Do You Have Good Hair?

Assessing the Decolonization of African Hair Texture

When you say that it is ‘just hair,’ you’re ignoring the history and the struggle of what that Black woman had to go through — Gabrielle Richardson (Forbes & Lemons, 2020).

Americans treat the Black woman like an ugly duckling. She will never look like a duck because she is not a duck; she is a swan. Living as a Black woman means we may never see the end of the story where everyone finds out that the ugly duckling is a beautiful swan. Society is infuriated with Black women for existing, but especially for not conforming. Literary giants, like William Shakespeare, called a woman “fair” to describe her beauty. However, the term “fair,” when used to describe someone’s complexion, means “light, pale,” or “white.” In traditional English culture, there is no room for a beautiful Black woman. So, it should not shock anyone that traditionally course, African hair is called “bad hair.” I am not talking about a bad hair day, which anyone can have. The problem is that society teaches little Black girls that their hair is inherently “bad.”

Her proximity to whiteness often measures a Black woman’s beauty. People use the word “bad” to compare African curly hair to European straight hair. Girls differentiate between one another and, in doing so, exhibit the foils of a country based on a white superiority complex.

Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the color of your skin? To such extent, you bleach, to get like the white man. Who taught you to hate the shape of your nose and the shape of your lips? Who taught you to hate yourself from the top of your head to the soles of your feet? (Malcolm X, 1962)

America built this country on the backs of African slaves. They never issued a formal apology because this country does not regret its atrocities. Unlike Germany, which made amends with the Jews, America feels no guilt for its crimes, thus legitimizing racial discrimination. Until America declares that the oppression that Black people experienced is wrong, why would racial discrimination go away? Black women are justifiable casualties.

My ancestors built the White House for free, fought every war as Americans, and yet got beaten for fighting for equality back at home. This country has to dig itself out of a hole. Unfortunately, many rather keep America’s head stuck in the mud.

So, the answer to Malcolm X’s question is “white people.” They taught us that our hair was appalling, beat, and maimed us for not looking like them. It should not surprise anyone that the other girls in my class used comparative terms to describe our hair. If a little Black girl had some “Indian” or “white” in her bloodline, her hair may be less coiled than others and thus considered “good.”

Black girls did not say, “your hair is bad,” but they did say, “her hair is good because it is straight.” When I speak to one of my good friends, she says she does not wear natural hairstyles because she does not have “good hair.” No matter how many times I tell her that is not true, she does not believe me. We are inundated with pictures of white women and told that “this is true beauty.” They think that all hair must be straight and that the only goal of hair is to be manageable. However, our hair is different. We need to start normalizing African hair because there is nothing “bad” about having curly locks.

The Perception Institute’s 2017 “Good Hair” study suggests that “a majority of people, regardless of race and gender, hold some bias toward women of color based on their hair (Forbes & Lemons, 2020).

It would help if you understood that little Black girls are usually not trying to bully one another by pointing out texture differences; their commentary attempts to help. They want to tell other Black girls that their hair does not have to be unsightly — they can get a perm or wear tracks. Black school girls never say that they do these things to make their beauty more akin to white women, but the proof is in the pudding. They insist that if you do this or that, then you will be beautiful.

However, this is a wicked lie. No matter where you go, you will be Black, and the colorism and comparative whiteness in our community is a ridiculous attempt to gain separation from the pain we experience.

Proximity to Whiteness

Toni Morrison defines the test as a “ranking…your skin gave you access to certain things.” More specifically, Morrison states, “There was something called “the paper bag test” — darker than the paper bag put you in one category, similar to the bag put you in another, and lighter was yet another and the most privileged category (p. 272) (Powell, 2013).

Blackness is so taboo. Even some Black people do not want it. They despise the one-drop rule, which puts mulatto and creole people in the same category as Black people. Instead of fighting alongside us, some rather put up a wall. But you cannot run from who you are and should never fear part of yourself to satiate the other.

There was not just discontentment between Blacks and Whites due to slavery; there was also discontentment within the African American race itself (Hall 2008) (Powell, 2013).

Imagine that you are in the gym with your classmates, and the coach instructs you to pick teams. Now, imagine that people cry and moan when they get placed on your team — that is what it feels like when a Black person says, “I’m not Black” and tries to argue about it. They are saying that I am on an undesirable team and want to make it clear that they are not the same as me.

Black people do not even have the privilege to disown self-hating Black people. America dealt out the cards, and there is no reshuffling allowed. In modern terms, many people find joy in declaring their “mixed race” as if this saves them from the same degradation and ridicule that we experience, but it does not. The one-drop test is not applicable under the law. On the census, you can claim to be whatever race you want. However, when white people see a mulatto woman or man, they still see a Black person. If you do not believe me, ask Fredrick Douglas. His father was a white slave owner, who he never met. Even as he tried to clarify that he was not a Negro, the world never bought into his self-description. While he fought valiantly as an abolitionist, the system put him at a disadvantage because he was Black.

The European face is drawn in harmony with the highest ideas of beauty, dignity and intellect. Features regular and brow after the Websterian mold. The negro, on the other hand, appears with features distorted, lips exaggerated; forehead depressed–and the whole expression of the countenance made to harmonize with the popular idea of negro imbecility and degradation. — The Claims of the Negro, Ethnologically Considered: an address before the literary societies of Western Reserve College, at commencement, by Frederick Douglass, July 12, 1854 (page 20) (Hall, 2018).

