The Tangled History Of Black Hair Discrimination In The Us - Bbc News
- Posted on 24 February, 2022
- Trending
- By Anonymous
Many black Americans are embracing the natural curls and coils in their hair. But there’s been a backlash against black hairstyles in classrooms and companies across America.
Toddlers and teens have been kicked out of school because of their hair, while many adults face losing their jobs. We get to the root of why this kind of discrimination is so common - and legal - in the US and find out what it will take to stop it.
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A couple of weeks ago, i was kicking around on the internet looking at a whole bunch of people posting about their 10-year challenge, and it made me start reflecting on how different i look from 2012 to 2022, the biggest difference being now. I have natural hair. I feel more like myself with curly hair as it grows. Naturally out of my head than i think i ever did when it was straight. In the last decade a natural hair movement has swept through black america. For me, what i felt like was every time i put on a wig that i was apologizing for who i was, but despite any progress, that's been made, black people are still being punished and ridiculed such a tiny frame that this hair to me overwhelms her. Like. I feel like she, she smells like patchouli oils, and a lot of that backlash has targeted kids. His hair has always been like that mental health issue. His hair was a violation of the school dress code called to the office. Above my hair, the restaurant was snatching bees out of my hair, the cultural thing, a heritage thing. Why are you taking a blade to my son's head? I wanted to get to the root of why black hair discrimination is so common here in the united states. I don't think it's a real distraction. I, like my hair, so stick around because we're going to explore its tangled history, meet a lawyer, who's, fighting back and talk to white folks who are learning how to style black hair for the first time, a lot easier and a lot less scary to work with Our first stop is chicago, where we'll find out what happened when a young boy was kicked out of preschool because of his hair, but we have to make a pit stop. The salon is the safe space hair. I feel like it's the drowning glory, whether it's straight, whether it's kinky, whether it's curly we are blessed with these different patterns and textures growing up. I thought white was right, and so because that's what i saw you know i hated my hair. I tried to counter that message with my children, but it's been a long journey and for many black folks that journey starts when we're kids, the first time someone ridicules us because of our hair. Can you tell us what happened at your old school when i was a four years old, my mommy braided, my hair and i was so excited, but when i went to school the person will call my mommy that my hair is unacceptable. It was explained that i must remove the hairstyle in order to send him back to school. His hair is a violation of the uniform dress code and therefore unacceptable for preschool. I'Ve been asking why they don't like my hair, hairstyles historically associated with blackness, were also historically associated with ghetto to denounce a thing. You have to announce a thing, and so i'm here to announce that hair discrimination is starting with children as early as four years old. The history of black hair in america is long and tangled for centuries, africans have worn hairstyles like braids and knots to signify wealth, tribe and status. But when enslaved africans were stolen and shipped to america, their abductors wanted to erase any sense of cultural identity, and so they cut their hair. In the 1700s, the governor of louisiana signed a law requiring all black women enslaved or free to cover their hair, so they wouldn't attract. White men ended in 1865 and blackface. Minstrel shows quickly became the most popular form of entertainment in the country with lyrics like and i'm not kidding your face. It may be dark, but you'll be happy as a lark when they straighten all the colored people's hair and those are just the lyrics. I can read around the same time: black entrepreneurs like garrett, morgan and madam cj walker, america's first female self-made millionaire were pioneering techniques to grow and style, black hair but centuries of white supremacy, dehumanization and denigrating black hair textures forced many african americans to assimilate in order To be viewed as presentable and professional until this brother, here myself, all of us were born with our hair like this, and we just wear it like this, because it's natural, because the reason for it, you might say, is like a new awareness among black people that Their own natural appearance, physical appearance, is beautiful. It'S pleasing to them. The black power and pride movements also celebrated the beauty of natural hair, but while black music and style are now an essential part of american culture, black people are still being punished for their natural hair. Here in louisiana, black hair history comes full circle. Remember that 1700's law that forced black women to cover their hair well louisiana is leading the country once again, but this time it's for a better reason. Louisiana is the first state in the united states to have a