national origin or ethnic background; age military service; disability; or familial, residential, or economic status ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: There is no Orange County Environmental Responsibility Goal associated with this action. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board approve the Resolution and adopt the Ordinance and authorize the Chair to sign the Resolution amending the Code of Ordinances. RES-2021-012 4 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS RESOLUTION OF AMENDMENT RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF ADOPTION OF THE CROWNACT OR OTHER LEGISLATION PROHIBITING RACE-BASED HAIR DISCRIMINATION IN ORANGE COUNTY AND THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA WHEREAS, Orange County is a community that prides itself on being composed of people who value diversity of backgrounds, cultures,beliefs, traditions and experiences; and WHEREAS, appreciation for diversity in all forms strengthens a community, fosters a welcoming environment, and is critical to a thriving, successful city; and WHEREAS, discrimination based upon natural hair texture and styles remains a source of racial bias, impacting educational and employment opportunities for people of color, particularly women and men of Black African descent; and WHEREAS, Orange County has developed a locally applicable non-discrimination ordinance that will prohibit discrimination in employment, public accommodations, and fair housing access against individuals who wear "protected hairstyles," which is defined in the pending ordinance as "any hairstyle, hair type, or hair texture historically associated with race such as, but not limited to, braids, locks, twists, tight coils or curls, cornrows, Bantu knots, and afros"; and WHEREAS, current state and federal law prohibit discrimination on the basis of race and ethnicity in employment, public accommodations, housing and schools, yet offers no protection to individuals with specific hair styles or textures related to race or ethnicity; and WHEREAS, a national movement to address the effects of long-term, insidious race discrimination in reaction to hairstyles and textures commonly associated with communities of color is being spearheaded by the CROWN Coalition, a national alliance founded by Dove, the National Urban League, Color of Change, and the Western Center on Law&Poverty; and WHEREAS,with the assistance of the Coalition,a wave of legislation has been enacted across the United States over the past eighteen months, both at the federal and state level, which specifically adds race-based hair discrimination to the legal definition of race discrimination; and WHEREAS,beginning in California in July 2019, The CROWNAct("Creating a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair") now has been adopted in seven states and legislation is under consideration in more than twenty other states, as well as in Congress; and WHEREAS, at the federal level, the "CROWN Act of 2019" has been introduced by Representative Cedric Richmond (LA-2) in the form of H.R. 5309 in December 2019 and by Senator Cory Booker(NJ) in the form of S. 3167 in January 2020,and would amend a panoply of existing federal civil rights law prohibiting race discrimination in federally assisted 5 programs, housing programs, public accommodations, employment, and access to equal rights under the law; and WHEREAS, the stated purpose of the identical bills 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"; and WHEREAS, the pending federal bills include an initial section of Congressional "findings" providing an eloquent and compelling argument for the necessity of the proposed Act, as follows: (1) Throughout United States history, society has used, in conjunction with skin color, hair texture and hairstyle to classify individuals on the basis of race. (2) Like one's skin color, one's hair has served as a basis of race and national origin discrimination. (3) Racial and national origin discrimination can and do occur because of longstanding racial and national origin biases and stereotypes associated with hair texture and style. (4) For example, routinely, people of African descent are 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 locks, cornrows,twists, braids, Bantu knots, or Afros. (5) Racial and national origin discrimination is reflected in school and workplace policies and practices that bar natural or protective hairstyles commonly worn by people of African descent. (6) For example, as recently as 2018, the United States Armed Forces had grooming policies that barred natural or protective hairstyles that servicewomen of African descent commonly wear and that described these hairstyles as "unkempt". (7) In 2018, the United States Armed Forces rescinded these policies and recognized that this description perpetuated derogatory racial stereotypes. (8) The United States Armed Forces also recognized that prohibitions against natural or protective hairstyles that African-American servicewomen are commonly adorned with are racially discriminatory and bear no relationship to African- American servicewomen's occupational qualifications and their ability to serve and protect the Nation. (9) As a type of racial or national origin discrimination, discrimination on the basis of natural or protective hairstyles that people of African descent are commonly adorned with violates existing Federal law,including provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), section 1977 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981), and the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.). However, some Federal courts have misinterpreted Federal civil rights law by narrowly interpreting the meaning of race or national origin, and thereby permitting, for example, employers to discriminate against people of African descent who wear natural or protective hairstyles even though the employment policies involved are not related to workers' ability to perform their jobs. (10)Applying this narrow interpretation of race or national origin has resulted in a lack of Federal civil rights protection for individuals who are discriminated against on 6 the basis of characteristics that are commonly associated with race and national origin. (11) In 2019,State legislatures and municipal bodies throughout the United States have introduced and passed legislation that rejects certain Federal courts' restrictive interpretation of race and national origin, and expressly classifies race and national origin discrimination as inclusive of discrimination on the basis of natural or protective hairstyles commonly associated with race and national origin; and WHEREAS, the Orange County Board of County Commissioners has the responsibility to advocate on behalf of all of residents,and recognizes,as espoused by the CROWN Act of 2019, that "clear, consistent, and enforceable legal standards must be provided to redress the widespread incidences of race and national origin discrimination based upon hair texture and hairstyle in schools, workplaces, housing......and other contexts" and to "explicitly prohibit the adoption or implementation of grooming requirements that disproportionately impact people of African descent",- NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of County Commissioners hereby: 1. Supports the passage of H.R. 5309 Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2020 into law; 2. Requests the North Carolina General Assembly pass legislation similar to H.R. 5309 and a Fair Employment law that will protect all North Carolinians from all forms of employment discrimination; and 3. Support the inclusion of religious discrimination as a category of protected class in federal and state law. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk to the Board is directed to send copies of this resolution to the Orange County delegation to the North Carolina Legislature, Governor Roy Cooper, North Carolina Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, and US Representative David Price; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Code of Ordinances, Orange County, North Carolina, Chapter 12, Section 54(c) be amended to add the following numbered section 12-54(c)(3), which section reads as shown in the attached revised ordinance to prohibit discrimination in Orange County. This the 2nd day of March 2021. Renee Price, Chair Orange County Board of Commissioners 7 ORD-2021-005 An Ordinance Prohibiting Discrimination Throughout Orange County Sec. 12-54.— Prohibited acts. (c) It shall be unlawful for any person to intentionally or knowingly: (3) Discriminate based on the individual's hair texture of hairstyle, if that hair texture or hairstyle is commonly associated with a particular race, national origin, or religion (including a hairstyle in which hair is tightly coiled, locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros). The terms "national origin" and "religion" have the same meaning as in §12-6 of the Orange County Civil Rights Ordinance. The terms "national origin," "religion," and "race" throughout this Chapter include discrimination based on hair texture or hairstyle commonly associated with a particular race, national origin, or religion (including a hairstyle in which hair is tightly coiled, locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros).