Creating A Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2022
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, we are going to talk about hair, but this bill is about discrimination. This bill is about equality. This bill is about individual integrity. That is what this bill is about.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill. I thank my friend from New Jersey (Mrs. Watson Coleman) for putting it forward.
This bill, as I just said, is not about hair. It is about hair, of course, but it is about the reaction, the inequality, the discrimination, the ``you are not welcome here if your hair texture is different,'' and you have to or want to fix it in a certain way.
It is about the ability of every person in our country to have access to education, to economic advancements, and to opportunities to get ahead.
This is an issue of civil rights. The legislation before us would prohibit 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.
My hair is different than Barbara Lee's, who is seated next to me. Neither one of us had anything to do with that. I had no way to have the texture of my hair any way other than what my genetic makeup was, nor did Barbara Lee.
Why, therefore, should there be any thought that anybody would be able to discriminate on that basis? Too often, styles such as locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros are wrongly perceived as unkempt or unprofessional.
In fact, many of these styles are not only central to one's culture and heritage but also based upon convenience, based upon a way to have an easier time.
For a long time, and still today, expectations about what hairstyles are considered appropriate or professional, as the previous speaker said, have created immense pressure to conform to a beauty standard of straight hair that requires considerable time, effort, and cost. This burden falls disproportionately on Black Americans, particularly Black women and girls.
At the same time, enforcing the standard sends a terrible message to young people about their belonging in society and can harm their very self-esteem.
A survey commissioned by the Dove company found that Black women were 80 percent more likely to change their natural hair to fit into an office setting and 1\1/2\ times more likely to be sent home from the workplace due to their hair than non-Black women.
For children and teenagers in school, spending time conforming their hair to a different standard takes away from their time spent doing homework or getting enough sleep.
I hope I never get so old that I don't remember that I really cared about: Did I look like the other kids in school, or did I look different?
I happened to have been really skinny as a kid. I am not too fat right now, but I was really skinny as a kid, and I was really self- conscious about that. When you are a kid, being self-conscious is really painful, and you feel put off if somehow you are different.
For children and teenagers in school, spending time conforming their hair to a different standard takes away from time spent doing homework and getting enough sleep, but, much more importantly, their psychological well-being.
This legislation recognizes that natural hair, natural hair, natural hair--none of us made our nature; it was made for us--should not be a cause for discrimination or denial of opportunities.
If we treat this discrimination in the same way as we already treat discrimination based on race--nobody decides the color of their skin. It is who you are. It is what you have.
As Martin Luther King told us, it is really irrelevant. The content of character is what is relevant--not the hue of skin, but how I treat others and how others treat me.
That is what we meant by all men and women are created equal. They are not created the same. We are different. But it is the character and conduct that ought to govern how we are accepted and treated.
This is similar to title VI and title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Housing Act, and other civil rights laws.
Nationwide protection is necessary so that no one is denied the simple dignity of being one's authentic self in America while having access to all opportunities this country offers.
Character and conduct--our military took steps to end hair discrimination last year, if anybody thinks this isn't a real issue. Obviously, the military thought it was an issue, and it was an important enough issue that they took action.
The House passed this legislation in 2020 with bipartisan support. Frankly, it is disappointing that 188 Republicans opposed this legislation last week when we brought it to the floor under an expedited process, under suspension.
This should be something that all of us as Americans, as people who honor the Declaration of Independence and that statement that reverberated around the world of a very central premise that is America: ``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all,'' and we said ``men'' because we were limited in our thought pattern at that point in time. But as we have grown, we have expanded it.
Men and women of all different types and colors and, yes, sexual orientation are equal. Not the same, but deserving because God has created them, deserving of our respect and our equal treatment.
I am bringing this bill back to the floor, Madam Speaker, under a rule so that we can pass it with bipartisan support today. I think it will be bipartisan. This really ought to have unanimous support since it is about fairness and nondiscrimination.
I know that some people say, oh, this is going to cause some people problems because some people are going to claim that you violated my rights. Yes, that is America. That is why the Constitution says you have the right to redress grievances.
Yes, it may have some in court, but you can get around it really quickly: Don't discriminate. Treat people based upon their conduct and character.
We must act to ensure that everyone can get a job, succeed in school or at work, find housing, and obtain economic security without facing discrimination simply because of their hair.
Again, I thank my friend, Bonnie Watson Coleman, for her leadership on this bill. And I urge my colleagues to make America a little fairer, a little more hewing to that basic premise of which I just spoke.
Let's pass this bill. Let's make America a little more American.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. HOYER. Will the chairman yield?
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. HOYER. Is it not correct, Mr. Chairman, the reason this bill is on the floor is because Republicans voted against a suspension----
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. HOYER. Which could have easily passed to say we are against discrimination? And because 188 Republicans voted ``no,'' this bill needed to come forward because, as the chairman has just pointed out, the law is in doubt because courts have taken different positions. I thank the chairman for yielding.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source