Many black women face discrimination in the workplace. Often this discrimination is related to them wearing their hair in its natural state. Black women are told that their natural hair appears unkempt and that they should wear weaves or straighten their hair to appear “professional.” The hair that grows out of your head is acceptable for other races but is frequently considered unacceptable for black women. This issue has been gaining visibility recently after several high-profile incidents that received widespread media attention, including a case that may be heard by the Supreme Court where an Alabama woman is alleging that a job offer was rescinded after she refused to cut her dreadlocks.
One irony of this issue is that not only do people of other races discriminate against black women based on their hairstyles, but black people do as well. “I am a manager of a residential program and when I wear my natural hair in meetings, in a ponytail at times, and my own supervisor will ask me ‘What’s wrong with your hair? Why don’t you go straighten it?'” said Tanya Bates, a black woman who asked to be identified with an alias out of concern for possible retribution at work. “I just think to myself, it’s my hair that grows out of my head, why do you have an issue with it?” Bates also said that not only did the question irritate her, but what made it worse is that her supervisor is a black woman herself, who straightens her hair, which is naturally curly.
Women of other races wear their natural hair freely so, why is this not the case for black women? The answer may be deeper than just not liking the way someone’s hair looks, but about systemic racism. Ayanna Harrison, a hair stylist who specializes in natural hair for black women and who is black herself, often has conversations with clients on the topic of hair in the workplace. “Many women come in and talk about how they love their natural hair, but also mention that it is a lot to manage and that they are always questioned at work about it,” she said. “They’ll explain that when they wear weaves everyone loves their hair but when they wear their natural hair everyone complains or acts as if they’re looking at something odd.” Harrison also has clients of other races who come in requesting natural black hairstyles. She does what they ask but feels that it’s cultural appropriation and that it shouldn’t be acceptable for other races to wear, especially since it’s not acceptable for the black women who created it.
Hair is something that serves as a way for people to express themselves. The feeling of joy that some women get from their hair is not something that they should have to give up or change to earn a spot in the workplace because their natural hair is deemed unprofessional. Hair for black women is something that gives them power and freedom, but too often it is made to seem like a burden rather then something to be embraced like other cultures.
“I enjoy wearing my hair in braids and I also enjoy wearing my natural hair, but I’m Italian,” said Alexa Spinelli. “I personally do not think hair can be unprofessional. I think the people who tell others that are the ones who are unprofessional.” Spinelli mentioned that she is complimented when she wears styles from black women’s culture though she is not black herself.
This discrepancy reveals a racial power dynamic where non-black women can appropriate black hair culture by making it mainstream and trendy, but black women are not allowed to wear their own hairstyles proudly. Spinelli recognizes that she has the privilege to do as she wants with her hair as an Italian woman. “At work, I have never been judged about any style my hair has been in but I have heard others ridicule black women for their hair.”
