Black women are more than three times as likely to have their hair perceived as unprofessional than women of other races, meaning they can lose out on job offers or even be sent home from the workplace because of their hair.

That’s why Rep. Smith, along with her colleagues Reps. Logan, Alston, and Baker, and Sens. Murdock, Salvador, and Foushee introduced the North Carolina CROWN Act this February.

The NC CROWN Act would ban discrimination based on hair texture or hairstyles historically associated with race, including bantu knots, braids, and twists.

The Act is critical legislation that would help end biased grooming policies in the workplace, and allow all North Carolinians to be treated with dignity and respect, no matter how they wear their hair.