THE MORAL MANDATE OF AUTHENTICITY: Why the CROWN Act is a Blueprint for Global Peace

November 26, 2025 • KMOB1003

A law that affirms the right to self-identity should be a universal truth. The necessity of the CROWN Act marks the enduring battle against systemic structural violence.

KMOB1003 submits this editorial as a declaration of human dignity, demanding universal recognition for the authenticity of the soul.

On Tuesday, Pennsylvania officially joined the growing list of sovereign territories that now bar discrimination against natural and protective hairstyles. Governor Josh Shapiro, D-Pa., signed the CROWN Act into law, outlawing bias in workplaces, schools, and institutions based on hair textures and styles commonly associated with the Black community, including locs, braids, twists, coils, Afros, and Bantu knots.

While this legislative victory is profound, the necessity of the law in 2025 reveals the persistent reality of structural violence. Ultimately, the CROWN Act is more than policy—it is a declaration that human dignity must be protected without compromise.

The Structural Violence of Conformity

Governor Shapiro’s office reported that in 2022, the state received more than 900 complaints involving racial discrimination tied to natural hair or protective styles. However, advocates emphasize that these figures only hint at the deeper emotional and economic cost of this long-standing pattern of structural oppression.

The cost of systemic policing against Black identity is measured in health, opportunity, and peace.

Adjoa B. Asamoah, a national organizer for the CROWN Act, has long articulated the real toll of these biased policies. She noted that countless Black children have been suspended, losing critical instructional time. Many adults have been denied promotions, opportunities, or full participation in public life simply for existing authentically. This is not merely policy—it is policing of identity.

Moreover, the physical cost of enforced conformity is devastating. Asamoah underscored the documented risk associated with chemical relaxers, which are linked to increased rates of uterine fibroids and certain cancers. Therefore, aesthetic prejudice becomes a form of bodily harm, disproportionately impacting Black women. The cost of conformity is too expensive.

The Federal Mandate: A Call for Universal Peace

Pennsylvania’s law strengthens the national movement for federal protections that must be universally recognized. In fact, it compels society to acknowledge that policing natural traits is racial discrimination. This year, U.S. senators revived the federal CROWN Act effort, seeking to embed these protections into civil rights law and affirm the universal right to identity.

Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman emphasized the moral truth: natural hair traits are no more voluntary than skin color. Consequently, denying people access or opportunity based on these traits is racial discrimination, plain and simple. The legislation enforces this principle, ensuring no individual faces penalties for their authentic self.

The Victory of Inward Peace

True excellence requires no compromise of identity, leading to personal and professional peace.

The CROWN Act represents the enduring pursuit of inward peace. No one should ever be forced to compromise their health or identity to exist in professional or educational spaces. Therefore, this law stands as evidence that authenticity is strength and must be protected at every level of society.

KMOB1003’s Take

The CROWN Act is a global declaration that inward peace cannot exist until external identity is fully honored. This text is a submission to the universal consciousness.

The true victory lies not in the legal signing, but in the cultural affirmation that Black identity requires no compromise. Therefore, the pursuit of a federal CROWN Act remains urgent, as it protects the fundamental dignity of the human spirit.

Authenticity is the foundation of structural peace.