Wichita is one of three cities in Kansas to pass the CROWN Act, which prevents racial hair discrimination in the workplace and schools. The City Council approved the law as an amendment to its non-discrimination ordinance.
The adoption comes two months after the City of Lawrence passed the CROWN Act. Atchison approved it at its City Commission meeting on Tuesday.
Kansas State Senator Oletha Faust-Goudeau says she has introduced the CROWN Act in the state legislature several times. However, it has not passed because of conflicts with current discrimination laws. Advocacy groups in Kansas say that passing the CROWN Act at the local level increases the likelihood of it becoming state law.
“Twenty-four states now have laws prohibiting discrimination based on hair colour and style,” says James Barfield, president of Kansas Advocates for Racial Justice and Equality.
He says he is happy to see it become part of the city’s ordinance. “It’s been a long time coming, but I’m glad we finally got it passed. It’s an important first step.”
A step made possible by Shirley’s Kitchen Cabinet, a non-profit organisation that helped pass the CROWN Act in Lawrence and Wichita. The organisation is working with state legislatures in Kansas and Missouri on ways to bring the CROWN Act to local governments. The first local government to pass the CROWN Act through the work of Shirley’s Kitchen Cabinet was in Kansas City, Missouri.
Shirley’s Kitchen Cabinet founder Michele Watley says they are working with Professor Wendy Greene, the racial justice advocate who helped draft the language of the CROWN Act at the federal and state level.
“We’ve had conversations with other cities in Kansas. Hutchinson, Wyandotte County and others. If the work is done at the local level, it can also provide a blueprint for other cities and towns that want to do the same work,” said Watley.
The organisation provides a pathway for the CROWN Act to become state law.
“If it’s happening at the local level, it’s easier to get it through the Kansas Legislature,” explains Senator Faust-Goudeau.
She says because of past problems with the CROWN Act interfering with the state’s current discrimination laws, they have rewritten the legislation and plan to reintroduce it in January when the legislative session begins.
KSN reached out to local Republican representatives to see if there was a bipartisan push for the CROWN Act at the state level, but did not hear back from those senators on Wednesday.