I saw this post on Instagram today, it was posted by livey_j who saw it on on her Facebook page. To be honest we talk about this all the time because there has been more than one occasion where a child or an adult has been discriminated against because of their hair.
We have even made suggestions on hair styles women can wear to work that could be considered work appropriate. When you think about it, just the very fact that we have to create suggestions for black women and children who choose to wear their hair the way it naturally grows out of their scalp is ludicrous.
The fact that we have to have a set standard and rules applied on how we wear our hair is very very sad. In the post the young lady said she was written up for having ‘ethnic’ styled hair, we are not sure if she was at school or work, either way it is bad!
What in the world is that and can a company legitimately put something so racist on a piece of paper and stick in a person’s file.
The hair community has not tackled #blacklivesmatter in a way that shows our own protest and when I hear stories like this one I cannot say wholeheartedly that a hair blog dedicated to black hair is exempt from saying anything about it.
#Blacklivesmatter was born out of much more violent scenarios but you cannot help but think about how much we fit in every time you are persecuted for just being human or normal.
For instance when you buy some skittles and a soda, wear a hoodie or God forbid you need to take a “breath”. When you dive into it, the hair community is affected too, we have our own discrimination that we deal with at work and at school. This is just a small part of a bigger issue but still very much a problem for black women and black children.
If I decide to wear a ponytail and a small black head band why should I be written up and my lively hood affected? Where in the world is it ok to just be black!?
This makes no sense I seriously can’t even fathom someone having an issue with my hair that I always wear in an Afro…… It’s ridiculous and she should file a suit with the company for intolerant policies
I will tell you this if the company I work for ever tried this BS on me I would have my name on the front of the building! This is the hair that I was born with of course it’s natural just like every other male or female in this place. My hair is not chemically altered and for someone to tell me that my God given hair is not professional seems like a problem they need to take up with the creator not me!
A travesty in itself.
Unbelievable. Actually, sadly…it is believable.
I am white. My young daughter is black. I think about how I’m going to explain this to her.
You don’t need to explain hate.. All hate is driven from jealously… All she needs to know is she is beautiful! Raise her with poise and grace and she will not tilt her head towards those who are ignorant.
Wow unfortunately I’m not suprised . I have seen black girls being suspended from school over their natural hair and black woman being fired from their jobs . They fear our ethnic features and Melanin. I wear cornrows and if a job refuse to hire me over it or im written up at the job I have over my hair ; I would just move on and look for another job . I refuse to conform to European standards .
This is absolutely ridiculous! Natural hair is (yes hard to manage sometimes) but yet so beautiful! It is far from distracting. Whomever you are be black and be beautiful!
Wow
Buuuuut Never mind the other people who actually get bullied or seen as sexual objects because of what they wear or who they are….
This is sad and all but honestly….I’ve never dealt with it. Now before everyone gets all “oh well you’ve never dealt with blah blah” on me….I’m not talking about that. I’m specifically talking about hair.
I got 99 problems but my hair ain’t one. Just cut it…or do something with it. Idk. If it’s such a huge issue then fix it. Kinda tired of hearing people’s life struggles and when I mean struggles I mean their hair.
Natural hair is really pretty and more power to you if you have the time and effort to keep up with it but man…I know plenty of natural girls who have more things to worry about and would just shake their heads at things like this.
This girl is being bullied for who she is. She is ethnic and she is told that there is something wrong with her, as they put it, ethnic hair. That is no different from being bullied because you are fat, or poor, or whatever else. Except this coming from people of power. It is all unjust. And yes it is sad.
Please note the term “ethnic” is a euphemism coined by white people looking for a code/’polite’ way to say “black or asian” or any human not “white”. It’s so incorrectly bandied about it makes me cringe every time I hear it. A person may be from an ethnic minority or ethnic majority … what they aren’t is just “ethnic”! People please realise!
Says the woman who doesn’t have natural hair. She shouldn’t have to conform to European standards just to work at her place of employment.
right, I am more than certain that her hair has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of her work.
This is just as much an instance of bullying as the other stuff you named. There is no difference
It’s sad when (no offense) white women start to embrace our culture more that our sisters. When someone starts imitating you take it is complement to your heritage. The problem with you young lady is that you haven’t embraced who you are yet, so of course you wouldn’t understand why it’s offensive to this women to be asked to change who she is to fit someone else’s standards of beauty.
She shouldnt have to “fix it,” because there is no problem with her hair being natural. You sound ignorant as hell telling somebody to fix their natural hair….smh
Erm… “fix it”?? What do you suggest one does to “fix it”? Exactly. Your very ignorant choice of words speaks volumes. There’s nothing to “fix”! Except ignorance and intolerance, stereotypes and racist realities.
