African-American hair

African-American hair or Black hair refers to hair types, textures, and styles that are linked to African-American culture, often drawing inspiration from African hair culture. It plays a major role in the identity and politics of Black culture in the United States and across the diaspora. African-American hair often has a kinky hairy texture, appearing tightly coiled and packed. Black hair has a complex history, culture, and cultural impact, including its relationship with racism.
Black hair is the product of an inherited genetic trait. The most studied black hair gene is MC1R which causes the body to produce a protein called melanocortin. This protein causes hair follicles to produce a type of melanin pigmentation called eumelanin. Black hair has the highest concentration of this pigmentation with brown, blonde and red hair following behind. In old age, hair comes to turn grey due to the inability of the hair follicle to produce eumelanin. This inability happens after the pigmentation cells in hair follicles die off.
African-American hair comes in a range of textures, but the most common hair type is curly with lots of volume. This curly quality is the product of the shape of the hair follicles. More circular-shaped follicles cause hair to grow straighter, while more curly hair is caused by more elongated, oval-shaped hair follicles. Hair follicles can also affect the thickness of hair strands. African hair is seen to be much thicker and more dense meaning that the hair follicles are larger. Density represents the amount of hairs that grow from the head, with denser hair resulting from more hairs growing closer together from the scalp. An individual with high-density hair creates a fuller appearance of curls.
A protective oil called sebum is produced from the scalp to strengthen hair follicles, which helps to keep hair from becoming dry and brittle. A significant amount of oils are produced but with the curly quality of the hair the oils can not be distributed from root to end easily. Without proper moisturizing, hair can become brittle and result in breakage.
Since the beginning of African civilizations, hairstyles have been used to convey messages to a greater society. Before boundaries divided Africa into states and countries through colonization, the continent was divided into kingdoms and clans. Within these kingdoms and clans, different hairstyles could "indicate a person's marital status, age, religion, ethnic identity, wealth, rank," surname, health status, geographic origin and the clan to which they belonged. A Wolof man's braided beard could indicate that he was preparing for war. In the Himba tribe, dreadlocks worn down in front of a female's face was a sign that she was going through puberty, while dreadlocks tied at the back of the head were worn by women seeking marriage. Erembe headdresses signified new mothers and married women. In Yoruba culture, people braided their hair to send messages to the gods. As the most elevated part of the body, hair was considered a portal for spirits to pass through to the soul. According to a 20th-century study, the Yoruba often shaved the heads of newborns as a marker of each individual arising from the spirit world. A person's head was shaved again at death to signal the individual's return to the spirit world.
Hair maintenance in traditional Africa was a time-consuming process that aimed at creating a sense of beauty and honoring its spiritual power. According to author Sylvia Arden Boone,
Hair was considered divine due to its position at the top of the head, and to allow someone to touch it meant you could trust them. Therefore, hair maintenance was only entrusted to relatives and hairdressers for fear of enemies bringing ill-will to the person in need of hair care. The hair maintenance process could last anywhere from hours to days and involves “washing, combing, oiling, braiding, twisting, and/or decorating the hair.” The Himba people, for example, styled dreadlocks using ground ochre, goat hair, butter and hair extensions. Hair that was clean and neatly braided or arranged with adornments such as beads or shells was a sign of vitality, whereas unkempt and dirty hair signified affliction.
Slaves were often forced by Europeans to shave their heads to prevent lice contracted from the dirty inhumane quarters of slave ships but also to strip them from their culture.
