“Good hair means curls and waves, Bad hair means you look like a slave, At the turn of the century, It’s time for us to redefine who we be. You can shave it off like a South African beauty or get in on lock like Bob Marley. You can rock it straight like Oprah Winfrey, if it’s not what’s on your head, it’s what’s underneath.”
Do you recognize these lyrics? If not, it’s okay. This is an excerpt from the song “I am Not My Hair” by India Arie. The song goes on to talk about how your hair doesn’t define who you are and doesn’t present your limitations. Minorities, especially African Americans have to deal with this issue a lot in today’s U.S. society. We are told that our afros are unprofessional. We are told that our braids, twists, and locks cause a distraction. We are forced to abandon a part of our culture that goes back to the ancient African cornrow braiding in 3500 BCE. There is also evidence that ethnic braiding and hairstyles have roots even before that time. While protests are overwhelming in this country over police brutality, we are also seeing smaller protest over the forcing of marginalized peoples to adhere by European beauty standards.
I, an African American, have a decent sized afro that I have been taking care of for three years now. I’ve had every cut and color you could image before I decided to just let my fro grow. I am pursuing a degree in journalism and it is so disheartening to know that I would be asked to wear a wig or straighten my hair in order to be on camera. Why? Why is my natural hair unprofessional? I could understand not having green hair… but why are my kinks and curls unacceptable? My afro is not wild and it doesn’t need to be tamed. This issue goes deeper than just the workplace, unfortunately.
In my hometown, Louisville, Kentucky, Butler Traditional High School adopted a clause in their dress code policy this year that banned dreadlocks, cornrolls, and twists. Yes, in high school. After much uproar, the policy has been changed, but to think these ethnic hairstyles would cause distraction, from learning, is ridiculous. If your test scores aren’t where they need to be, let’s try changing up the curriculum instead of offending students due to their ethnic hair styles.
The craziest part is that the U.S. isn’t the only one pushing the European Standard of beauty. Guess who else is? Did you guess South Africa? CORRECT! Unfortunately, schools in South Africa have also banned these hairstyles. If you haven’t seen the video all over Facebook about the 13yr old girl that started the protest of her school over not being allowed to wear her afro, you have to check it out below.
Zulaikha Patel told CNN:
“The issue of my hair has been a thing that’s followed me my entire life, even in Primary I was told my hair is not natural, it’s exotic, my Afro was not wanted or anything like that and then the issue followed me to High School”.
I just don’t understand. Why can’t I look like myself, feel like myself, and accept my natural self without objection? I have heard some really foul comments about how we African Americans should just go back to where we came from. But the gag is, I can’t even be “where I’m from”… where I’m from. Why are South Africans fighting to be South African in South Africa?!!! This has to stop.
As Arie said “I am not my hair, I am not this skin, I am a soul that lives within”. But please…PLEASE world, let my follicles flourish freely.
(Picture and video credit: The New York Times)