The usual response to the discourse about non-black people wearing traditionally black hair styles (box braids, Senegalese twists, cornrows, dread locks) is that "It's just hair". And to some people who don't understand the problem, it is 'just hair', but to a lot of black people (including me) it isn't.
It all comes down to the way we are treated when WE wear the styles that were specifically made for us and our hair texture. See, when YOU GUYS wear it, ya'll get praised and complemented its seen as refreshing new trends. But, when we were it, we're made fun of, expelled and fired for looking unprofessional. We're sometimes forced to choose between a paying job and the styles that protect the hair that grows from our scalp. You can't take our things and then punish us for using it.
Recently there was a whole commotion in the news about a high school in South Africa (Pretoria High School). The students were being forced to straighten their hair. Apparently their Afros where 'distracting others from learning'. How do you demand that black people in ORIGINALLY black country change their hair because it makes you uncomfortable????? This is the hair that grows naturally out of our scalp, honey, and we will not change it to make you happy. I'm not about to put heat/chemicals in my hair and potentially damage it to meet you standard of professionalism. Our hair is beautiful and our styles are functional AND gorgeous.So excuse us if we get pissed because Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian want to appropriate our protective styles when there are literal policies preventing us from wearing it ourselves.
#itsnotjusthair
#Myhairisnotatrend
