natural AND professional, oh my!

photo: getty images

That the appropriateness of natural (and yes, in many cases nappy) black hair in professional environments is still  questioned and debated,  says it all:  We may have come a long way baby, but we are nowhere near there yet.  In a lot of ways we have simply moved sideways and not forward.  Over at Black Enterprise, a recent article tackles the subject, stating:

"The reality is that your chances for getting a job and getting promoted are lessened when you don’t conform/assimilate to an ideal, predefined standard of appearance in certain industries. Is it right? No. Is there something you can do about that? Yes. If you’ve demonstrated that you have an incomparable work ethic, you can tame your company’s most challenging projects, and you’ve dotted every I or crossed every T on your resume but you still aren’t getting hired or promoted, then you have three choices: 1) Change industries 2) start your own company or 3) conform and straighten your hair and/or cut your locs."

It's sobering to remember how real the third choice is.  I have walked out of interviews that seemed to have gone beautifully, not heard back and wondered if my locs had anything to do with it.  It's an unspoken thing.  A thing you notice at random times, like when your white co-worker catches herself saying something about how dry her hair got, after she colored it for the second time over the weekend; when she touches her hair, her eyes fall on your long dreadlocks and her voice trails off just as she finishes saying  "It had the most horrible texture."   

It was only four years ago that former Glamour magazine associate editor, Ashley Baker stood before a room full of lawyers and presented a slide show on dos and don'ts of corporate fashion, during which she reportedly made remarks about dreadlocks being "truly dreadful ... No offense, but those 'political' hairstyles really have to go." (Howard University News Service)  The ensuing media storm included myriad debates on racism, and Baker's resignation (which says nothing about whether or not she has come to see that the way my hair coils out of my scalp is just as natural as the way her hair grows).  And then, just like that, everyone moved on.

We've come a long way, but we are still right here.  The law may say companies can't discriminate in their hiring practices, but let's not get it twisted:  The only place racism has gone is officially out of style.  If the person interviewing you or the one in charge of your promotion has some deep seeded view that hair is 'appropriate' or 'kept' or 'beautiful' or 'professional looking' only when it it straight and flowy, then you (and your locs, 'fros, twists, etc...) are out of the running, unless you conform and change your hair.  

Here's hoping you never have to.