HairChasm

I just returned from seeing the Chris Rock movie, "Good Hair." It was a true documentary which was informative and interesting. I had seen him on so many talk shows that I thought the movie would have dealt with the issues surrounding "good hair," but he took a more practical approach. Interestingly enough, the "Black hair" business which is solely used by African-Americans, is dominated by Koreans. There are approximately four Black owned "hair companies" out of all of the hundreds of companies. Most of the previously Black owned hair businesses were bought by large cosmetic companies. Secondly, most of the "weave ready" hair comes from India where Indian women sacrifice it in a religious ceremony. Al Sharpton, surprisingly to me, made some very poignant points. He said that we wear our oppression on our heads. Snoop Dog (I think that was who it was) was also very insightful, as were the men in the barbershop.

What the movie can do is begin a conversation between Blacks and Blacks, as well as between Blacks and members of other groups.

I had lunch with a friend this week at Cuatro Milpas (a restaurant in San Diego's Barrio Logan) and he mentioned that race relations are economically based. I told him that the problem with race relations is that people from diverse groups do not have meaningful conversations about race Most of the conversations are shallow and "polite."

He confirmed that he is very reluctant to talk about race for fear of saying the wrong thing. I told him that we cannot separate who we are and what made us what we are, but we can talk about it. He was probably surprised when I told him my thoughts on having grown up during the era of segregation. I told him that it was a fabulous cocoon which made me believe that I could do anything because I saw other African-Americans who had done just that in the confines of the system. I also suggested to him that most non-Blacks probably only have two or three African American friends. He said that he didn't interact with Blacks until he joined the Peace Corps and that even now, he probably only has about three Black friends. Anyway, we had a wonderfully frank and enlightening conversation. He said that there were certain things he would not say around me because I'm Black. I told him that Blacks also feel the same way about saying certain things around Whites and others. That is what made this movie a little uncomfortable for some Blacks--they felt that Chris was giving away one of our secrets. I, on the other hand, thought it was another way to bridge the chasm that is so evident in this society.

I grew up in an era when light skinned, good hair, (I prefer the term House Hair) were deemed better). Sadly, these thoughts still exist. I watched a talk show last week with very young Black girls who believed that their hair had to look like the White kids in their class. Some of these girls were getting their hair permed (straightened) from the age of three. Many of the mothers even believed that they were helping their daughters images of themselves by giving them perms. One woman even said she married a non-black so that her child could have "good hair." When we take two steps forward, sometimes we take two steps backwards.

The best thing about the movie was that Chris' point was that no one is defined by hair. It is what is inside of our heads that is more important!