The topic of black women and why we perm our hair is so old and ancient I rarely ever post on it. This is 2009 and people are still stuck with the mentality that the reason we do things today are the very same reasons our ancestors did them in the 1800’s.
David Banner recently stated that “Black people don’t love themselves” and that “Perming your hair is a clear example of ‘black-on-black crime’ and media control.”
I originally ignored the whole debate, but now that he’s coming out and trying to explain himself it caused me to take a second look and pay a penny’s worth of attention.
Banner challenged black women to explain why they perm and straighten their hair and in response came the defense that “hair perming is equated with being able to get a decent job as a professional and not being viewed as a threat by bosses who are usually of a different race.”
“This is what I mean when I say black people don’t love themselves,” Banner said. “Perming your hair is a clear example of ‘black-on-black crime’ and media control. Black-on-black crime is not just a black person committing a violent act against another black person.”
Wow, talk about bringing a whole new meaning to the term trichology (lol).
Disregard black people don’t love themselves (that’s silly). What I’m trying to understand is what he means by perming hair is a clear example of black-on-black crime? Was David trying to say he knew his statement would cause heated discussions and anger towards black women as it usually does and because so, it shows hatred towards ourselves? Hell I don’t know, and honestly it’s not even worth another penny for my thinking.
But for whatever it is worth, David talks with Essence to try and clean up his poor choice of words (or make another clear statement) saying that, “Yes, I said it but my speech was taken out of context. I was invited to speak to the students of South Carolina State University, a historically Black college, and my speech was about integration and how it has affected Black folks. The first thing I said before I began addressing the student body was that I was going to make statements that would purposely upset them because I wanted them to think about the [adverse] affect that integration has had on Black people. As Black people we gave up our power for control and how we teach our kids. So the point I was trying to make is that many of our grandparents permed their hair as well as their children’s for acceptance in society or even to get a job. When I made the statement, I made sure to say that this might not be the reason why many of our women relax their hair today, but I was sharing and explaining the history of relaxing hair. In short, I really don’t care what Black women do with their hair. I love Black women, period.”
“As a Black man who stands for something and always has, I can’t understand why every so-called media sites fail to do their research. Please know exactly what you’re talking about and who you’re talking about before you begin openly attacking people.”
[mashshare]