Due to North America's Indigenous population being decimated by European colonists' extreme labor conditions, insufficient diet, violence and diseases, Europeans began aiding in kidnapping then forcibly trafficking Africans to British North America in the early 1600s. Before transporting them, captors and traders shaved the heads of all African adults and children taken captive. The claimed purpose for this action was to prepare for the unsanitary conditions of the slave ships. Due to the cultural and spiritual importance of hair for Africans, the practice of having their heads involuntarily shaved before being sold as enslaved people was in itself a dehumanizing act. In Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America, Byrd and Tharps write:
Once their hair began to grow back, many enslaved people did not have the time or the tools to properly maintain their hair, and it became tangled and matted as a result. Enslaved people worked every day of the week, lived in poor conditions and faced the risk of head lice and ringworm. To protect themselves from the sun, dirt, and scalp afflictions, women repurposed unwanted fabrics into hair scarves or kerchiefs (especially if they worked outdoors), while men who worked outdoors wore sun-hats with their hair cut short or completely shaved off.
In describing runaway enslaved people in wanted ads, slaveowners proved that many enslaved people were able to style and maintain their hair after it grew back.
Men and women were often given similar clothing to wear and labor tasks to complete, so to achieve a more feminine appearance and differentiate themselves from the men, some women ironed their hair to make it sleek. They also wrapped their hair by brushing it and binding small sections of it with a material such as thread or cotton to prevent knotting. This technique, known as "wrapping" or "threading", shaped the hair into a curl pattern that women kept protected under a scarf or kerchief while working, and took down for special occasions such as church service or weddings.
Plaits, braids and cornrows were the most convenient hairstyles to keep their hair neat and maintained for a week. Enslaved people who worked indoors were forced to wear their hair in one of those styles or a style similar to that of their slaveowner if they did not cover their hair with a scarf, kerchief or wig. By the early 19th century, Sunday was legally declared a day of rest and religious observation, and on Sundays, enslaved people braided each other's hair using the grease or oil they had available, such as butter or goose grease. They used wool carding tools to detangle their hair, kerosene, and cornmeal to cleanse the scalp. Fats, oils and eggs were used as conditioner. Enslaved people in North America named cornrows for their resemblance to rows of corn in a field. (In Central and South America and the Caribbean, enslaved people called the style "canerows" because of its resemblance to sugarcane fields.) Braid patterns became symbols for freedom, and different styles and patterns were used as guides to plantations, resembling roads and paths to travel or avoid.
Racial attitudes among White people in 17th and 18th century America held a negative connotation of the afro-textured hair of enslaved Africans and African-Americans. They called afro-textured hair "wool" in an effort to deem it inferior to the texture of their own hair. Since the onset of the enslavement of Africans in British America, the slurs "kinky" and "nappy" were also used by White people to express disapproval of afro-textured hair. It was also mocked through caricatured stereotypes of Africans and African-Americans in the media, which motivated women especially to keep their hair covered. Although the practice of wearing head scarves was forced upon women by law or by slaveowners, the type of head covering worn came to symbolize respectability, and could distinguish a married woman from an unmarried woman or a fieldworker from a houseworker.
After slavery was abolished in the United States, negative attitudes about the appearance of Black Americans and derogatory terms for afro-textured hair persisted into the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras because Black people were still considered inferior to White people. During this time, wig manufacturers were the only companies that advertised a Black standard of beauty. Afro-textured hair worn in its natural state was still considered undesirable, and media promoted a Eurocentric beauty ideal that included straight hair. In her article "Hairitage: Women Writing Race in Children's Literature", literary critic Dianne Johnson notes an early 20th-century advertisement:
One of Winold Reiss's Brown Madonna (1925) most famous works, reimagines Black women as maternal and spiritual figures with straight hair. The image serves as the frontispiece of The New Negro, a text written to counter negative Black stereotypes and redefine Black people during the New Negro Movement.
For some African Americans, the notion of assimilation in to White American society was ideal, because it held a perceived promise of better socioeconomic status. One way they attempted to assimilate was by straightening their hair to fit the White American beauty ideal.
To straighten their hair, African-American women used a hair product and wide-bristled pressing or hot comb, a metal tool that was heated in an oven or on a stove before it was passed through the hair. It later would be massed produced in a more simple, self-heating form It could take hours to complete the straightening process, and because of the high temperature of the hot comb, burning and damaging the hair or skin were always high-risk. Because it easily absorbs moisture, afro-textured hair straightened with a hot comb can quickly return to its tightly coiled state if exposed to too much moisture, such as rain or humidity. African-American men typically wore their hair relatively short, and they avoided passing a hot comb through their hair, because it was more difficult and dangerous to do so.
