Leslie Harding Ingram RHE 306 Jan 18, 2024. Discrimination against black hair is a very controversial topic and an extensive amount of black people feel strongly against people (mainly white) touching their hair, or treating them differently just for the look of their hair. Hair discrimination comes in many forms, one is known as microaggression, which is indirect or unintentional discrimination, an example would be someone randomly coming to touch your hair without permission. That's a form of microaggression, and there is a more direct form of aggression known as racism. The most prominent place of hair discrimination is the workplace, with companies with predominantly white people in charge which make up the rules of the workplace, including …show more content…
The author describes where her culture came from “From my research, I think that the choice to select West African hair braiders is because many Black women, specifically African-Americans, are impressed with the varied styles, products, and prices for services.” She also explains how there is a bond that comes from learning how to braid hair with family members. So discrimination against one person's hair is discriminating against their whole culture and people in their culture. The crown that they wear shouldn't be discriminated against. The term crown was used in an act to prohibit discrimination against any type of hair, mainly black, since crown is what you call a black person afro they used is in the name so it's called the crown act. The Crown Act is an act to protect people who get bullied in the workplace or in school. An article by the legal defense fund talks about black women having the highest percentage of workplace hair discrimination and the Crown Act prohibits people from discriminating against hair texture or style.. …show more content…
The kind of hair that the people want in the white workplace is straight hair because it resembles closely to their white coworkers, but getting straight hair takes time and money and some people may not even feel comfortable in straight hair, so now they are damaging their hair paying a lot of money just to make their boss happy. In some cases the crown act cannot help people like this one young lady who was working at her job got stripped of it because she refused to cut her dreads. Her boss said it was part of their grooming policy, but it was distracting or in the way of her doing her job. Another example the author gives is her personal experience. She was going to elementary school and she had her afro out, a common hairstyle among kids, but her teacher thought differently. She said it was too distracting and got in the way of other students. Every time she would wear her hair out her teacher would discriminate against it and call her out every class it got to the point where her mom didn’t come down to the school to explain why her hair is that big and “gets in the way of other people” they can’t control the way her hair grows or the thickness so she was very confused on why she was being called out all the time. This happened to her as a kid and has stuck with her to this day, so we can see that people's words and actions have an
Since the beginning of time, privilege has existed. Privilege, specifically white privilege, is written all over American history. Unfortunately, it still exists till this day, till this very moment. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is the W.E.B Du Bois Professor of Humanities at Harvard and director of the W.E.B Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research. In his essay “In the Kitchen” he uses his childhood memories to show how African Americans do not see hair as just hair. Gates figurative use of hair shows us how far the unprivileged are willing to go in order to get a sense of acceptance by the privileged. White privilege is difficult to see for those
Some existing Literature on Natural Hair The existing literature on ethnic and racial studies among African-Americans has focused on issues pertaining to beauty and body politics especially on natural hair. Spellers and Moffitt assert that the body politics that one assumes, guides how one relates to a particular political ideology in a particular society. Black natural hair is considered as a way by which the true identity of African women can be understood (Jacobs-Huey). It is a symbol of power among black women; it influences how people are treated by others.
Hair Care is another popular africanism present in America for African americans. For african american woman going for a natural hairstyle is quite common. Dating back to pre-colonial africa a natural afro hair style defined status and identity. Different styles indicated certain qualitie...
The article Straightening My Hair by Bell Hooks makes her argument of finding the reason of why African American women straighten their hair. She first states that Black Americans straighten their hair because it is the stage of transformation; it closes the door of innocence and opens the door to adulthood. Slowly, she starts changing her views. She comes up with the statement that African Americans do not straighten their hair for reasonable reasons, but to imitate the characteristics of white women. She informs that black people repeat this process because they have low self-acceptance of their roots and background, and that they have lost beauty in themselves. My argument against this statement is that it is erroneous to claim that the straightening of African American hair is misinterpreted as their acceptance into the white community; straightening of hair is the symbolism of impending womanhood, closing the door of innocence, and sharing a time to meditate by relaxing your soul.
Both points serve McIntosh’s objective of making clear that the notion of white privilege is not a myth. Due to the socially constructed and arbitrary nature of ideologies concerning race (a biological, phenotypic/ (physical) expression of human features) the highly immoral and nonsensical practice [whether recognized or not] of white supr...
Since the early 1900s, Black women have had a fascination with their hair. More explicitly, they have had a fascination with straightening their hair. The need to be accepted by the majority class has caused them to do so. Though the image of straight hair as being better than coarse hair still hasn’t left the Black community, there has been a surge of non straight hairstyles since the nineteen sixties. Wearing more natural hairstyles, which ironically enough include ‘weaves’ and ‘hair extensions’ has been considered to be more empowered and more enlightened. However, this image comes with a price, and though it appears the ‘natural’ hairstyle movement has advanced Black women, it has actually set them back.
