OPINION: Crown Act & Reparations

By Zach Shrewsbury, West Virginia Candidate for U.S. Senate

This legislative session proved to West Virginians that racism is alive and well, even in the halls of our Capitol. On Feb. 23, West Virginia Sen. Eric Tarr intentionally killed the CROWN Act, stating that hair discrimination lawsuits would cost the state too much money. Even when he was confronted with the
facts to the contrary, Tarr refused to move the bipartisan bill. When advocates for the bill tried to discuss with him why he killed it, his attitude toward them was nothing short of disgusting.

Make no mistake: People of color, especially Black women, experience hair discrimination. According to research conducted by beauty products company Dove, 100% of Black elementary school girls in majority-white schools who report experiencing hair discrimination state they experience the discrimination by the age of 10. Eighty percent of Black women feel like they have to change their hair from its natural state to fit in at the office and those same women are one and a half times more likely to be sent home from the workplace because of their hair. This is simply unacceptable.

The CROWN Act should not only be state law, it should be federal law. As the next U.S. Senator from West Virginia, I will not only support any legislation that makes hair discrimination illegal, but if no one introduces it, I will. People of color, particularly Black women, should have statutory protection from
discrimination based on their hair texture and protective styles.

Our country must deal with the issue of racism. Not just as a social issue, but as an economic one. The Black community is still dealing with the economic consequences of slavery and we have to recognize and deal with that fact. The word “reparations” means a lot of different things to a lot of different
people, but to me it is a combination of community investments, restorative justice, and healing.

As a nation, we have a pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps mentality but the truth is, you can’t pull yourself up by bootstraps you don’t have. We have to first work with impacted communities to recognize and identify the policies that have harmed Black lives and develop direct actions to address inequities in
areas such as education, housing, food security, transportation, and incarceration. We have to make significant investments in these areas but ensuring impacted people are involved in developing these initiatives is a no-brainer. Our government needs to significantly invest in housing grants, small business
and entrepreneurship in Black communities, release and expungement of all of those incarcerated on nonviolent cannabis charges, incentivize priority in the cannabis industry, and eliminate redlining, among other things.

It’s time to work with and uplift communities of color to begin the process of restorative justice and healing for those dealing with the impacts of racism and slavery. This is a priority for my campaign and we want to work with impacted communities to develop policies to introduce in the U.S. Senate.

Please reach out to Shrewsbury for Senate Communications and Policy Director, Kaylen Barker, at media@shrewsburyforsenate.com for more information about joining our coalition. Visit the campaign website: shrewsburyforsenate.com