The Influence Of Hair Discrimination

The natural hair of black people has been ridiculed, shamed and discriminated against all throughout history in America. It has been called nappy, wooly and ugly. What was celebrated in Africa soon became the humiliation and shame. Men and women were told to hid their hair, straighten it, and hate it because it didn’t fit in with European beauty standards of having long straight hair. It wasn’t until the 1960s when a powerful movement swept across the nation and people began to accept their natural hair again. Activists like Angela Davis wore her hair in an afro as a statement. People accepted their culture and more importantly themselves. When social media became popular, there was a rise of a community that revived that movement again. The

A common thing seen in charter schools and even in the workplace are dress codes that discriminate against Black hair. Lattimore, author of an article called “When Black Hair Violates the Dress Code” describes one event where the dress code in school targets Black students. When a pair of twin get braid extensions their school claimed they were breaking the dress code as the school felt their hair was distracting. The family protested giving example of other girls that had extensions or dyed hair, however they school felt it was only the twins that were violating the code. When they refused to change their hair, they were punished by being banned from extracurricular activities, banned from prom and threatened with suspension. It wasn’t until the school was pressured by NAACP, Anti-Defamation League and ACLU, that the dress code was temporarily lifted. This school isn’t the only one to have codes that target black students in fact, the director of the Center for Civil Rights Remedies, Daniel J. Losen found that the majority of students charter schools suspended were Black. On average Black students at charter schools lose over 20 days more than White

It not only represents me but also my culture and the history of that culture. When I was growing up, most Black celebrities had relaxed or straightened hair, while the town I lived in only had a small population of Black people. I wasn’t exposed to afros on a regular basis, so I began to believe my natural hair was ugly. I hated it to the point where I would use relaxers and straight irons constantly so I could be like the people I looked up to. Of course, my hair became dry and