See this some BS first of all, her hair is fine; just because it’s not shiny and laid down to her scalp doesn’t mean her hair is distracting!?!? Where they do that at?????? ??????????
I’ll never understand why black hair should be anything but a positive issue
Sad
I cut off my relaxed hair, Why ? because i choose to be naturally beautiful. Honestly i jealous girls with longer natural hair than mines, my lenght is about 2″ ………..cant wait for it get longer.
It will. My first year was rough. My second year I was like “heeeeyyy”. Like it grew over night. Lol cant wait for year 3.
I feel u I cut all my relaxer off now I’m sad.
Girl the longer the more work tangles knots and all that mess just enjoy the process☺☺ and ive never permed and been dealing with this a long time lol
HOW DARE ANYBODY SAY BAD THINGS ABOUT BLACK NATURAL HAIR!!! They can kick ROCKS!!!
Because my hair doesn’t lay flat then that means it is not as beautiful !!! KICK ROCKS!!!
Do you know some idiot on here said that not all naturals look great with their natural hair… Girl, theres coons everywhere… Smh
Rude! And it has nothing to do with the subject of the article. Regardless of whether someone “looks great” (had to quote that, because it is not my opinion) or not, it still has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the work they produce.
What?
They should be written up for being so damn ignorant. Smh….I’m so sick of this and so much more affecting our community.
This is so stupid! Why is it as black women it’s acceptable to have straight hair in the workplace but as soon as you want to wear your natural hair it’s problem? You should be allowed to wear your hair any way you want long as it’s neat and clean. There’s nothing wrong with natural hair it’s our God given hair we should be able to wear it anywhere and everywhere!
I totally agree with you. Imagine if a red-head was asked to “tone down their hair/cover or dye it” and “cover their freckles” because it was deemed unprofessional or too distracting. White messages here are that “we are normal – you (black) people simply put, are not; please adjust yourselves so we can comprehend you” !! Outrageous.
Its hard …
I’m upset that these women didn’t file lawsuits… Fight back ladies!!!
I would file such a huge lawsuit, for racial discrimination, we have rights and its for our best interest to exercise such rights.
Yup & go to all the local TV stations & put them on blast
NO BUENO!!!!
Once my mom wore her natural hair in a really cute style at work and her supervisor gave her her own personal credit card to leave while on the clock and go buy a wig smh
Wow. That’s just crazy.
I’d have gone out and gotten a wig that looked just like her supervisor’s hair…
sickening
That’s a good question. Where can we go without fear of racial discrimination, profiling, attacks? Nowhere in the world. If it’s not in their employee handbook, they have to get rid of that right up otherwise it’s discrimination.
Time to sue. That’s discrimination
Maybe it’s not the natural hair but she was doing it. Not everything is professional to everyone. Back in my younger days some females thought it was okay to come to work with purple highlights or tank tops and flip flops. None of this was but times have changed and they will continue to change. Not all the naturals I see look great with their natural hair and some of the styles I see I wouldn’t call professional either.
Color is one thing, but to tell someone that the hair that they grow from their own head isn’t appropriate that’s just wrong. Just because someone doesn’t meet your standards of beauty doesn’t mean they should change who they naturally are or the way they were born.
Another ignorant fool. How is the hair that grows naturally from your own scalp considered “unprofessional?” I wonder if you would sing the same tune if someone with chemically straight hair had certain hairstyles that may not look appropriate for a work setting… You need a long nap…
Brittany no need to be that way because I have a different opinion. Anything can be considered not as professional because it’s a matter of perception. Try looking at thing without taking it so personal. Of course some relaxed styles can be considered unprofessional to me as I said in my original post.
I don’t know if this is a true story or not. However, do spiked mohawks and or similar styles look professional in you’re in a professional environment? Rolling up out of the bed like you’re just leaving the womb is not justification for not grooming yourself. Natural doesn’t mean you have to do that. I’m not trying to offend anyone here. Yes I realize some folks don’t understand how natural hair operates.
Ok, I apologize for name calling. But you need to be specific on which styles you refer to. If we are talking about Mohawks, then idc whether straight or natural, that isnt really professional…but when we are told our hair is unprofessional because we wear a simple afro, then you damn right Im going to take that personal. People dont understand natural hair. We all have different types. Some have fine and others have kinky/coarse. People with coarse hair are always accused of “rolling out of bed” without combing or brushing the hair. Um, no. When you have coarse/kinky hair, that is just how it looks! You could brush it 1,000 times and still it will look like you havent touched it. I am just tired of ignorant folks not knowing shit about natural kinky textures telling others they look “unprofessional” just because they dont understand how our hair works… Sorry, but we get the end of the stick all the time so you really cant expect us to not be offended. Naturals with “good” hair never get criticized…And please dont feel like I am attacking you, but just trying to get you to understand..
