[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 16, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H3753]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CREATE A RESPECTFUL AND OPEN WORLD FOR NATURAL HAIR

  (Ms. PLASKETT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. PLASKETT. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the CROWN Act, 
Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, H.R. 2116, which 
I urge this body to pass this Friday in the House.
  I stand in support for all the girls and women who need the freedom 
to be who God made them, to be their beautiful selves from the tips of 
their toes to every twist, wave, and coil of their beautiful hair.
  Fifty-three percent of Black mothers, whose daughters have 
experienced hair discrimination, say their daughters experienced the 
discrimination as early as 5 years old.
  Eighty-six percent of Black teens who have experienced hair 
discrimination state that they experienced it by the age of 12. Trauma 
means that teenage girls are missing a week of school per year due to 
their hair dissatisfaction.
  As a small girl, I remember after school telling my mother about a 
man joking about my perfectly coifed, round Afro. Her lioness reaction 
gave me the strength to endure microaggressions I received when I wore 
my hair in locs, then cornrows or braids as an adult.
  These biases continue to perpetuate unfair scrutiny, and I stand and 
ask you all to stand with me for my daughter and for others like her to 
be their most glorious selves.

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