A tweet by Tashara Parker in 2020 led to an article and now an appearance at the Texas state capitol concerning workplaces discriminating based on hairstyles.
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After Years of Advocacy in Dallas and Around Texas, the CROWN Act Becomes Law
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Here is what the WFAA 8 Dallas traffic reporter and anchor said during her testimony:
"Growing up in Houston, I did not see a lot of people who looked like me consistently wearing their hair natural on TV, so being a voice has always been the goal. After I shared that viral video I mentioned earlier of me responding to viewers who complained about natural hair, men, women and children around the world opened up about their own personal experiences with hair trauma."
Parker testified to support the Texas CROWN Act House Bill 567, which would prohibit schools and workplaces from discriminating based on certain hairstyles — including braids, dreadlocks and twists.
“The CROWN Act stands for creating a respectful and open world for our natural hair, and it is a national movement with passage already in 20 states,” State Rep. Rhetta Andrews Bowers of Garland, who authored the bill, said in the hearing.
In the last legislative session, the bill passed the committee unanimously but did not make it to the full House floor before the end.
Houston TV reporters have also publicly talked about the wearing of braids on television.
