Mayor Keller, Office of Civil Rights Director Jacobus Release Statements on Passage of CROWN Act

Jan. 4, 2020

Following the Council vote to add the CROWN Act to the City’s anti-discrimination ordinances, Mayor Tim Keller and Office of Civil Rights Director Torri Jacobus released the following statements:

“Racial discrimination doesn’t end with the color of someone’s skin. We’ve seen people in our community discriminated against because of their hair,” said Torri Jacobus, Director of the Office of Civil Rights and Managing Assistant City Attorney. “Hair and cultural headdresses are tightly linked to the proud histories and cultures of people of color. We should celebrate people’s hairstyles, not discriminate against them. The CROWN (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Act Ordinance will further strengthen our city’s discrimination laws and we proudly champion this bill.”

Mayor Tim Keller said, “Prohibiting discrimination based on hair style—something we did by Administrative Instruction last year—first popped up on my radar during my time in the State Legislature. I supported it then and I still think it’s an obvious step that has been overlooked in official ordinance for far too long. I’m glad the Council took steps to formally recognize these injustices, faced especially by women of color, in our anti-discrimination laws.”