textured portion on their cosmetology state board exam, and that feels really good. 65 percent of people have textured hair. The salon industry is really pretty segregated. Even today, no one should feel bad. By having someone say, we can't do your hair, so we're heading to baton rouge, to meet white folks who are learning to do black hair for the first time. I'M sorry, the educator part of me is moving in y'all. How are we going to break down those barriers? It starts with the education piece. First, oh, is this your first time working in texture here, yeah how's it has it been different. I guess than what you thought, but it's a lot easier. What are you doing today? Okay, here at aveda, that's where we're really working towards getting them the training, getting them the education that they need so that they feel comfortable doing any texture of hair. We don't want to be a trend. We want some things put in place. We want representation in the marketing in the curriculum, any assumptions you might have had about texture, hair, anything kind of surprised you as you've been learning. I do find it a lot easier to work with than i expected. I realized shrinkage was a thing either and now that i know that it's a lot easier and a lot less scary to work with. We are walking in the very fullness of our blackness and in the very fullness of our textured hair, and here it is, and can somebody please take care of it for me and make sure that it's styled properly and that's where we step in while attitudes in Louisiana may be changing on a national level, there's not much legal protection against this kind of discrimination. Currently, if you were to lock braid or twist and are discriminated against on those grounds, then it does not amount to unlawful race discrimination. Employers are free to regulate and discriminate against african descendants who are wearing their natural hair textures in these natural styles. Just to be clear, if i showed up to work with an afro and then was fired, that is illegal. But if i showed up to work with braids the same hair braided and was fired, that's potentially just fine, that's legal! It'S a nonsensical legal distinction. It'S very much shaped by a lack of awareness and understanding of african descendants, hair texture. If you're, like me, you're, probably wondering, is anyone trying to end this kind of discrimination and the answer to that question is wendy. In addition to representing plaintiffs in several high-profile hair discrimination cases, she literally helped write the law that could end it. I'Ve had the privilege of serving as one of the co-drafters for the federal crown act. What this particular piece of legislation does is really overturns nearly four centuries of lawful racial discrimination on the basis of african ascendance, hair, texture and hairstyles. So until laws like the crown act are passed nationally, it'll be up to individual states and people to fight this kind of discrimination head-on, which brings us back to ida and jet. I tried to work it out internally when i figured out that i was not getting anywhere. I took it to social media. I wouldn't shut up about it. If a toddler is being discriminated against, what are adults experiencing within months ida was able to get a new law passed, banning hair discrimination in all illinois schools, both public and private, and any school that fails to remove these kinds of discriminatory policies could lose funding. Do you feel proud of yourself yeah? What'S your good hair discrimination for of kids in illinois like me, now i can wear my hair like this. He likes seeing it. Our final stop on this hair journey brings us back to gc, where there's a new exhibit. I'M excited to check out something really cool about seeing all of these black hair care products in what feels like a museum like they're worthy to be in this fun space, but also this kind of like venerated space. People talk a lot about feeling seen, but i feel like i almost got a little emotional while we were in there because it's just like surrounded by so many validating things about black hair from magazines to the products we use felt like being wrapped in a big. Warm hug of my culture, this whole experience was awesome. Our hair is an expression of who we are. It really is black girl magic. I just feel like i don't know, i love the shape and i'm just like yeah. I have to hit the town. I do wish that white people saw it as something to be celebrated, something be appreciated. You
Comments
L F: I've NEVER straighten my hair. I grew up in America and didn't care what anyone said. I wore cornrows, Afro puffs, pineapple, braids, etc.... to school, work literally never caring what anyone thought. I knew it was beautiful. I would not allow anyone to Gaslight me into making myself less attractive by, wearing plastic looking blonde straight ridiculous hairstyles that don't accentuate my beauty. Natural hair is sexy goddess hair. I live in Rome where everyone with Afro hair rocks it. My hair is kinky curly glorious
Winter Rising: So stunning and brave
Make Racists Afraid Again: Natural hair is beautiful. I dated a black woman in the Army and she could do amazing things with her hair. Including making it regulation.
Kim Williams: I hope the crown act passes, and becomes law. The racism is real, as the comment section shows.
