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Black women do not like their hair touched.
Solange Knowles even wrote a whole song about it.
Don’t touch my hair
In the lyrics and music video of her song, she made sure to highlight the beauty of black hair.
I respect her art and I respect her opinions and the opinions of other black men and women who do not like to have their hair touched, particularly by persons of other races.
I understand the social, political and historical reasons behind why black hair should not be touched on notion or whim.
During slavery and colonialism, black people were coerced to ‘tame' their ‘wild’ afros. This was humiliating and dehumanising. Because black hair and self-expression through it, is a huge part of African cultures, this also stripped black people of their identities. The Black Panther movement made black hair a symbol of pride and strength and touching it simply because you feel like it can be disrespectful. Touching a black person’s hair can be patronising and has been likened to petting a dog. It is also annoying, intrusive and invasive. It can be unhygienic and can pass on germs.
I, however, don’t mind my hair being touched sometimes. That’s because I am also…