From the early to mid-20th century, conking was a popular style for African-American men, and required the use of a chemical treatment known as a relaxer or perm, which achieved longer-lasting straightening results. The practice of using a relaxer began during slavery, when enslaved men covered their hair in axle grease to straighten and dye it. Before the late 1960s, there were no publications that explained how to straighten afro-textured hair with chemicals. The earliest chemical straighteners caused severe hair breakage and dyed the hair red, so it was not until the mid-20th century that relaxers became a popular and longer-lasting alternative to hot combs for African-American women. Both men and women coated their hair with a strong acid that stripped the outer layer and altered the shape of the hair shaft, causing it to "relax" or straighten, and the longer the chemical was left on the hair, the straighter the hair would become. If left on the hair too long, the relaxer could burn the scalp and cause sores to form.
The Afro, which hit its stride in the 1960s, was an expression of pride, connection, power, revolution and differentiation. The Afro first gained popularity with performers, artists, activists, youth and nationalists.
Young people who did not adopt this trend were for the first time judged and subject to "blacker-than-thou" policing by their peers. African-Americans began to use their hair as a way to showcase a link to their African ancestors and Blacks throughout the diaspora. The Afro, in conjunction with the Civil Rights Movement, was helping to define black identity.
Some artists used their actual hair as an expression of art. In David Hammons's American Costume, he pressed his own body onto paper to create an image of what being African-American means and looks like. He crafted the hair on the work by applying fingerprints to the paper.
Young Black Americans were ‘froing their hair in great numbers as a way to emulate the style of the Black Panthers and convey their racial pride. Although the Afro started in New York, it was Angela Davis, a college professor at UCLA and an associate of the Black Panther Party, who pioneered the Afro as a political statement. In embracing naturalism, she glorified the Black aesthetic and facilitated its power to connect Black people to the Civil Rights Movement. Her Afro became especially notorious because of its presence in her "Wanted" ad, as it was her most prominent identifier. It became a way to celebrate African-ness and embrace heritage while politically rejecting European ideals. Men and women in Chicago and beyond wore it as a way to support a proud way of carrying oneself in the world and occupying space.
In relation to hair, the time between the 1970s and the 1990s could be described as open and experimental. "Despite occasional political flare-ups, individual choice would increasingly dictate African-American hairstyles in this era" Trendy styles like braids were even adopted by whites, especially after white actress Bo Derek wore them in the movie 10. Although braids, cornrows and dreadlocks were becoming mainstream, they stirred up controversy and continue to when worn in the professional sphere.
African-American culture has increasingly embraced natural hair through the natural hair movement. It includes people with afro-textured hair who resist the images used to represent them and abstain from the use of chemical hair products in favor of products that will promote healthy natural hair. The initial emergence of the natural hair movement occurred in the 1960s with activists such as Angela Davis supporting the movement. In the late 1970s–1980s, the natural hair movement began to slow down due to the social pressures placed on African- Americans to assimilate to European Beauty Standards. It wasn't until the 2000s that the second wave of the natural hair movement emerged. The movement has since been greatly influenced by society and media, ranging from the work and appearance of textile artist Sonya Clark, singer Solange Knowles, poet Maya Angelou and actress Lupita Nyong'o to an uprising of natural hair-focused YouTube channels and blogs. The movement seeks to continue to encourage African American women to embrace their natural hair despite negative stereotypes about black natural hair that arose from European beauty standards. More recently, the natural hair movement has found momentum online with various Vloggers documenting their natural hair journey to encourage other African American women and men to participate in the movement, educate the public, and create positive images of black hair in media. The movement's popularity has also encouraged corporations and government agencies to create policies that are inclusive of natural black hair. The availability of products for natural black hair has been helped by the founding of Black-owned hair product companies such as Ruka Hair in the UK, founded by Tendai Moyo.
