LANGUAGE
Why There’s A Lot of Racist Language Used to Describe Black Hair
We need to raise awareness about this terminology
Ignorance leads to fear, fear leads to hatred, and hatred leads to violence,” the Andalusian philosopher Ibn Rushd once argued. Thus, if we want to mitigate racism targeting Black people, we must first consider the relationship among these concepts. If ignorance perpetuates fear, then it would stand to reason that learning and teaching others about racism would alleviate some of the hatred and violence in our society. For instance, while some denigrate physical differences among racial groups to justify perpetuating harm, this approach would be harder to accomplish among a culturally competent public.
Perhaps the most prominent example of cultural incompetence in American society can be found in the language used to describe Black hair. Depending on where you live, you may hear words like thick, curly, coiled, or kinky. Some phrases overtly condemn, such as “bad hair” or “picky-headed,” while others are more subtle jabs, such as using the compliment “good hair” as a comparative slight. Others, like “nappy,” have negative connotations. To understand why there are so many racist terms used to describe Black hair, we must consider the societal norms perpetuated throughout the chattel slavery…