This is definitely discrimination.?
This is ridiculous!
Smh
What???
This is ridiculous.. My client this evening did not want his Locs styled because he just moved to San Diego and works with mostly white people and didn’t want to get too “ethnic” on them rite away… Smh damn shame
There is a difference in wearing natural hair that is tamed and controlled in the work place or wearing it tacky and uncontrolled, it probably had nothing to do with being black and having ethnic hair, it was having hair that is uncontrolled all over the place, I’m sure every work place has policies on appearance and none of those policies say black or ethnic hair, most likely presentable hair required.
What you in your opinion consider “tacky and uncontrolled” may be different from what I consider “tacky and uncontrolled”. I would not consider the style pictured article either.
My opinion of out of control and tacky is having stuff sticking up out of the hair with lint balls and foolishness!. Natural doesn’t mean not groomed. The picture in the article is neat.
We may not have the exact picture, but i guarantee no one gets written up for neatly groomed appropriate hair lint balls or not
My opinion of tacky and uncontrolled is anything the employer deems in the policy as inappropriate, if you want your job follow the rules, we don’t always have to go against the grain.
All due respect but as a professional I disagree with your comment “anything the employer deems in the policy as inappropriate”. As we progress as a society and we accept diversity so should our policies. Some companies fail to do that. 25 yrs ago we were told we couldn’t wear braids in the hospitality industry because they were unprofessional, however a number of us requested that the style (our style) be allowed because we refused to put chemicals in our hair or burn our hair into a “professional” style and of course they reluctantly agreed. It just seems for the most part it applies to one type of hair.
Then why pray tell did they use the actual words “ethnic and distracting” in the same sentence?
Black women wearing their hair naturally shows their strength
And a lot of auto discriminations. Acomplejadas
Really!
I wonder what industry she works in?
Starting to think these stories are fake, who the hell goes through this and NOT sue. I would hope black folks have more sense than that….! I wish some place would try me or my girls…please do. Please do. I got something for that ass.
Naw there’s a lot of black women that do not do their hair and look a mess! There is a difference between natural hair styles and being lazy lol common now!
As though that doesn’t happen all the time with fried/lyed hair or bad weaves. I have yet to see a natural with messy hair, but I’ve seen plenty with permed hair look a mess.
You tried it.
I decided after 14 months to grow out my perm by wearing extensions and going natural. I’ve still got a tiny bit of perm at the ends but,y natural hair is tightly coiled and I ❤️??? it .. Why didn’t I grow it out sooner. ?
I don’t get it. Arabs wear turbans what’s the problem
WHAT!!!
If we create our own jobs etc then maybe we would not have to deal with this bs
I very much agree.
I am having an issue at my workplace with my supervisor being over the top inquisitive about my hair. I plan to address it soon because I’ve had enough. It’s unfortunate that people cannot leave us be.
Please do! and more power to you! I had years of sh*t in a corporate environment workplace. Being treated like some sort of chimp in a cage EVERY time I changed my hairstyle (which was on average about every 3 months or so). It got so I became anxious anytime I had a change in the way my hair looked. I’d have to field 20 questions at every work social/meeting/breaktime/worktime/anytime! Always polite, I eventually started seething with frustration and even anger at being treated like some fascinating weirdo. Yes, I was the only black person in the office….heck, the department. Even more disturbing was the “positive” comments and reactions I got when I wore a (european hair) wig or weave, compared to the condescending curiosity (at best) or outright verbal rejection I got when I then wore my hair in it’s natural state. Hair discrimination is as real as (and is in fact part of) racial discrimination and stereotyping. The ignorance levels are astounding at best. Best of luck; nip that inquisitiveness in the bud! You’re not a zoo creature and this is the 21st century.
It really angers me that in this time, there are still people who discriminate against something so trivial (in the grand scheme of things) as a hair style. Even with the more fluffy carefree natural hairstyles, you can typically tell it has been groomed, there’s a symmetry or consistent texture that tells you it has been groomed, as opposed to rolling out of bed and walking out the door. If some people are too lazy to actually look and see that the hair was groomed, that gives them no right to write up, send home, or otherwise belittle anyone. All that being said, I know in the real world things don’t work this way, but it still angers me so much that it doesn’t.
I’ve told people at my job flat-out that I hate people touching my hair. It’s happened at least 3 times. Finally, I just got a “Don’t Touch My Hair” t-shirt and wore it to work, no joke. If it’s not yours, don’t touch it.
Better yet, go buy a big Afro wig 🙂