It is said that “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” I agree with that statement in part.
Black hair terminology, in my opinion, has systematically damaged our kinky textured hair to date. The appearance of coarse, kinky hair is deceptive to many people that have been mis-educated about African American hair.
Since slavery began in America, Black hair has been called many unflattering names in the presence of young Black children affecting their self-worth in a negative manner. As children we are impressionable and we learn from our elders both good and bad lessons about life. In this article I will share my viewpoint on the low self-image that many of us have in our struggle for social acceptance. The words pretty and ugly can have a powerful influence on the psyche of a child. Looking good to others is very important in any society. The clothes and hairstyles that we wear should be appropriate for our lifestyles, but is a person is confused about what’s pretty and what’s ugly the African American lifestyle will be in total discord and disharmony. The effects of words like nappy head, bad hair, hard headed, tender headed and picky headed are derogatory words that are used by the older generation to imply that one’s hair does not look good.
My contention is we, as a people, should learn the negative effects of our words about Black hair by investigating and examining our childhood before we speak about Black hair. Now I am not asking you to believe this because I said it, I am asking you to study to show your own self-approval.
Contact me at: (205) 252-2508.
