AUSTIN, Texas — A bill to ban race-based hair discrimination in Texas schools, workplaces and housing is one step closer to the governor's desk.
On Wednesday, the Texas House overwhelmingly passed House Bill 567, better known as the CROWN Act, with a 141-3 vote. It's a move inspired by the story of a Black high schooler from the Houston area who was threatened with discipline if he didn't cut his hair.
In 2020, DeAndre Arnold, a Mont Belvieu teen, was not only suspended for the length of his locks but he was also told he couldn't walk at graduation unless he cut them.
District leaders claimed it violated their grooming code.
“Every school district in the nation has a dress code,” Barbers Hill ISD Superintendent Gregory Poole said in a statement in 2020. “The hair for males is to not be below the collar, not be below the bottom of the ears, and not to be in the eyes,”
Arnold called the rule sexist and a violation of his civil rights. He said his locs are part of his Trinidadian culture and heritage.
Arnold eventually transferred schools and filed a lawsuit that's still ongoing.
Now, three years later, the rules on hair could be changing statewide due to House Bill 567, which bans discrimination in employment, housing or education based on “hair texture or protective hairstyle commonly or historically associated with race”.
“For me personally, it feels good for people like me," said Arnold who is now a junior at Louisiana State University. “It shows that we’re making some sort of progress toward a better society and just better living for Black people as a whole so that we can truly be and express ourselves how we are and not have to conform to somebody else’s standards.”
Arnold's experience inspired laws that have since been adopted in 20 states, including in Virginia, according to a national group that champions the legislation.
A similar bill was unanimously voted out of a House committee during the 2021 legislative session, but the full chamber never voted on it before the session ended.
Arnold said he is optimistic that House Bill 567 will clear the Senate, which is the next step before heading to the governor's desk.
Some of this story comes from The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans - and engages with them - about public policy, politics, government, and statewide issues.