How Did All Of This Start?: A Chronology of the Construction of Black Identity and the "First" Natural Hair Movement
In the 17th century, white European imperialists began taking voyages to the continent of Africa, in which they first encountered Black/African people. When the Europeans reached African land and came across African peoples, they observed them through Eurocentric lenses and made decisions about what they believed African peoples to be based on their own standards of livelihood. The Europeans witnessed African women partaking in daily activity while in the nude, eating raw meats, and practicing their tribal traditions. To the Europeans, this way of living was disgusting. According to the Europeans: the nudity of the African women was evidence of their promiscuity, eating raw meats was evidence of their savagery and animalistic nature, and speaking their native tongue, practicing non Judeo-Christian religions, and partaking in other native or tribal activities were evidence of their heathenism. All of these ideas attribute to the justification and origin of the Black female body being hypersexualized, objectified, and viewed by Europeans as immoral. While the Europeans were observing the behavior of the African women, they also took note of their physical appearance—they had different (darker) skin, hair texture, and body types than that of white women. The Europeans did not view these differences simply as differences, but as evidence of inferiority, which resulted in African women being viewed as physically subordinate as well. Because the African women were unable to meet the European constructed standards of white beauty, they were classified as “ugly” and grotesque. Throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th century, these ideas were (and continue to be) spread and perpetuated in Western Europe as well as here, in the United States.
The idea of Black women’s physical differences being ugly on their own but especially in comparison to white women brought a lot of focus to Black women’s hair. It is noticeably different than white women’s hair and in no way meets white standards of beauty preserved by society because of this. The constant perpetuation of the idea that Blackness is ugly—whether it is by slave-owners of the 19th century, random individuals of society, or contemporary mass media—has had, and still has psychological effects on all members of society. The result of these ideas being passed on for so long can be seen in forms of self-hate and internalized oppression by some members of the Black community. If Black women are taught their entire lives that they are ugly because of their skin, hair, and body types, why wouldn’t they try to change these things? Women are constantly defined and valued by society by their perceived aesthetical beauty. Thus, if Black women want to be viewed as beautiful by their white counterparts, the first thing to be done is to straighten those naps and turn that “ugly” hair into something “beautiful.” And that is exactly what many Black women did. They wanted to look as close to white as possible because whiteness was and still is considered the standard. By being closer to whiteness aesthetically (and in other ways such as mannerism and speech) Black people were thought to be more respectable. Because of this, in the late 19th and early 20th century, many Black people found ways to lighten their skin, and straighten their hair.
But not all Black people wanted to be respectable in the eyes of whites. During the 20th century, there was a lot of debate in regard to wether or not assimilation was a positive thing for Black people. For the Black people that did not believe in assimilation into white culture and would no longer accept the ideas about beauty that had been constructed by whites and forced onto Black people for so long, wearing an afro as opposed to using straightening methods was not a tough decision. Some of the Black people that felt this way were a part of the Black Power Movement of the 60’s and 70’s. During this time period, the first recognized Natural Hair Movement in the United States was taking place. In the mid-1960s when the Civil Rights Movement was transforming into the Black Power Movement, a new emphasis on embracement and celebration of Black identity came into focus; an understanding of the power possessed by Black people as individuals and in unity was acknowledged. Black people involved with this movement refused to have their voices taken away any longer and were ready to embrace their autonomy and shed the identities given to them by whites. Black men and women wore afros as a “way of showing their visible connection to their African ancestors and Blacks through the diaspora.” Many different types of Black people, from regular civilians to celebrities, began wearing afros.
Members of the Black Panther Party—key members of the Black Power Movement—also wore Afros and because of this afros became associated with militancy in the eyes of whites, making people who wore afros targets for arrest and harassment by white law enforcement and individuals. Some people believe this is part of the reason the Natural Hair Movement of this time began to die down in the late 70s and ended in the 80s. In addition to this, natural hairstyles such as braids and cornrows were not welcome in the work place, causing many Black people to go back to straightening their hair or trying new chemically relaxed styles like the Jheri Curl that became popular in the 80s and 90s.
The idea of Black women’s physical differences being ugly on their own but especially in comparison to white women brought a lot of focus to Black women’s hair. It is noticeably different than white women’s hair and in no way meets white standards of beauty preserved by society because of this. The constant perpetuation of the idea that Blackness is ugly—whether it is by slave-owners of the 19th century, random individuals of society, or contemporary mass media—has had, and still has psychological effects on all members of society. The result of these ideas being passed on for so long can be seen in forms of self-hate and internalized oppression by some members of the Black community. If Black women are taught their entire lives that they are ugly because of their skin, hair, and body types, why wouldn’t they try to change these things? Women are constantly defined and valued by society by their perceived aesthetical beauty. Thus, if Black women want to be viewed as beautiful by their white counterparts, the first thing to be done is to straighten those naps and turn that “ugly” hair into something “beautiful.” And that is exactly what many Black women did. They wanted to look as close to white as possible because whiteness was and still is considered the standard. By being closer to whiteness aesthetically (and in other ways such as mannerism and speech) Black people were thought to be more respectable. Because of this, in the late 19th and early 20th century, many Black people found ways to lighten their skin, and straighten their hair.
But not all Black people wanted to be respectable in the eyes of whites. During the 20th century, there was a lot of debate in regard to wether or not assimilation was a positive thing for Black people. For the Black people that did not believe in assimilation into white culture and would no longer accept the ideas about beauty that had been constructed by whites and forced onto Black people for so long, wearing an afro as opposed to using straightening methods was not a tough decision. Some of the Black people that felt this way were a part of the Black Power Movement of the 60’s and 70’s. During this time period, the first recognized Natural Hair Movement in the United States was taking place. In the mid-1960s when the Civil Rights Movement was transforming into the Black Power Movement, a new emphasis on embracement and celebration of Black identity came into focus; an understanding of the power possessed by Black people as individuals and in unity was acknowledged. Black people involved with this movement refused to have their voices taken away any longer and were ready to embrace their autonomy and shed the identities given to them by whites. Black men and women wore afros as a “way of showing their visible connection to their African ancestors and Blacks through the diaspora.” Many different types of Black people, from regular civilians to celebrities, began wearing afros.
Members of the Black Panther Party—key members of the Black Power Movement—also wore Afros and because of this afros became associated with militancy in the eyes of whites, making people who wore afros targets for arrest and harassment by white law enforcement and individuals. Some people believe this is part of the reason the Natural Hair Movement of this time began to die down in the late 70s and ended in the 80s. In addition to this, natural hairstyles such as braids and cornrows were not welcome in the work place, causing many Black people to go back to straightening their hair or trying new chemically relaxed styles like the Jheri Curl that became popular in the 80s and 90s.