Erica Stones: His hair is fine. As a mother someone tells I have to change my kids hair because they’re not allowed it coloured or even curled. I maybe white and don’t understand it but I support all people being discriminated against anyone. I think black peoples hair are all beautiful and bold. I comment one black woman for her hair because I thought it was nice. It was platted with some coloured highlights I still thought it was lovely.
CDB: Nice job on the story! Well researched, written and hosted!!!
KR1234: Very educational! Thank you BBC!
noddy: It's channels like this that youtube CEOs removed dislikes for
Ameerah McSweeney: I have never had a problem wearing my natural hair. I have always worn my hair natural . I have had to learn how to take care of my hair type which is 2C/3A and learn the right products that work well with my hair. I normally keep my hair is cornrows. I learned to do myself from YT. I think people should be able to wear their hair anyway the want to as long as its not an outrageous style This was an interesting piece .
world crypto: ❤️❤️Woo that woman is good has been everywhere. been seeing a lot of good work on several places. I feel more confident investing with her, have been on the train for over two weeks now.... Best broker for life
Holly M: Please don't assume all white people think your hair isn't a good thing or that only black people have textured hair. Knowing history and the moves by Aveda are AWESOME but putting others in a box based on skin or in this case hair is no better than what's been done to you. Thanks for sharing this and the info on the laws, and Aveda (so we can all support them).
Arashk Borzoo: this was probably one of the best segment on BBC I've seen in years, really great.
Ediele Sousa: Brasil///Eu♥AMEI esse vídeo.
Jennyjenny : Be yourself! Always!
Debie Roep: THE MORE I MAKE YOU FEEL BAD AND HURT YOURSELF, I MOST CONTROL I HAVE ON YOU.
7violett: Natural hair looks the best imo, especially curls.
leeryc: This is amazing!
Bradley: I’m so grateful and blessed cos all my bills had been cleared and I can live a happy now .. Thanks you Intellectweb s
Spook: At what point does this become satire..
oya Ami: When I first started to straighten my hair (I now wear it natrual) I'd have it done by a gay white man in Clapham. When he moved I went to another salon and ended up having my hair straightened and cut by a Turkish woman. When I first walked through the salon doors neither of them would have been my first choice, however it turned out that they were both excellent at styling afro hair.
Ali Abdullah: Out of desperation, I let an Indian cut my hair when I was in the UAE and a white guy cut my hair when I was in Louisiana, and they both hacked up my wig. I met this Filipino barber in Qatar though who learned to cut black hair with US Navy and Air Force personnel in the Philippines. Whenever I wanted a nice fade, I use to go to him. But now, I've let my hair grow and my biggest problem is finding haircare solutions in Qatar. I love the natural hair look.
Nkosiphile Mpofu: Even in the uk this is happening I’m a black man with dreadlocks I’ve walked into a couple of barber shops for a shape up being told they can’t “help me”
L S: Black hair and Afros are cool and always have been from my own white perspective. It’s sad black people feel that way about their hair
Vector Christmas: What a beautiful video very interesting and educated ,this video is definitely for blacks ,it's time for us blacks to appreciate what we have ,thanks bbc
carmelitastella: I worked at a lot of casinos in Las Vegas and I remember that braids were not allowed to be worn.
Divide And Conquer: Meanwhile, in Canada...
toobalkain: is hair really the correct term? It's more like wool and it used to be used to make garments in Africa.
Foxy People: If it’s a uniform dress code then they need to follow the rules. It’s no hair discrimination. Many whites, natives and Hispanics have braids and long hair but they follow the dress code uniform. Simple as that. Stop trying to make it as a racist thing. Shame on you teaching your son those teaching.
Centurion of the 10th Legion: Came to bbc to check the news on Ukraine but got this as a recently uploaded video. Last i checked the UK was in Europe. God help us all
I’m better than you: The sun aiming for new lows in journalism
toobalkain: it's illegal to fire a person with an afro?
Mr. Bozack: Oh god. Don’t let the Gingers see this.
V O: Have the bbc got nothing better to report on!
Rached: this makes me laugh why are they crying ?
