Funny Article About Bi-Racial Hair

[*SkolarStar*]

Funny Article About "Bi-Racial Hair"

This is from AOL Black Voices. The author, Rebecca Carroll, is biracial and discusses her trouble with her hair because her mother, who was white, never taught her how to care for it. She makes it sound much funnier than how I just wrote the summary. I also find it funny that "bi-racial hair" is what a lot of black people equate to "good hair" and yet they have problems too that aren't recognized. This go to show that there are light brown patches on everyone's lawn of grass.

Having a white friend who has adopted a black child, and bearing witness to the process from the get go, feels alternately like receiving some sort of epically heartbreaking gift, and time-traveling on a really high-quality hallucinogen.

When my friend, who I will call Alice, and her husband were first meeting with the birth mother then pregnant with the child they hoped to adopt, Alice told me the first thing this woman asked was: "Do you know how to handle black hair?" To which Alice responded, "Well, no. But I have a friend who does." I look at little Zahara Jolie-Pitt, as cute as she is, and I think, does Angelina Jolie have no black friends whatsoever?

My mom did not have any black friends, which you'd likely have been able to tell by looking at my own head of unkempt hair as a child (that's me, below), but she did manage to find me a black dance teacher, who wore her hair in a lovely, understated Afro. I didn't mirror her look knowingly, but I'm sure her Afro made me feel less freakish about mine.

And really, I didn't feel all that freakish about anything until I started middle school. Then I didn't need to simply worry about getting boobs, toning down my boy-craziness, and coveting the latest Nike sneaker (white leather with red swoosh). I also had to figure out how to somehow make my coarse, frizzy and difficult hair appear shiny, silky and easy.

My sister had a curling iron, which I used to no avail. I pulled and tugged at my hair. I wore head wraps and forced barrettes to hold what they couldn't, and weren't made to. I had a neighbor braid the front half, the rest was too knotted to comb through. And then there was the issue of my scalp. It was dry and itchy, and I had no idea what to use for it. And in any event, none of these efforts, which went on through high school, came close to producing the result I was hoping for, which was to bear at least some resemblance to Julie McCoy from 'The Love Boat.'

In college, I had a (white) boy ask me why, if I washed my hair regularly, as I told him I did, was my scalp so flaky? And then I had girls (white) ask me if I was able to get my hair wet -- could I, they wondered audibly, 'Go, like, you know, swimming?' I said that I could, of course, but secretly wondered if I hadn't been properly taught that black people were not supposed to get their hair wet.

My mom, who made gorgeous crowns of wildflowers for me to wear around my Afro when I was small (don't judge, hippies are people too), always just told me that my hair was beautiful. It did have a certain beauty, in retrospect. It was strong and willful, oddly elegant with its rough-hewn sprigs of anger, as I tried to force it into something it could never be.

It wasn't until I was in my early 20s that a (black) girlfriend, who straightened her own hair, was thoughtful enough to tell me not long after we'd become friends, "Honey, you need to put some oil on that scalp." I returned the favor, at that point fully embracing of my inevitably boho style and sensibility, by telling her to go natural, which she did.

My friend's suggestion didn't solve all my problems -- and lord knows, we black women are engaged in an endless dance with our hair. It is a defining characteristic of our lives -- for better or worse. How we care for, think about, and wear our hair takes us to emotional heights and depths unimaginable to most non-black folks. And much of the time, it's nearly impossible to explain why.

And so it's really important, Angelina Jolie, for black girls to be taught proper hair care in much the same way that they are taught to ride a bike -- as an integral part of their childhood learning. Luckily for my friend Alice, the birth mother had a boy, and black hair for boys is tons easier.

http://www.bvhairtalk.com/2011/04/19/interracial-adoption-in-present-racial-america-ii-hair/

 

[FutureMD]

You do realize that there is no such thing as "biracial hair" don't you? Leni Kravitz has a white dad. His hair is quite kinky. I mean, using the popular hair typing system he'd be type 4 to the max, like Yaphet Kotto. And Rashida Jones has a white mom but has pin straight hair. Scary Spice and Rachel True have white moms and corkscrew curls. So "biracial" hair isn't all "good" hair, and it's certainly not all one thing, and has all of the same variations that you see in the hair of people with two black parents.
But yes, if it's too dissimilar from what a white mom has, many of my friends with white moms have told me that their moms could not and would not do their hair, and a lot of them had to learn from other black moms or black female friends.

 

[SmilingElephant]

Cute article

But yeah I was JUST thinking this while I was doing my wash n go this morning.....what is the difference between biracial ppls hair....and everyone elses?

I'm guessing it's said to be "biracial" hair bc the child has a different curl pattern and texture than the parents and the parent is just unfamiliar with it.

Other than that they still have to take good care of it for it to be healthy.

