La. governor signs CROWN Act into law, nearby states continue to debate legislation

VICKSBURG, Miss. (KNOE) - Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards signed the CROWN Act into law on June 21, 2022.

According to the official website, the CROWN Act stands for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair” - a law prohibiting race-based hair discrimination. The act protects a person from being denied employment and educational opportunities because of their hair texture.

While Louisiana residents have protections from the CROWN Act that was signed on the first day of summer by Gov. Edwards, citizens living across the ArkLaMiss region are still open to restrictions on hair texture and protective natural hairstyles including: braids, locs, twists, or bantu knots. Legislators in Arkansas and Mississippi are still debating on signing the act into law.

A Mississippi hairstylist spoke with KNOE about her challenges while wearing her natural hair in the workforce before opening up her own salon.

“Before I started owning my own salon, I used to enter into other people’s companies. First thing they notice is my hair, because I’m natural. I’m going to wear my natural hair and it’s crazy because not understanding who I was, and what my hair was at the time, the insecurity mainly showered over me; to wear I was thinking that my natural hair wasn’t even beautiful because of how other people looked at it as being unprofessional, untamed, lazy,” says Gellisa Fevrier, Owner of All Curly Girls Salon in Vicksburg.

CROWN Day 2022 is being celebrated nationwide on Sunday, July 3. The day commemorates the inaugural signing of the first CROWN Act legislation in California in 2019.

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