Over the last 80 years, LDF has witnessed anti-Black racism take many forms, and we have fought each of them head-on. The trend of incidences where Black hairstyles are criminalized, and used to justify the removal children from classrooms, and adults from careers is a real, ongoing & noxious form of racial discrimination. Criminalizing the Black identity is not new to us. LDF plans to use the work of our founder Thurgood Marshall as a blueprint for justice as we press forward, push for the CROWN Act in all 50 states, and litigate a docket of hair discrimination matters to put an end to hair discrimination.
In February of 2020, LDF asked the general public to join this fight by posting their own hair profile on Instagram using the hashtag #BlackHairStory and tagging @NAACP_LDF. In their caption, participants were encouraged to describe their own thoughts on natural hair or a story where they’ve faced hair bias. LDF employees partook in this special effort to erase hair bias.