The Origins of Hair Straightening

The abolition of slavery brought with it freedom in name only. Along with legislation that further mirrored black enslavement, anti-black mentalities remained after the institution’s downfall. Although newly freed slaves were no longer forced to fashion their hair into styles similar to their white owners, most did not return to the intricate styles found on the Gold Coast. The separation from their native land in Africa as well as slavery’s poor living conditions limited the knowledge surrounding hair care. Furthermore, black Americans felt the need to imitate white hair in order to survive and succeed in post-shackle America.

As you would expect, forced removal from Africa prompted the loss of Africanisms. The assault on black hair took place before white slave traders dragged Africans onto the ships. Captors shaved their heads, an act known as the “highest indignity” according to Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, a kidnapped and enslaved West African man (“Black Hair in Bondage”, Byrd, 10). In Africa, many styled their long hair into intricate styles (braids, knots, etc) to indicate marital status, class, religion, ethnicity, and wealth. Thus, by shaving their heads, white traders attempted to erase their identity, separating them from the culture native to them. Once on United States soil, enslaved Africans lacked the resources to maintain the health of their hair, let alone style it. Scalp diseases and lice infestations infected large portions of the slave population (“Black Hair in Bondage”, Byrd, 12). Furthermore, the ability to maintain the cultural hair stylings from Africa very much went away following the end of the Transatlantic slave trade. While banning the Transatlantic slave trade prevented more Africans from becoming enslaved, it simultaneously devastated the gateway to African hair culture. Without people to pass on their knowledge of hair care, enslaved blacks grew up with little idea of how to properly do their hair, leaving white people as the dominant hair influencers.

The black hair straightening of today roots itself in slavery. Throughout slavery, whites classified black hair as “wool” (“Black Hair in Bondage”, Byrd, 13). This derogatory comparison to sheep, often used in runaway slave posters, suggested that blacks were subhuman beings and reinforced their treatment as chattel. During slavery, we see a desire within black slaves to cover up their hair either through hats, wraps, or wigs (“Black Hair in Bondage”, Byrd, 14). As you probably know, white people established whiteness as superior to blackness. Thus, loose curls and straight hair, qualities often seen in black slaves of mixed heritage, were favored more than kinkier textures. In fact, hair often indicated slave status: an advertisement for a runaway in the New York Gazette reported that the woman “[had] long black curled hair, may pass for free person” (“Black Hair in Bondage”, Byrd, 17). For black Americans, certain hair textures could allow for social mobility. After slavery’s abolition, a black writer Martin H. Freeman further explained this in the Anglo-African magazine:

“The child is taught directly or indirectly that he or she is pretty, just in proportion as the features approximate the Anglo-Saxon standard: Kinky hair must be subjected to a straightening process—oiled, and pulled, twisted up, tied down, sleeked over and pressed under, or cut off so short that it can’t curl, sometimes the natural hair is shaved off and its place supplied by a straight wig,” (“Black Hair in Bondage”, Byrd, 19). Freeman’s assertion highlighted how many black Americans feel the need to imitate white culture in order to succeed in it. While some black Americans used their hair to pass as white, many slave owners forced black Americans to assimilate to white culture in order to look “presentable”. Not doing so meant they would suffer the “wrath of their masters” (“Black Hair in Bondage”, Byrd, 13). Moreover, they had to compensate for stereotypes of the savage black beast. Post-slavery, not attempting to fit into white standards of beauty could attract the attention of the Ku Klux Klan (“Black Hair in Bondage”, Byrd, 21). White hair replication quickly began to serve as a coping mechanism for black people during and post-slavery. Unfortunately for black Americans, it further decreased our ability to take care of our hair in its natural state and it reinforced a subconscious desire to be white.