 

[*SkolarStar*]

You do realize that there is no such thing as "biracial hair" don't you? Leni Kravitz has a white dad. His hair is quite kinky. I mean, using the popular hair typing system he'd be type 4 to the max, like Yaphet Kotto. And Rashida Jones has a white mom but has pin straight hair. Scary Spice and Rachel True have white moms and corkscrew curls. So "biracial" hair isn't all "good" hair, and it's certainly not all one thing, and has all of the same variations that you see in the hair of people with two black parents.
But yes, if it's too dissimilar from what a white mom has, many of my friends with white moms have told me that their moms could not and would not do their hair, and a lot of them had to learn from other black moms or black female friends.

At the bolded: Did I not quote "bi-racial hair" in my initial post? Why would I think that all people who are biracial have one type of hair?
When I said that most black people equate it to "good hair", I'm speaking of the biracial people I've been around and the black people I've heard say "she got that good hair". Or even people who assume someone is biracial because of their hair. The "biracial hair"="good hair" is a stereotype and with all stereotypes, there is some truth to it.

 

[shunemite]

OP, Interesting article, coz I actually do personally know a family like this. The mother is Caucasian, the father is African, and they have two daughters. She had the hardest time with their hair for a while. She pretty much did what she did to her own hair which was use harsh shampoos on it daily, a little hair spray, and it looked unkempt. Another African lady showed her how to take care of her daughters' hair and ten years later she still has the hang of it.

 

[davisbr88]

I thought that was a cute article
And I get what she means. Many people assume that if you have non-kinky hair that you are "mixed," so it's not like OP just made that up. I'm sure she doesn't actually think that "biracial hair" exists, just like "black hair" doesn't really exist. We run the spectrum, and I think that's pretty obvious.
I think that the struggles the article suggests are the lack of knowledge her mother possessed in styling a different, unfamiliar hair type. I don't think it has anything to do with her actual curl type (3b or 4b, for example) at all. Many of my straight-haired white, Asian, and Spanish friends, and even a few of my type 2 black friends don't even come close to some of the regimens we go hard on and most of them have healthy hair, so I can imagine that if that's the hair her Mom has, she wouldn't have been as knowledgeable.
If I adopted a straight-haired child, I'm not sure I would know how to handle it in terms of styling other than putting in some bows and stuff so I think it goes both ways.

 

[snillohsss]

WTH is biracial hair!?

 

[tatiana]

"Biracial hair being easy" is a myth.

I fully realize that "biracial hair" can be 4b to 2a but most people classify "biracial" hair in the 3a-c range.

Most people with 3a-c hair realize that they have problems with their hair but people who are in the type 4 range do not wish to acknowledge this fact.

Even on this forum, type 3s are not allowed to complain about their hair and when they do they are told to stop whining by others.

I have read countless posts written by type 4s stating type 3s have an easier time growing their hair out, how they do not suffer from SSKs, how they do not suffer from shrinkage and etc.

So maybe people should allow other people to rant instead of censoring them and coming up with misinformation.

 

[NicWhite]

I think that when people say bi-racial hair most people imagine a person that is mixed with black and another race and has a curl pattern that is looser than 4A, and/or hair that does not get much shrinkage, and/or is naturally shiny.

I know its foolish but that is what most people think. Hence black women with those attributes constantly being asked the dreaded question "what are you mixed with?"

 

[Chameleonchick]

I agree about how biracial hair is not one universal type. My two children are biracial both have the same father. My son has hair closest to my type, I am a 4b he is a 4a maybe a little 3c. My daughter is like a 2c or 3a. The nape is 3a but everything else is a 2c.

 

[Embyra]

majority of people do not know how to look after curly kinky hair PERIOD take a look on naturallycurly and see how many women of other ethnicity's are just now learning how to look after their curls at 20 30 40 and upwards in age

so i dont find it surprising that some mothers dont know how to handle their kids hair


also some of these same black mothers who like to ''offer'' advice on haircare all they know is pinkoil and scraping hair back so whatever

 

[Vashti]

I liked the article. And I've known some bi-racial children who grew up with white mothers and black fathers who had this same struggle.

 

[faithVA]

I enjoyed the article OP. Thank You.

I could just imagine her hair. One year when I was 8 or 9, I went to stay with a family in the country (project kids get exposed to life somewherez else). My mom of course had done my hair before I left but she hadn't thought it athrough. If she had she would have put my hair in cornrows.

While in the country I guess we played in the sprinklers and my hair got wet and with type 4a/4b natural hair you know the rest. The lady of the house did her best to do something with it. My hair is dense and has 80% shrinkage. So I have this wonderful picture of sitting next to these white kids with these two puffy puffs on the side with the band holders in the middle of the puff trying to hold the explosion together. Fortunately I didn't realize how much of a hot mess it was. I don't remember how long I walked around looking like that. I just know my mother was dismayed when they sent me back home. I never took such a trip again.

