Are There More Naturals in the Northeast than in the South???

[NYLegalNewbie]

I actually started thinking about this after watching an episode of the Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Here in New York, I see black women wearing their hair in all kinds of ways - afros, twists, locs, braids, relaxed, weaves, etc. But, when I think about what I saw when I lived in Atlanta for about 4 or 5 years, sooo many women had relaxed or weaved up hair. I definitely saw naturals, but just don't recall it being as common as it is in the Northeast.

So tell me...am I imagining things, or are there more naturals in the northeast than down south? And if so, why do people think that is?

 

[msa]

There are way more in NY than in any other place I've been. I think that's because the culture of the city (and the people) is very accepting. Everyone can "do them" without too much negative reaction. People are encouraged to be different there.

Down south there weren't as many, in my experience. I think that's partly due to the culture not being very accepting and partly due to the weather. The styles that seem to be popular there require straight hair, and I think it'd be pretty difficult for a natural to keep their hair straight in 90% humidity.

We have a lot of naturals in Cali, but most naturals wear their hair straight here.

 

[Charz]

There are allot here in DC too. Also in Baltimore.

 

[Kay.Dee]

Yes I think so
I'm from Texas and we recently went to visit family in Jersey, and we haven't seen dome of them in 7 years. Turns out most of my relatives on my Mom's side are natural and I was pleasantly surprised.

My aunt just cut off her locs after 15 years, my other aunt had a twa but is starting her locs. My uncle has locs and his daughter (9 y/o) has sister locs and her mother is loc'd as well. Both of my older male cousin are loc'd and my mom's cousin has shoulder length locs. My gradma keeps her hair in a twa. Wow that was a mouthful, but anyways I felt so at home with them and they all loved my hair and welcomed me with open arms.

My dad's side is another story

In general I noticed a lot more naturals in that area and while I was at the airport than here in Texas.
ETA
I think Houston might have a bigger natural population but in my area it's a big nope.

 

[ceebee3]

I've always seen more in NY than I have anywhere else. My dad lives in South Carolina and Georgia and I don't see as many natural heads there as I see in NY.

 

[glamazon386]

I think so. There are more naturals here on the NE Coast. NY, Philly, Baltimore, DC, etc. I see naturals here and in DC all the time.

 

[TINKABELLE]

Yes, I think it is due to proximity to urban areas, and differences in culture. From the cities compared, I would say there are more natural in NYC> D.C.> ATL

 

[cutiepiebabygirl]

I'm from the South...and before I came on LCHF...hadn't seen that many naturals in my life. It's like a rite of passage, you must get a relaxer..and if you don't have one..people look at you funny. I got my relaxer at 5! Everyone in my family has a relaxer.

I am noticing more people going natural here...but I imagine its not like up North. I only know 3 people out of everyone that I know that is natural. Two ladies at work..and another lady at a salon, I used to go to.

I think that it's looked down upon...my mom is one of those people....I told her that I want to go natural when I turn 30...she looked at me and said "Why is that people want to walk around with nappy a -- hair? I don't get it! If they told you you had to wear your hair nappy, you'd pitch a fit!!"
She is opposed to me stretching my relaxers...she always says.."How do you walk around with nappy mess on your head??" I told her that I'm not concerned with others' opinion of me, not even hers. Then she said " You always have been peculiar.."

LOL

I definitely think it's a cultural thing!! People up North are more accepting of a lot of things...had it not been for the people up North. Obama never would have won.

Did you see that map on CNN...the South was covered in RED. Some things never change.

 

[longnstrong]

Definitely more in the NE, especially Brooklyn and Harlem.

 

[MissBCurly]

Def alot more natural in the DMV (dc, maryland,va) and of course NY. Ive been around naturals all of my life. My mom and two of my aunts are natural. and majority of my moms family ( northerners as my dads fam calls them) Now my dads side of the family Ive never seen any naturals they are alllll from the south and have migrated north but they are wear relaxers and look at me crazy for not having one.

 

[Bulletproof]

I have been discussing this topic quite often. I swear especially in the last year the amount of naturals in New York has even gone up. Some days I feel it is almost 50/50 of naturals to relaxed and this is even in Midtown. And most do wonderful jobs of making it look really nice.

 

[Leeda.the.Paladin]

Yes indeed!I'm in the south and I rarely see naturals where I work. There is one that I work with and one who is transitioning. Out in public I see them a bit but it's so unusual that I take notice.

 

[PrincessScorpion]

I am preparing for the looks this weekend when I go to my mother's in North Carolina. I have been natural for 3 years now.

 

[adw425]

Well, I can tell you that I work at a black medical school in Atlanta with at least 500 other black women (we have about 1100 employees here) and there are not many naturals at all and most of the naturals came from New York, to be honest. Whenever I see a nice head of natural hair, I do stop and chat, but there are not many at all. I see more incoming students with natural than I used to, though, but we get students from all over the country (and world). When I go home to Chicago next week, I will do a study there.

 

[mzsophisticated26]

Yep I agree, I live in florida and it's rare that I see natural hair. It's like all they know is weaves in perms. My friend and her sister have to go to the african shops to get their natural hair done in twistouts because every salon always try to put a relaxer in it. She had to call more than 35 shops just to get a press n curl because no one uses hotcombs or dealt with natural hair. Also the humidity here is no joke so if you want to press your hair it will get poufy within an hr.

 

[discodumpling]

I see alot of nappy's on the subway during my commute. But I feel as though i'm the only one at my large telecommunications firm. With thousands of employees I never see anyone with obviously nappy hair like mine. I'm not too sure what's under all the weaves & wigs though.

 

[tbaby_8]

I am seeing more people with locks in the south, but not that many. People love relaxers. I am not knocking them, because I use to wear them, but slowly but surely people are starting to go natural.

 

[tailormade84]

yes, there are.

i believe its because there is a greater percentage of people down south who view natural hair as "unkept" hair...

 

[dynamic1]

I see lots of natural heads in Atlanta. I have noticed greater numbers in NY, Chicago and DC. There are a lot more naturals in ATL than Houston or DFW. I have also noticed that non-relaxers in Atlanta heat straighten more frequently. Heck, I had my hair thermally straightened in ATL and it laughed at the humidity. That won't happen in H-town.

 

[RoundEyedGirl504]

I think that's definitely true, BUT, I find that when I see naturals in the south they usually have locks. And I have been noticing the number increasing.

 

[bludaydreamr]

I think it depends on were in the south you are, I have live in several places in the south, and I would say the larger the city the more naturals there are. There are more naturals then you may think in ATL, but a lot of them wear there hair straight. In Alabama there are not just as many women that I see wearing natural hair, but to me the humidity is worse there then in ATL. In south florida there were a considerate amount of naturals, but I attribute that to the different cultures.