FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — City lawmakers on Monday voted to adopt a law designed to protect people from being discriminated against due to race-based hairstyles.
The CROWN Act, as it’s known across the country, has already been adopted in Louisville and Covington.
“I’m ecstatic that Frankfort, the city of Kentucky, the capital of Kentucky, it’s the heart of Kentucky and we passed it,” said city councilmember Katrisha Waldridge, who led the charge to get legislation passed in the city.
As African Americans, she says they are constantly being judged by something that is natural to them.
According to the 2023 CROWN Workplace Research Study, a survey found over 20% of Black women have been sent home from work because of their hair. It also found Black women with coily/textured hair are two times as likely to experience microaggressions in the workplace compared to Black women with straighter hair.
One Frankfort business owner spoke up against the plan at the meeting. Dennis Krol said he doesn’t think the law is necessary, adding it isn't fair.
“Well it doesn't say anything about white people, it doesn't say anything about the Asians,” Krol said. “I don't think it’ll pass the constitutional muster simply because it says it’s strictly for the blacks.”
Waldridge said Krol wasn't making much sense.
Another council member during the meeting told Krol their law does not single out any particular national origin.