"Good hair" is a phrase used in some Black communities to describe the perceived prestige of straight or loosely curled hair, (especially when genetically influenced by non-African ancestry) in contrast to afro-textured hair. "Good hair" is also used to refer to hair that is strong, thick and soft to the touch. Although many hair stylists or beauticians would define "good hair" as "healthy hair", the phrase is rarely used in this manner in informal African-American circles. Instead, it is used metaphorically to characterize beauty and acceptance. These standards vary for African-American men and women.
The term's circulation within the Black community in the North America has an uncertain origin. Artist India.Arie's song "I Am Not My Hair" speaks specifically to the usage of the term "good hair" in the African-American community and in broader contexts. Comedian Chris Rock's 2009 documentary Good Hair made a wider audience aware of the importance of the term within the Black community. In the documentary, Rock explores the role of hair in the lives of African-Americans. He interviews Reverend Al Sharpton, who asserts, "My relaxed hair is just as African-based as an Afro because it all came out of black culture."
Maintaining facial hair is more prevalent among African-American men than in other male populations in the U.S. In fact, the soul patch is so named because African-American men, particularly jazz musicians, popularized the style. The preference for facial hair among African-American men is due partly to personal taste, but also because they are more prone than other ethnic groups to develop a condition known as pseudofolliculitis barbae. The condition is commonly referred to as razor bumps, and due to the condition, many prefer not to shave.
Popular African-American Hairstyles in pop-culture include:
In Rogers v. American Airlines (1981), Renee Rogers, a black female flight attendant, sued her employer American Airlines for prohibiting her from wearing cornrows and braids at work. The court dismissed Rogers' arguments that the ban was discriminatory based on race and sex, and ruled in favor of American Airlines. The ban prohibited braids and dreadlocks in favor of a bun style, which can be a challenge to achieve with afro-textured hair that has not been straightened with heat or chemicals. Since the late 20th century, many restrictions have been loosened, and professional African-American women now wear a wider variety of hairstyles.
As with women, African American men have also faced hairstyle-based discrimination in the workplace. In the case of Thornton v. Encore Global, Jeffery Thornton, a black man sued his former employer Encore Global denying him a job as a technical supervisor after working for the company for four years. An unnamed hiring manager at Encore told Thornton that he needed to first trim his locks off his ears, eyes and shoulders to land the gig, court documents state. This case was monumental because it was the first time someone has accused an employer of violating California's CROWN Act since the legislation took effect in January 2020.
In 2014, the United States Army implemented a ban on predominantly black hairstyles. The ban includes dreadlocks, large cornrows and twists. The rationale for this decision is that the aforementioned hairstyles look unkempt. African-American women in the Army may be forced to choose between small cornrows and chemically processing their hair, if their natural hair is not long enough to fit a permitted hairstyle.
Throughout the history of education in the United States, African American students have faced significant disparities in treatment compared to their peers. These disparities include higher rates of disciplinary action and discriminatory practices related to personal appearance. For instance, there have been cited cases where African American students are disciplined at significantly higher rates than their counterparts, often due to dress code policies that target natural hairstyles as inappropriate or distracting. Some examples include;
On March 18, 2022, the United States House of Representatives passed the CROWN (Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair) Act, an act aiming to protect individuals from hair-based discrimination in the workplace. The bill forbids race-based hair discrimination at the federal level, notably when the hair style or hair texture being discriminated against is particularly tied to a culture or race. However, many states are "employment at will" which allows employers to discharge employees for any reason, or no reason.
The intent is to protect workers from discrimination related to questionable African-American styles such as afros, cornrows, Bantu knots, and Dreadlocks Similar acts had already been introduced and passed in several U.S. states including California, New York, Colorado, New Jersey, New York City, Virginia, Washington, Illinois, and, Maryland.