The U.S. House passed a bill Friday that bans race-based hair discrimination.
The bill is known as the CROWN Act, stands for "Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair."
The bill seeks protection from bias against "natural or protective hairstyles in which hair is tightly coiled or tightly curled, or worn in locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, or Afros" that are commonly worn by “people of African descent.”
The bill states that Black people are often “deprived of educational and employment opportunities” for wearing their hair in these styles.
The House voted 235-189 for the measure.
Republicans argued that a federal law already bans this type of discrimination, referring to the 1964 Civil Rights. But Democrats have argued that the law has been misinterpreted.
The CROWN Act will now head to the Senate for consideration.
More than a dozen states have already adopted similar versions of the CROWN Act, including California and Colorado.
