The Unloved Black Girl Struggling To Be Free

Black women have been one of the most influential people in American society. Based on information gathered by the National Center for Education Statistics, the most educated women in America are African American. However, despite this fantastic accolade, black women still feel downplayed by society. Society has placed a standard on beauty by implementing into the minds of women that the color of the skin and the kinkiness of their hair ultimately makes them ugly.

In Malcolm X’s speech, 'Who Taught You To Hate Yourself? He claims that "The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. "The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman." He poses a series of questions targeting the Black woman. He says, “Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the color of your skin to such an extent that you bleach to get like the white man?” (00:00:29-00:00:31) X touches on the topic of self-loathing as a way to show how spiritually diminishing racism has been for the black community. This kind of racism has often affected how women see themselves. Racism, in its entirety, has led them to alter their hair to become straight and bleaching their skin in order to assimilate into society's idea of beauty. Black women have struggled throughout history to decipher their beauty from that of what society deems as beautiful because the world has not encouraged them to believe in their greatness, forcing them to develop low self-esteem.

The degradation of internalized hatred began during the horrific period of slavery. Slave masters often separated slaves based on their complexion. "A hierarchy imposed on Blacks by slave masters privileged those with lighter skin, straighter features, and straighter hair over those that reflected more African features" (Abdullah, 1998; Banks, 2000). African Americans used their European-like features to place themselves in groups that demote and devalue many physical African elements, such as hair and complexion.

'The internalization of White beauty standards is particularly problematic for Black women because it acts as a barrier to attaining the ideal of femininity. The historically acknowledged picture of femininity in American society – pale skin, long hair, and non-working – did not apply to most Black women" (Weathers, 1991).

Women have since begun bleaching their skin and straightening their hair, which will bring them a step closer to the beauty they want to achieve.

In 2009, Director, Writer, Actor, and comedian, Christopher Rock, filmed a documentary entitled, Good Hair. The documentary touches on the importance of hair and why women make the drastic changes they do to their hair.

"Beginning in the late 19th century, Black women (who have hair that is typically short and tightly curled into 'kinks' or 'naps') have resorted to the application of Sodium Hydroxide-based chemicals, which 'relax' or 'perm' the hair, heated tools such as hair irons or hot combs, or a combination of both to alter their hair. Since neither texture nor length of natural Black hair conforms to the traditional picture of American beauty, Black women must take drastic measures in order to come close to the dominant standards "(Robinson, 2011).

White beauty being unattainable for Black women (Rock, 2009), hair straightening techniques remain popular because they represent a chance to come a bit closer to the ideal. Actress Raven Symone agrees with Rock's statement and says, "hair straightening as a way to blend in and make those unfamiliar with Black hair, especially Whites, comfortable; relaxing one's hair, she says, is a way to make everyone around you relaxed" (Good Hair 2009). Achieving a European standard of beauty has become a necessity for the black community.

In the 1940s psychologists, Mamie and Kenneth Clarke created and administered a psychological experiment, known as "The Doll Test," to determine the effects of discrimination and segregation on African American children.

"Drs. Clark used four dolls, identical except for color, to test children's racial perceptions. Their subjects, children between the ages of three to seven, were asked to identify both the race of the dolls and which color doll they prefer. A majority of the children preferred the white doll and assigned positive characteristics to it" (Naacp 1).

The doctors selected the ages of three and seven years because children are still in the personality development stage, where they are generating their personality. While they are still developing their own identity, they are still very impressionable. During this segregational period, children saw the white doll as favorable and gave positive feedback towards it. 'The Doll Test' showed that children were aware of their racial differences. During an interview with Pbs, Kenneth Clark recalls an interaction he had with a child from Arkansas. Clark says, "Arkansas, he asked a black child which doll was most like him. The child responded by smiling and pointing to the brown doll: "That's a nigger. I'm a nigger" (NAACP, 2). This response was unlike anything Dr. Clark had heard before and, unfortunately, proved his thesis. Dr. Clark continues, "as disturbing, or more disturbing, than the children in Massachusetts who would refuse to answer the question of who would cry and run out of the room" (NAACP 2). This experiment's thesis was proven and led to the two doctors to the result that systematic racism damages the development of children who are still creating themselves, eventually leading to the low self-esteem of African American children. This information was used as evidence during the Brown v. Board case in 1957. Attornies used the results of the Doll test to aid in Brown's case, which ultimately led to the supreme court decision declaring segregation in schools as unconstitutional.

Though the Experiment was able to show the world how racism affected African American children in every aspect of life, However, racism which influences colorism and texturizism is circulating differently. It is spread more through the media. Instead of praising black women's features, they often praise a woman who has straight hair, light eyes, and whiter skin.

Sadly, women of color have been subjected to some very harsh criticism by promoting values that diminish the idea of feeling and understanding the essence of their beauty.

African American women today need this kind of motivation to accept and love the skin they are in. In the song, Keep Ya Head Up, Tupak Shakur begins by saying, "Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice. I say the darker the flesh then, the dee"er the" roots" (00:00:15 - 00:00:20). He is speaking of the beauty of the black race, he wanted the world to know that we have a story, and our story should never be forgotten. He makes it clear to us that the doesn't make us any less than any other race. In closing, X says, “ Stand up like men, and place the same penalty over the head of anyone who puts his filthy hands out to put in the direction of our women.” (00:03:18 - 00:03:29). In my own words, I will say, let us stand together as members of the human race to fight against those that throw hate in the direction of our women. “I think it's time to kill for our women, Time to heal our women, be real to our women” (Shakur, 00:01:03- 00:01:06).

Let us implore our women to love themselves wholeheartedly. Shakur tells us that now we should help black women develop self-love because it is the best love. However, how can we expect women of color to love themselves and build confidence within themselves if we do not encourage it? First, we should teach them that hair alteration in the act of trying to fit in is a form of self-hatred. Second, we should remind them that every kink and curl is a representation of a royal lineage. This form of self-hate has been historically passed down from generation to generation, and we must put an end to it. We, as a united community, must teach our women to love what God made.

Sources

Abdullah, A. S. (1998). Mammy-ism: A diagnosis of psychological misorientation for women of African descent. Journal of Black Psychology, 24(2), 196-210

Banks, I. (2000). Hair matters: Beauty, power, and Black women’s consciousness.New York: New York University Press

Bouldin, India, director. Colorism in the Media. 2013.

Shakur, Tupac Amaru.“Keep Ya Head Up.” N.I.G.G.A (Never Ignorant in Getting Goals Accomplished). Interscope Records.1993.CD.

X, Malcolm. “Who Taught You to Hate Yourself.” Harlem, New York. 1962.