Watching the telly and thinking bout yer holidays: How do they keep a straight face putting this drivel up?
Philip Simpson: Hair is racist, oh my god, we have racist hair! Only on the BBC
Nikki: Thank you for touching on this!
Lp Creative: I respect everyone who were involved in this Seriously the best piece that i ve ever seen on YouTube Hate off to well all love your videos ❤
Titan: What is the one thing glaringly obvious about this video, here’s a hint, it has nothing to do with colour, have you guessed yet
Rached: AFRICAN HAIR not BLACK HAIR
Sylene Lashley: A very important and timely topic. As a child growing up I was made fun of for wearing my natural hair and grew up hating my hair. Thankfully now I have embraced it more ❤️ To all my black brothers and sisters wear you beautiful crown with pride ✊
Matthew Kuttivillayil: Literally didn’t know this was a thing until now. BBC really do a great job on sharing knowledge
Judge Dredd: This video was produced by THE MAN & the powers that be
Debbie Marquis: Now you wear your hair in it's natural state..
Chin Chin: I used to think as a child America was a wonderful place as I've become a man I recoil in horror at what America is
Demeke: You have to accept that being blackness is the beauty of nature. I love #Chacolate colour.
Jayshri Lad:
ten pin: Love your for this vedio
Robert Wren Gordon: Great job, thanks BBC! My reaction: it’s great that more and more black people are taking pride in our hair. Not to be dismissive of hair discrimination, but when I have grown my hair out, negative comments have primarily come from other black people. (Not counting a Central European guy in college who compared afro hair to pubic hair given how drunk he was and the fact that I was not offended at the time.) I’ve spent a lot of time outside the U.S. and have met people around the world who love our hair. I’ll never forget how a Kazakh friend recounted watching the National Geographic Channel as a kid and admiring afro hair styles. I also found a great barber in northern Mexico who learned to cut afro hair on his own watching Instagram tutorials. Black people have a lot of untapped cultural soft power and we have to embrace it, there is nothing unprofessional or unkempt about afros, braids, etc. and I sincerely believe that most educated Americans, especially those under 40, fully understand this.
Mono Palle: As a white male, I would love a segment on MENS hair related issues.... I hear some go bald over time, through no choice of their own, and suffer discrimination like "hey baldy" or "put on a baseball cap".... WORSE is how MANY women will look the other way entirely.....
HAIR AND SCALP TRUTH.: 10 10 22 THANK YOU.
Mis Liz: Nobody is going to tell me how to wear my god giving hair people need to worry about there own hair we have the only hair that people seem to have a problem with and it’s because black people are the only race of black who have fly hair we can wear our hair in any style and if other race of people have a problem with that then I suggest they complain to the creator who gave us our beautiful hair so sister and brothers wear your god giving hair
Tamar Hannah Whipkey: I came to glance at the nutty comments, to see who was playing the race card. Some places still have dress codes. It does not make them racist, though often, manmade rules are dumb. No, I have not watched the video (yet).
aa bb : nobody wants this do what people want
Yaska Gates: I do not care for the title and alot of this content is old not new!Black hair is 7 billion dollar business in the USA capture that while watching!
Rached: african hair ! i just wanna say something why youtube keeeps deleting my comments wtf
Ius Felix: And I'll call what if you're going to get out of there and at night and I wanted to talk about that I just don't feel like speaking in english you know I'm just in Scotland
Semechki for Putin: these videos about relatively minor forms of discrimination can be a bit ridiculous, but I think you did a good job here.
Serenity River: This was a great video.
ccc: lmao
cor anima: maybe i happen to be an Irishman but you know something mi tha ann an mo taigh
Sherry Ruffin: The hair is clean bugfree healthy . And your problem is what??? Oh. Any and every reason to feed into your low self-esteem that has pretty much bottomed-out on you and what your customers perceive as acceptably civilized. What a bunch of hypocrites....oh the root is that bottomed-out low self-esteem. Now it makes sense. ...NOT
amonre31: I love everyone who says this is not a big deal. Well if it wasn't why are u committing on it if it's so unimportant. Further, for others who call it playing the race card, it's interesting how does black ppl demanding being held back because of their hair style hurt u? Aren't u the same ppl who quote MLK when he said content of character and heart. How does black hair disqualified someone from being great at their job? Moreover, braids and locks protects black hair.
