| Natural Hair and Culture |
Submitted by Sir Aje the Math Tutor Natural hair amongst African American women has been a growing trend over the past few years and there are many victories for advocates of natural hair to celebrate. There are cases of discrimination in the workplace filed by women of natural hair that were unjustly denied work or terminated from work because of their hair that ended in the discriminatory workplace having to either give the women their jobs back or pay compensation for job loss. There are little girls growing up with the ability to take pride in their hair the way it is without being forced to look like someone of a different ethnicity. Still, there are many sisters that are afraid of Natural hair, and many brothers who are too ignorant to encourage and support sisters in the process. This is certainly a cultural issue. Many Black scholars have talked about straightened/relaxed hair and self-hatred issues that stem from the level of brainwashing in slavery, and it's postslavery derivatives. Psychology has a variety of things that describe the mentality of victims of oppression as well as learning and cognizance that apply to Black people and Black hair. However, this isn't just a issue of Black American culture. This is an issue of public health. I doubt that the most whitewashed of Black Americans would not hesitate for at least a moment buy hair relaxer if there were National Fire Protection Agency labels indicating the presence of hazardous chemicals on the label of perms, or in the advertisements. Imagine that: "This substance is corrosive, flammable and is a reactant! It can kill if swallowed and will cause blindness! And it's only 14.99!" All of these things about hair relaxers are true. They are among the most toxic substances sold in the Black community and I am certain they have caused more cases of health problems amongst Black women than Anthrax and other agents of chemical warfare have. But they are sold. I think that the promoters of human hair should continue to focus on the cultural aspects of hair relaxing, but should pay an equal amount of attention to making it known that hair relaxers are biohazards. They cause damage to humans. They hurt human hair and flesh. Hair relaxers should be as illegal as asbestos and should be feared as much as radon and mold. Are you trying to convince family and friends to go natural? 1.f you haven't already, here are a couple of things that you can do to gain some ammunition: Look up some of the chemicals on hair relaxers. What are some of their other uses of the chemical? For example, Calcium Hydroxide [Ca(OH)2] is commonly found in many hair relaxers. It is a base with a pH somewhere in between 12 and 13. Hair relaxers love to talk about how their relaxers contain no Lye (Sodium Hydroxide), but Calcium Hydroxide has similar caustic properties and a similar pH as Lye. It is a corrosive and is an eye, skin and lung irritant. Ask a manufacturer for a MSDS, or Material Safety Data Sheet. A good place to look for MSDS's is http://www.msdssearch.com/. Be prepared to talk about them to your relatives. Keep and print the MSDS and have them handy if you need to. 2.Remember not to separate the cultural aspect from the human health aspect. If someone has so much self-hatred that they don't mind physically mutilating themselves to fit a standard they will never be able to fit, then there is a lack of self-love present that needs to be rectified. The cultural aspects of this battle is very important, but the human health aspect of it reminds people that natural hair isn't just some type of fad and it isn't necessarily about opposing social norms... it's about establishing healthier social norms. After all, the word “natural” itself indicates something being as it is regularly occurring, original state, right?
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