BLOG AGAINST RACISM: WHAT BLACKNESS LOOKS LIKE

I've been thinking all morning about what I could write for Blog Against Racism Day.  No way can I be as eloquent as so many others who have spoken about the overall problem of racism.  What can I personally add to the conversation?  I'm a minority, so I should be able to speak from personal experience, right?

But it seemed like other members of my family had been on the receiving end of all the juiciest racist comments and actions.  Like my dad.  And my brother.  Had I been overlooked by the forces of intolerance?

Then I remembered the intolerance that I've personally had to deal with for years.  The racism directed toward me was not the kind that accuses me of having traits that I don't really have, like assuming that I'm dishonest or lazy or promiscuous or prone to violence.  What I experience is intolerance of a trait that I really do have because of my race -- my hair.  I've blogged about the issue once before.  A quote from that post:

Black women are told that they look bad unless they force their hair to look the way white people's hair looks naturally.

Other black features are also scrutinized, the width of our noses, size of our lips, etc., but there isn't the same expectation that we should all go out and change those (maybe since changing them would require surgery).  But 90-something percent of black women in America artificially straighten their hair.

I grew up hearing people say that "a black woman's hair is her curse."  They would talk about good hair and bad hair.

I've listened to comments behind my back about how much I "needed" a relaxer.

I've had friends act like they were doing me a favor by offering to pay themselves for me to get a permanent (surely the only reason I was walking around with kinky hair was because I couldn't afford to fix it!).

One of the most hurtful remarks I ever got pointed out that there are some people (ultra-conservative old-school Pentecostals) whose religion forbids them to straighten their hair, but "at least those people have the decency to be ashamed of their nappy hair and put a scarf over it."

Another helpful person suggested that I go back to Africa to try and find a man who would be willing to marry me (because surely no one here would want me).

A question that is sometimes asked is whether it is possible for minorities to be racist.  My answer? You betcha!  The people who have loathed and disrespected my natural hair have overwhelmingly been black.  We have internalized a beauty standard that was originally imposed on us by white people, and now we oppress ourselves with it.  The ironic thing is that a lot of white people these days know nothing of this history and are barely aware of what black women do to their hair to make it conform.  When I wear my hair natural, I am telling the story.  The vast majority of the black women you see every day, if they didn't make regular appointments to get their hair treated with chemicals or searing heat, would look like me.  This is what blackness looks like.

In the last couple of years there has been a small but significant increase in the number of black women who wear their hair natural.  I don't know if it represents a lasting change in black consciousness, or if it's a trend that will soon pass.  Either way, we nappy-heads are still very much in the minority.  If you ask black women why they straighten their hair, most will say that it's not an expression of shame or self-rejection, it's just another styling choice.  If so, then please respect my choice to think that God did not give me this hair as a curse.

Comments

[Christy]

I remember when my former roommate decided to go natural and stop straightening her hair. I thought it was just a styling decision at first, and couldn't figure out why it was such a big deal for her, but as we talked about it more, I realized that there was way more going on than hair. I thought her hair looked much better natural, but I was shocked when she told me how negatively her mother and sister reacted to her new look. The whole issue of black women and hair touches on some really deep stuff that I was completely ignorant of until I was sharing space every day with a couple of African-American roommates.

Anyway, I liked this post. And if I ever saw you in person, I'm sure I would like your hair:-)

[Scott Johnson]

I'm a white, male teacher who had worked in a very diverse are of California. It was important that the literature I brought into my class reflected the faces of the children I taught - Hispanic and African-American. There are many children's books that honor and value African-American hair. I could only imagine the stories told to me as my hair was braided or the history that lies in way my hair is styled. The history and culture of African-American hair is wonderful and should be valued for it's natural beauty!

[Stevy]

I think that it is respectable that you do not try and conform to societal standards, but I have a hard time believing that white people are the ones who have forced thses standards upon you. I personally could care less is someone has 'nappy' hair, in fact, many white people have taken to wearing dreadlocks. I am white, and I have curly hair. I do not artificially straighten it, and I do not feel that I am oppressed. I do not know why race has to be brought into everything. I mean, really, if you are proud of your hair, great! It is good to be happy with yourself, but do not exhalt yourself under the pretense that you are taking a step toward liberation from the oppressive white standard that has been placed above your head.

[LAmom]

While it is true that most white people these days don't have very strong opinions about how black people wear their hair, this was not always the case. Here is a little overview of how the intolerant standards of the majority have influenced black people's attitudes toward their hair in the past.

A part of the real tragedy is that while a lot of modern-day white people are quite tolerant of natural black hair, many black people have so much internalized those old criticisms that they continue the oppression on their own. In my previous nappy hair post, I mentioned that in my own experience almost all of the persecution I have gotten about my natural hair has come from other black people who have not yet let go of that old mindset. Although that mindset is mainly remembered just by blacks today, it was initially an outgrowth of the denigration of blackness that was a part of slave culture.

[Mark Rosenkranz]

The book "White Male Privilege" is a study of racism in America 40 years after the voting rights act. This book might be informative for some people. The Uk Amazon has a synopsis of this book.

[Carlos]

Most african americans cannot stand their dry kinky hair. I am multiracial and so i have both natural silky and kinky hair. It is curlier then straight but the point i am making is that blacks are fighting the natural grade of their hair because they feel it is not beautiful. They get alot of negatives remarks that hurt them deeply. Afros are not popular in the african american communities anymore. African americans will probably never wear natural afros by the millions like they did in the 70's ever again. You see maybe 15 wearing a fro out of a city that had 200,000 blacks because they are ashamed of their fros. It is a fact.

[LAmom]

. . . they are ashamed of their fros. It is a fact.

But WHY are they ashamed? Is it because black hair is inherently bad, or is it because of oppressive messages they have picked up from outsiders. If that societal message can be changed, perhaps we can go back to loving our hair (some of us already do!)

Most african americans cannot stand their dry kinky hair.

Nappy hair does not have to be dry. If black hair is properly taken care of, it can be healthy, soft, and well-conditioned and still be kinky. It won't be "silky", but it can and does feel wonderful.

[Coffy]

ever since lighter African American have been accepted the idea of confirming has been a way fro many minorities to fit in. nowadays you have Asian women with blond hair, you have people bleaching their skin. light complexioned people have been given a pass in so many areas that tells a message