Apr 26, 2019

California Senate passes protections against hair discrimination

Photo: Westend61/Getty Images

California's state Senate unanimously passed the CROWN Act (Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair) to end workplace discrimination against people based on their hairstyles.

"A Google image search for 'unprofessional hairstyles' yielded only pictures of black women with their natural hair or wearing natural braids or twists."

— California state Sen. Holly J. Mitchell on the Senate floor

Flashback: This February, New York City also banned hair discrimination. The NYC Commission on Human Rights said its hair bans "associated with Black people are often rooted in white standards of appearance and perpetuate racist stereotypes that Black hairstyles are unprofessional." In July 2018, the U.S. Navy announced an overhaul of its policies about women's hair that allows women to have wider buns, ponytails and lock hairstyles.

The backdrop: African Americans with natural hairstyles, such as braids or afros, have argued in court that workplace restrictions against their hair are racially discriminatory. Last August, an 11-year-old black girl in Louisiana was sent home from school for having braided hair extensions.

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Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 11 p.m. ET: 721,817 — Total deaths: 33,968 — Total recoveries: 151,204.
U.S.: Leads the world in cases. Total confirmed cases as of 11 p.m. ET: 142,328 — Total deaths: 2,489 — Total recoveries: 4,767.
Federal government latest: President Trump says his administration will extend its "15 Days to Slow the Spread" guidelines until April 30.
Public health updates: Fauci says 100,000 to 200,000 Americans could die from virus.
State updates: Louisiana governor says state is on track to exceed ventilator capacity by end of this week — Cuomo says Trump's mandatory quarantine comments "panicked" some people into fleeing New York
World updates: Italy on Sunday reports 756 new deaths, bringing its total 10,779. Spain reports almost 840 dead, another new daily record that bring its total to over 6,500.
What should I do? Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — Q&A: Minimizing your coronavirus risk
Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it.

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U.S. coronavirus updates: Infections number tops 140,000

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The novel coronavirus has now infected over 142,000 people in the U.S. — more than any other country in the world, per Johns Hopkins data.

The big picture: COVID-19 had killed over 2,400 people in the U.S. by Sunday night. That's far fewer than in Italy, where over 10,000 people have died — accounting for a third of the global death toll. The number of people who've recovered from the virus in the U.S. exceeded 2,600 Sunday evening.

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There are now more than 720,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus around the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins. The virus has now killed more than 33,000 people — with Italy alone reporting over 10,000 deaths.

The big picture: Governments around the world have stepped up public health and economic measures to stop the spread of the virus and soften the financial impact. In the U.S., now the site of the largest outbreak in the world, President Trump said Sunday that his administration will extend its "15 Days to Slow the Spread" guidelines until April 30.

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