WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – The Wichita City Council approved amendments to the city’s non-discrimination ordinance during its meeting on Tuesday. Wichita has become the second city in Kansas to pass what’s known as the CROWN Act.
The non-discrimination ordinance, adopted in October 2021, prohibits discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on protected classes such as race, gender, religion, ancestry, etc., and in Wichita, gender identity and sexual orientation. The city said it was created to mirror state and federal law.
The CROWN Act, which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, has passed in 23 states and several local jurisdictions including Lawrence, Kan. in August 2023 and Kansas City, Mo., which passed the CROWN Act in 2020.
The updated ordinance now defines race as “inclusive traits associated with race, including but not limited to, skin color, facial features, hair texture and protective hairstyles.” Protective hairstyles include, but are not limited to, “braids, afros, bantu knots, cornrows, curls, locks, twists or hair that is tightly coiled or tightly curled,” according to the city.
The city worked with Michelle Watley, founder of Shirley’s Kitchen Cabinet, to implement the changes. She has worked with other cities in Kansas and Missouri to implement similar ordinances.
“The CROWN Act aims to create greater access, opportunity and inclusion for Black people by closing loopholes in laws that allow racial discrimination based on hairstyles and natural hair textures,” Watley said.
Sen. Oletha Faust-Gudeau said she worked with Watley for three years to get legislation passed on a statewide level.
“Unfortunately, that legislation has not been passed, mayor, because I feel that word discrimination sometimes causes individuals to fear implementing language that deals with the word discrimination,” Sen. Faust-Gudeau said.
James Barfield, President of Kansas Advocates For Racial Justice And Equality, also spoke at Tuesday’s meeting highlighting the fact that the updated ordinance is not just for women.
“This is not only a female issue. Many Black males have been victimized and discriminated against for this same issue,” he said.
After hearing testimony from Sen. Faust-Gudeau, Barfield and other members of the community, Mayor Brandon Whipple moved the item to new business, and council members approved the amendment 5-0. Council members Jeff Blubaugh and Bryan Frye were not in attendance.
Sen. Faust-Gudeau said she hoped Tuesday’s passage would make it easier for legislators to approve the CROWN Act at the state level. She said she has been granted a hearing on the bill for the 2024 legislative session.
“My colleagues, actually, they want to know what our municipalities are doing, what surrounding states are doing, to make sure we’re all on the same page,” Faust Gudea said.
The senator said she was moved to introduce legislation for the CROWN Act, dubbed the hair bill, after seeing a New Jersey wrestler who in 2019 was forced to cut his locks before competing in a match.
“You could actually see the tears coming from his eyes. And they further humiliated him by not taking him in the locker room, but it was right in the middle of the floor where everybody in the stands, his parents, other classmates, were witnessing this,” she said.
Sen. Faust-Gudeau said she is about “human rights and equal rights for all people.”
“And if we aren’t offending anyone else personally, financially or with bodily harm, I think that we all should be supportive of allowing people to be themselves,” Faust-Gudeau said. “And to wear their hair naturally, the way that it grows out of their head – naturally.”
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