Fredrick Douglas understood that America viewed Black people as inherently inferior and deplorable. His hair rose into an Afro, a testament to his beautiful Black mother.

Racial ambiguity evaporated during the Jim Crow era. Look in the mirror and ask yourself whether you could go in a whites-only establishment through the front door or would you have to go to the back door to get food, like a stray dog. America discriminates based on this system. Even if you pass the brown paper bag test, which started in New Orleans, you may still get rejected by white people. White people set the dye a long time ago.

Do You Have Good Hair?

As for what she thinks about “good” hair? “It’s the most ignorant term. It’s to show one’s proximity to whiteness” Jari Jones, 27 Activist, Model, and Actress (Forbes & Lemons, 2020)

In our classroom, many Black girls said, “I have good hair.” I heard this phrase so frequently I cannot tell you how old I was when I first heard it. I remember my grandmother holding me down, combing my hair with a hot comb. If you move the wrong way, it will burn your scalp. Stylists and family members roughly combed through my hair. However, you have to tease Black hair instead of comb it outright. Stick the comb near your roots and pull it a little. Then go back in and pull it a little more. If they rush, it will hurt. I also got perms growing up, and if you keep it in too long, your hair will fall out, and you will have chemical burns. No woman wants that, so the entire situation is stressful.

Many girls used perms regularly, but I stopped. Those chemicals kept my hair short and thin. When I looked in the mirror, I did not like what I saw. Girls at school told me, “You need an adult perm. Stop using the kiddie, Just for Me Perm”. I rolled my eyes at them because I knew it would never be good enough. I spent hours of my life trying to beat my hair into submission. Still, it never followed the rules.

New Orleans is very humid, and as a result, my hair would not stay straight for more than a few hours, even with straight combing it or using a perm. For years, I thought something was wrong with me. I don’t want other girls to think this way. You are a swan, and they just call you an ugly duckling because they are inundated with white culture.

None of us have bad hair; our hair is unique. However, discrimination at work and school makes it hard for a Black girl to just be herself.

The idea that locs, braids and other protective styles aren’t “professional” is one that we are still trying to combat in society. And for many black people, having to think about whether or not they’ll be seen as employable after doing something so basic as taking care of their hair, can be an unfortunate rite of passage (Forbes & Lemons, 2020).

Real Discussion about Natural Hair

Our Hair is Curly

Too often, Black hair is called nappy, but this is a poor description. Our hair is spiraled into tight curls. Still, most Black girls do not hear that their hair is curly. We are taught that Black hair is bad and needs to be tamed.

I think it’s so embedded in our culture, especially [when people say things] like, ‘I hope my baby comes out with good hair.’ It starts at a young age, and I think it needs to stop.” Jari Jones, 27 Activist, Model, and Actress (Forbes & Lemons, 2020)

Malcolm X’s question continues to resonate in my mind. We all know that white supremacist culture made us hold disdain for our natural beauty. However, casting off Europeanized beauty standards would also mean casting off the shackles of American society. Only in normalizing Black hairstyles in their natural glory can we counter colonial perceptions of beauty.

In Closing

“In New Orleans, they made a lot of black women cover their hair at one time. We had to struggle just to be able to legally wear our hair how we want.” Gabrielle Richardson, 23, Model and Artist (Forbes & Lemons, 2020).

The battle over a Black woman’s hair is as old as the country itself. As long as Black women fear their career and interpersonal relationships are contingent on modifying themselves, we will never be free. Our oppression is so deep that even with no white people around, little Black girls interpret their beauty and the beauty of others through a European perspective. We need increased representation in offices of power, in film, and in our coveted beauty magazines. Black moms need to talk to their daughters about hair and stop normalizing the use of the term “good hair,” which discriminates against Black women with traditionally African hair.

I would also dare to argue that we need more women with natural hairstyles in top positions. Blackness is not enough because if proximity to whiteness is always the goal, Black girls will lose. We need to show little Black girls that you do not have to rock European hairstyles to be accepted, respected, and valued.

Stars like Lupita Nyong’ o and Solange Knowles proudly rock their texture on the regular” (Forbes & Lemons, 2020).

These women are doing their part to break away at the norms that bind us. Black women and girls deserve respect. We should not have to alter the physical composition of our hair for others to accept us. Too many Black girls believe the hype that they are ugly ducklings. We owe it to them to tell the whole story so they can know — they are beautiful swans.

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References:

Forbes, J., & Lemons, P. (2020). Six People Open Up About the Beauty and Diversity of Black Hair. Retrieved October 08, 2020, from https://www.allure.com/story/beauty-of-black-hair-portraits-and-interviews

Hall, S. (2018, February 14). Frederick Douglass: “I Am A Man.” Retrieved October 08, 2020, from https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2018/02/frederick-douglass-folklorist-part2/

Malcolm, X. (1962). Malcolm X — Who Taught You to Hate Yourself? Retrieved October 08, 2020, from https://genius.com/Malcolm-x-who-taught-you-to-hate-yourself-annotated

Pannell, N. (2019, November 26). It’s clear some stylists don’t know what to do with models’ natural hair, which points to a larger problem in the industry. Retrieved October 08, 2020, from https://www.insider.com/analysis-on-beauty-industry-natural-hair-failure-2019-10

Powell, C. D. (2013). Colorism: The Unspoken Preference to Skin Tone and Its Effect on African American Individuals in the 21st Century. The Athenaeum. Retrieved October 8, 2020, from https://athenaeum.uiw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1075&context=uiw_etds