African American hair looks gorgeous, attractive and beautiful. Your hair is extremely fragile and needs proper care and gentle touch so that it doesn’t break or get loose. Here are the top African American hair cares FAQs.
Each wave, kink, coil and curl has carried the weight of systemic oppression by way of racism and misogyny; when the two are not mutually exclusive, they are known as misogynoir. Laws and policies have been in affect since the 18th century to police the appearance and presence of black women in the United States. Tignon laws, as a set of rules from a larger set of sumptuary laws to protect citizens from overindulgence and vice, were imposed along the Gulf Coast from Mobile, Alabama to New Orleans, Louisiana. This rule forced free black women to cover their hair. The reasoning behind this rule was to “other” black women in order to counteract the jealousy of white women and the practice of white men having black mistresses. However, the Tignon law was counterproductive because free black women saw tignons as badges of honor and not as a punishment; they began to wear colorful head wraps and tie them in elaborate and innovative fashions. This rule enacted in 1789 foreshadows the struggles and triumphs of black women’s hair as a source of
In Hair Story (2002), the authors write about some of black hair style, include the West African manner of wearing their hair in braid or wrap to the current and most popular hair styles: weaves, natural hair and chemical hair straightening by black people- a style considered as imitating "white" hairstyles. Byrd and Tharps (2010)
With more women wearing their hair natural, black women have begun to accept their unaltered appearances while redefining their perception of beauty. The natural hair movement has provided a shift in history for black women to free themselves from the oppression of the dominant white society and increase their self-acceptance. This shift in the perception of black hair has allowed black women to appreciate the complexities of their identities, and their pride in being black. Although black women still are often ridiculed for their puffs and locs, many women seem to be invincible to society’s negative connotation to the natural woman’s hair. With this negative perception comes the concept of cultural appropriation because non-black individuals have begun to appropriate themselves with black culture through tanning methods to achieve darker skin and obtaining natural hairstyles such as bantu knots, afros, cornrows, baby hair, and more because society views it as “high fashion.” Hairstyles that have been deeply rooted within African culture are now being deemed as highly attractive because of the white skin color of those who wear them and attempt to mimimic these hairstyles as if they are the original creators. To women of African descent, it is a slap in the face that white women can wear natural styles with no backlash and be praised for creating “new trends” while black women are often ridiculed for their natural hairstyles. According to Michael Omi and Howard Winant, to understand the concept of racial formation we must first look at the cultural resistance, discrimination and prejudices among race that is presented within identity (Omi and Winant 91). For the black woman her race is deeply rooted within her identity, that masks the oppression she has had to
Black hair has been a vital feature of African American history. Since the beginning of African civilization, elaborate hairstyles have been used as an expression of one’s culture and a mere indicator of a person’s identity, whether it be their family background, tribe, religion, social status or marital status. The Transatlantic Slave Trade was the beginning of the destruction and fracturing of these African customs and stripping these individuals of their culture. The bias against black hair has dated back to the years of slavery, where black hair was classified as sheep wool and not human hair. Some slaves were forced to cover their natural hair or wear wigs made from white people’s hair. Because of this dehumanization, during the 19th century
This paper will argue that to be a Black woman with natural hair, is deviant in the eyes of white culture. Natural hair is regarded as unkempt, unclean, and unprofessional (Thompson 2009). American society seeks to demonize the hair of Black women because natural hair disregards Eurocentric beauty standards (Robinson 2011). To rebel and wear one’s hair naturally comes with a price - especially in the workplace and school environment - because there are discriminatory dress-codes that prevent Black women from meeting institutional requirements (Klein 2013). Black women face discrimination for their natural hair due to the power imbalance of white men in work and educational structures.
Many readers are able to relate to J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye making it a classic. The characters display a variety of personalities making it easy for readers to understand and follow the different dilemmas throughout the novel. However, the greatest dilemma is Holden’s downfall, not only his alienation from society but himself. He believed throughout the whole novel that he had a grasp on his life all while it continued to slip away. Holden’s estrangement following Allie’s death caused him to become dormant, abrasive to others, and cynical.
We all know what discrimination is, but most of us, don’t know how it feels to be discriminated against. It is usually not until we go through something like discrimination that we begin to see what negativity exists. African-American people have had to climb over many obstacles to gain their standing today. First they were sold into slavery, but after slavery was abolished they still had to deal with racism and discrimination, both of which still exist.
Have you ever been discriminated because of the race you are? Are you considered suspicious to the cops because of your race? Many people are oblivious to the fact that everyday a black person is being discriminated because of racist policemen. In general, today 's society treats blacks poorly and assumes that they are violent and always up to no good. It is not fair to them for not getting the same advantage in education as us because they don 't look like us. You can 't judge a person’s character by their race. Racial profiling is considered unconstitutional and has a huge impact on how white people interpret blacks actions. We should all be brought up equal and not stereotyped of the worst. If anything, whites should be supervised too because