“Black hair is not the same as White hair. It doesn’t act the same, grow the same or look the same. And it is not supposed to because “Black people are not dark skinned White people.” Black hair is nappy because of our genetics, divine intention and/or evolutionary design.”
When Army staff re-wrote the rules for hair maintenance, they also seemed to forget that:
“Ethnically-Black-hair has its own standard. That standard is not a brown version of the standard for Caucasian hair. Nappy hair has its own rules. Those rules are not a darker version of Caucasian hair rules. Nappy hair has its own needs. Those needs are not a negrofied version of Caucasian hair needs.”
I continue to hear about how schools and other places are banning african american hair including afros, corn rolls, and locks. There should not be a problem and it seems to be tangled up in politics. Society has their version of neatly groomed and styled hair.
“If your hair is relaxed, white people are relaxed,” the comedian Paul Mooney, sporting an Afro, says in the documentary “Good Hair,” which won a jury prize at the Sundance film festival and comes out in October. “If your hair is nappy, they’re not happy.”
The thoughts of relaxed hair is simply not outdated. In fact, it is pretty relevant i today’s society. There were a lot of negative reactions to the president’s 11-year-old daughter, Malia Obama, who wore her hair in twists while in Rome this summer. Commenters on the conservative blog Free Republic attacked her as unfit to represent America for stepping out unstraightened.
I just believe it is wrong to tell someone they can not go to school, or go somewhere if her hair is twisted or coiled. Us at African American Blacks can not use the same products as other races. It is different and it is our culture. It is not wrong either. Though, if a black woman makes the choice to relax her hair, cut it, coil it, or do nothing with it then it is her choice because we did not have that luxury. Do not buy into anyones standard, make you own.
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