 

[LilMissSunshine5]

I am not biracial, but I have tried to help many friends who were...I have not once seen a biracial friend with a white mom without unkempt hair. Either it is very dry looking, uncombed & not properly trimmed, or tangled to the point of looking like a birds nest. I understand that the child's hair is very different from the mom's hair, but isn't part of the deal of having a mixed race child learning about how to handle the differences?! I mean, they had to realize their daughters hair was not looking cute If they are my friends, I will try to make suggestions and over time, they either accept them or don't. But at least I know I played my part & didn't allow them to go around looking like Who-shot-John-and-forgot-to-kill-him

 

[leiah]

The article isn't about a type of hair, its about mothers who are not experienced in taking care of hair that's different from their own

I'm biracial and my sister and I have very different hair. My mother did a good job with both of us. It wasn't until we got older and started doing our own hair (relaxers!) that things went downhill

 

[PraisedBeauty]

Dag y'all natchals fight about er thang. Can't you just enjoy the darn article? *exits thread*

 

[NikStarrr]

Um, maybe she called it bi-racial hair because she's bi-racial and it's HER hair. Ever think of that? lol

I have black hair, because I'm black and it's on MY head--no matter what the texture. Some of y'all are a bit too sensitive.


Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[qchelle]

I liked the article.

Although I agree that black mommas don't know what the **** they doin either...I think the information is worse for biracial people and their white mommas. At least the biracial women I know Like yea, black mommas advice would be to wash it every now and then, braid it up in between washes, keep the scalp greased, maybe you can press it out for special occasions; use pretty barettes. Ok...yeaaa that's not the BEST advice one could give on black hair care, but it's better than nothing. And it's wayyy better than the stuff that my biracial gfs say about their hair

They'll say stuff like 'I wash my hair with shampoo everyday...why is my scalp dry?' 'What is hair grease?' 'I hate that my hair curls up so much and it's so puffy...what can I do about it?' Like umm...use hair grease, stop washing your hair so much, and go get a relaxer. Duh. Like I've seriously told a biracial friend of mine to use hair grease...and I don't even use hair grease! But it's better than nothing! And the level of complaining about their curls is almost nauseating! 'I have to put sooo much on my hair to get it to lay down!' 'My hair is soooo frizzy alll the time ' 'I hate my hair sooo much...its sooo difficult' Like omg stfu! Just relax dat **** and stfu! And this is at least 10 people! They all say the same thing!

I recently relaxed one of my friends hair for her. She had told me that she was going to have to get it cut soon for the summer because she has to wear it curly in the summer because she has to wash it everyday Umm if you relax it you'll never have to wear it curly ever again.....like duh! She said she hasn't had a perm in like 6 months Why not?! If you hate it curly so much?! She said she didn't have the time *big sigh* so I said I'd do it for her. She's extremely ecstatic about her straight hair now. I hope she shutup complaining now lol.


And then...the biracial women around here don't get weaves...they just walk around with extremely busted lookin hair! I've never in my life (before I came to college) seen so many crazy hair situations! Never seen so much dry, crispy, parched, desert lookin hair in.my.life. Like some of these girls hair does.not.move.at.all, looks like straight HAY (a lot of them have very light brown hair...and if your hair is gonna be dry as hell, it should be as black as possible lol), and is like ear length! And they just walk around like this outside! I seriously have never had friends with such busted lookin hair! I've had bald friends But at home, if you don't have hair or don't wanna take care of your own hair, you get a weave! And make sure it looks good at all times! Weave game is tight where I'm from Why don't biracial girls get weaves? lol I'm jk...sorta.

Ok, sorry for the rant lol...but I do think its weird AND sad how an entire half of your family is black and you don't know about hair grease, weaves, and to get regular relaxers. OMG! And they don't wear scarves to bed either! But fareal, like...you've never been to a family reunion on your black side? I guess not though because most (MY biracial friends and acquaintances) of their fathers weren't around

 

[KurlyNinja]

I'm just gonna add another point in here and say

NOT ALL BIRACIAL PEOPLE ARE BLACK AND SOMETHING ELSE

#thatisall

 

[MsSanz92]

This article is funny! I had this biracial girl in my grade in HS who was relaxed and then grew out her relaxer. She had a younger sister who was relaxed and when they were younger, their White mother used to get a Black neighbor to braid their hair. I don't know why more White/non Black mothers of biracial children have not done that yet! I also know another girl who was Black and Puerto Rican but her mother had type 1 hair and she still to this day (a college student) walks around looking like a poodle. I think she got a BKT a few months back but it appears to have worn off but I'm still puzzled as to how she has not learned something about maintaining her hair for the last 19 years before this BKT she got a few months back. She has a few Black friends, someone must have mentioned something to her about some JAM, Oil Moisturizer, Grease, Dominican salons, something! TBH, I see a lot more Biracial girls with White mothers (especially if they grew up around all White people) with jacked up hair thinking they could use harsh sulfates on their curly hair every damn day like their full White friends Girl BYE!

 

[HeavenlySkies]

I thought the article says she was adopted by white people she's not actually biracial.

 

[Mizz Diamonds]

reminds me of a friend in high school everyday he would turn up with the messiest tanglest fro and we his black female friends would be like "when was the last time you detangled your hair?"

He would be all "I don't know" Then we would just bring our stuff to school and just take care of his hair. wash, detangle braid it.

 

[reeko43]

I thought the article says she was adopted by white people she's not actually biracial.

The article says her friend was going through the process of adopting a black child. She does not refer to herself as being adopted.