The Disrespect of Black Culture in a White World Knows No Bounds

By: Angela Walker

There is a war going on. This war is in America. This war is bold but quiet. And I’m shouting from the rooftops, “Wake the Fuck Up!”

Not every underground movement becomes mainstream, but this one is making its way. It is the movement of the textured hair stylists. You may have heard of us. We make up the subset of hairstylists who are braiders, locticians, and curly hair experts. 

WE are definitely not new to this. What’s new is the recognition coming from the world of cosmetology that is now preaching the campaign of the importance of inclusivity. While they create workshops and prop up “Textured Experts” they continue to get it wrong. As Jay Z said, “We just want you to get it right…. At least close to right.”

Their newest plan is to conquer our curls while heavily marketing them as something that ‘needs to be done’. This is no different than a certain someone “discovering” a new world and then telling the indigenous people that they need the food they have brought and that they NEED them in order to move forward.

This is a new era. We know history. So how can we sit back and let history repeat itself? 

Here is the issue that everyone in our industry knows, but no one is saying out loud. 

Cosmetology was started on the foundation of straight hair being the only hair of value. The curriculum delves into the science of hair for all (by default), but the techniques are plainly crafted with a straight-haired canvas in mind. 

The flip side is that textured hair has always existed and only recently has risen in value when it comes to the mainstream. Suppressing the beauty of curly/kinky hair gave a certain level of power to those with hair that didn’t naturally grow that way, and made those whose hair that naturally grew that way feel inferior. 

With the boom of social media and the spread of natural hair knowledge, not only did our confidence rise but our pride as well. Now significantly in 2024, we can say that the collective black community of America looks very different than we did in 2004. And by different I’m referring to our hair. 

Our culture has always led the masses whether given credit for it or not. The problem with the cosmetology world out to conquer this market is that they are doing so by excluding the very group that painstakingly created the landscape for popularizing it - one in which they initially deemed to be of so little value they didn’t bother to mention it in their books or teach it in their schools. 

I’m writing from the perspective of my experience. I was a freshman attending The University of Maryland College Park when I took my first African American course. And at that time, I came to the conclusion that black people wearing straight hair was then trying to be something they were not. While I was a junior in college, I went shopping around for cosmetology schools to learn how to style textured hair only to find out that their racist curriculum never mentioned textured hair. I made a conscious decision NOT to attend cosmetology school because they didn’t/don’t teach what I wanted to learn. 

Although I no longer believe that black people wear straight hair to be something they are not, I strongly believe that the cosmetology curriculum is steeped in the racism of its time of inception and that it is a curriculum that has not aged well. And while I appreciate the industry's attempt to make strides in correcting what they did wrong, albeit late and capitalistic, I think that they are leaving out a huge group from the conversation, proving they still don’t get it. 

There is an injustice that must be recognized AND corrected. Injecting Textured Hair into the curriculum is no different than a company announcing that they are diversifying their team. That’s cool. However, you don’t diversify your team by hiring people who look like you, think like you, and are trained like you to discuss the culture of a more diverse workplace. You hire those who will help form a diverse workplace. 

The cosmetology industry must hire locticians, braiders, and curly hair experts outside of their industry, in addition to those experts that noticed the disparity within the industry, to create a curriculum that is truly inclusive. Anything outside of doing that means one of two things:

    1.    The mark is being missed due to ignorance, or -

    2.    The mark is being missed deliberately due to an unspoken agenda 

There is literally a world of stylists making good money and paying high taxes because not only did the founders of cosmetology choose segregation but those who followed them kept it up. And now as they try to integrate their schools' education they are doing so by saying, “You must have attended our schools to teach this.” But since your schools were never letting us through the door in the past there is still a barrier that will not allow us to be included. 

Call To Action 

As we stand at the crossroads of change and tradition, it’s time to make a bold statement of independence and unity.  

Braiders. Locticians. Curly Experts. 

Join the first-ever census for our industry at TextureExperts.com and become a part of a historic movement to assert our autonomy and expertise. Your participation will help showcase the vast and diverse skills of braiders, locticians, and curly experts worldwide. Stand with us - be counted, and let's demand the recognition and respect that our community deserves.