翁古: ❤️ In recent years, disasters have occurred frequently and anomalies have appeared one after another,You must confess your sins and repent,I hope that those who have not yet trusted in Jesus and God can trust in Jesus and God as soon as possible,Confess your sins and repent as soon as possible.Before 2000, light came to the world,Jesus Christ came to the world.The Word became flesh and appeared before people's eyes.He was crucified for the sins of people.He was resurrected on the third day, and then He ascended to heaven and sat at the right hand of God. If you sincerely trust Jesus Christ and accept Him as the Savior of your life, you will receive the Holy Spirit.Then, you must obey the Holy Spirit, rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit to act and behave, and be a person who pleases God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. —Galatians 5 : 22 - 23 Don’t delay, you should immediately trust Jesus Christ and God!
Andrea Will: Welcome back
cor anima: mi tha ann an mo house i am in my house that is my land what i am talking about that is how they talk over there we know some Gaelic the bbc cannot understand that though
B Black: Wow, amazing! It’s weird being treated weird because I have dreads or a fro when I work around colleagues that have long straight hair like, I’m sorry when my hair is long it’s not all straight and perfect but thick and curly lol
Muna Yakoub: BBC, don’t stir
Ius Felix: R and I don't feel speaking in english right now I'm in Scotland
W M: Demographics
Faithless Hound: The anglo-american hatred of black hair is more than "acceptable" versus "unacceptable." It went beyond phobia to the level of taboo. Other aspects of African culture, like language and religion, were also forcibly eradicated, but black hair was the thing most visibly offensive to the white invaders.
scotsman242424: Ffs what next
WatchEuropaTheLastBattle: Awwwww diddums
Wokeness is a sickness: Race-baiting.
Ernesto: Yes.. hair is the most important thing now.
EDM MASTER: Give up lefty BBC. #BHM
TheYoutubeGuy: America is weird.
Jayshri Lad: Reasons for it bad behavior,nature,misuser, tongue
Joseph Ingram: Lmao y'all need to just stop letting anyone cut y'all hair♂️
PrincessRena: This sure made the yts uncomfortable But they can be uncomfortable all they want to. Because we know how it is to be discriminated over our cultural hairstyles and natural hair. They do all this talk about why we complain about it but will never stop actually harassing us about our hair. We live and experience the sht. And nobody else can tell us otherwise. If they do, it’s just deflection due to guilt which leads to them acting hostile.
Aurobindo Ghosh: and bbc was exporting hair care products to afghanistan
Tom Ralph: Russia invades Ukraine instigating WW3 and this is the most recent upload by the tax payer funded BBC
Akash:
Hairy John: I know a woman with blonde hair and ginger sideburns, but it's the new trend now!
Robin. Verne: Bull Sh$t...
Gary: Oh what a surprise the BBC ramming this type of junk down our throat.
Demeke: You have to accept that being blackness is the beauty of nature. I love the #Chacolate colour.
RedCoat: Professional victims...
rick mitchell: That's why Whoopi has blond dreds!
Maxim Romaniv: Is this really worth publishing when a literal war started today?
李君泽: Let’s go Brandon!
Sdrrshock 55: So one 4yo was told to change his hair and the whole thing is racist? No proof at all! This is one of the reasons I will never have a tv license
Billy Batts: They got nothing on the hardships of gingers.
pyappy: Divisive left wing nonsense. This is why I will not be renewing my TV license.
daft wod: Incoming 12 part Netflix series on black hair
Penda of Mercia: Who the hell cares?
cor anima: why does the BBC never have any concern with the Irish maybe i am know some people from Ireland maybe i am related to some people from there what you cannot talk about us
Charles Dickens: boo hoo muh poor widdle fro
L My: I don't get it. Straight hair for me looks superior.
Gray Hills: *It requires money to make money this is the best secert I have ever heard we don’t make money we make multiple money. ...*