SPIN-OFF: Black people with Type 1 Hair

[monister]

Im african and i have type 3 natural hair with some 4 at the back. There is no one from my heritage who is mixed and im pretty sure of that. I know I got my hair from my dad who got his from his mother. I should take a picture of their natural hair but they dont live here....So one doesnt have to be mixed to have a type of hair that is different from type four. I dont know where the type 3 hair came from.....In the northern part of Nigeria, the hausas and fulanis have type 2 and 3 hair and im very sure they're not mixed. Arabs never came to my country only white people and they didnt stay in the North. i think its people in the northern part of Africa that mostly have different hair types. i met a woman from tanzania who has type 2 hair but im not sure if she's mixed or not. Im thinking it depends on the weather or climate. Because its really dry and dusty in the North, nature may have let their hair be a little curly so it doesnt hold sand and dirt and so it doesnt dry out. who knows......

arabs did come to parts of northern nigeria...

monister

 

[monister]

I do not believe a Black person can have straight hair without a chemical. My belief will NOT change. IF a "Black" person has naturally straight hair, they are not all Black. They got the hair texture from White, Indian, etc. blood. The "One Drop Rule" does not work for me. A person that is 1/4 Black is not a Black person. I do not remember seeing any slaves with bone straight hair. This issue is quite hilarious.

you were alive during the period of time the first slave came to the US?

monister

 

[Poohbear]

I do not believe a Black person can have straight hair without a chemical. My belief will NOT change. IF a "Black" person has naturally straight hair, they are not all Black. They got the hair texture from White, Indian, etc. blood. The "One Drop Rule" does not work for me. A person that is 1/4 Black is not a Black person. I do not remember seeing any slaves with bone straight hair. This issue is quite hilarious.

What do u consider "all Black"? How can a Black person be all black or 100% black??? How come someone that is mixed with something else cannot be considered black? Black is just a category people are placed in because of COMMON traits. That doesn't mean every black person should possess these traits. That's impossible.

For example, a common black feature is big lips. I don't have big lips, does that make me "not-all-the-way Black"? Certainly not!

 

[kristina]

Me too. When I said "I wish all blacks could see those pics" that was because I would like others to see that not all blacks have type 4 hair. This thread was not about not appreciating type 4 hair though. It was simply about whether you've seen a black person with type 1 hair. Nothing more. Me personally, I admire and appreciate all hair types that black people represent.

This was in part the reason I asked what's the prize for having Type 1 hair. I agree with qt that it did sound like people were trying to prove something and it does to me express some internal issues considering the context- people started posting pictures of children with straightish hair, it's immediately followed by posts of admiration and then you expressed that you wished everyone could see their hair. It definately seemed that you felt that there was something particular to be gained/benefited from all black people seeing blacks with type 1 hair. My instant reaction was why? Is this somehow affirming in some way? It's like when black people start bragging about their or their families non-african traits- yeah maybe it's a statement of fact but it's still culturally loaded. Of course, you could have meant that it would have been interesting for blacks to see (the way it's interesting to see a person with violet eyes). But why all blacks? But considering the context, I think it was reasonable to conclude that statement to at least on some level exuded some unnecessary deferrence to type 1/ type 2 hair (and that's my diplomatic why of putting it).
And with respect to people noting that people with type 1 hair are mixed, I think this statement is responsive to the posts made that race is a purely a social construct and therefore associating any traits with races is bogus (that's how I understood the statement especially when someone posted that it's a stereotype to associate straight hair with Asians). Basically, what the comments express to me is that one doesn't need to understand phenotypes to notice a correlation between straight hair blacks and non-african ancestry. Not saying it's impossible because I don't know that, but my own eyes and experience indicate that 'pure' Africans don't have straight hair.

 

[Poohbear]

This was in part the reason I asked what's the prize for having Type 1 hair. I agree with qt that it did sound like people were trying to prove something and it does to me express some internal issues considering the context- people started posting pictures of children with straightish hair, it's immediately followed by posts of admiration and then you expressed that you wished everyone could see their hair. It definately seemed that you felt that there was something particular to be gained/benefited from all black people seeing blacks with type 1 hair. My instant reaction was why? Is this somehow affirming in some way? It's like when black people start bragging about their or their families non-african traits- yeah maybe it's a statement of fact but it's still culturally loaded. Of course, you could have meant that it would have been interesting for blacks to see (the way it's interesting to see a person with violet eyes). But why all blacks? But considering the context, I think it was reasonable to conclude that statement to at least on some level exuded some unnecessary deferrence to type 1/ type 2 hair (and that's my diplomatic why of putting it).
And with respect to people noting that people with type 1 hair are mixed, I think this statement is responsive to the posts made that race is a purely a social construct and therefore associating any traits with races is bogus (that's how I understood the statement especially when someone posted that it's a stereotype to associate straight hair with Asians). Basically, what the comments express to me is that one doesn't need to understand phenotypes to notice a correlation between straight hair blacks and non-african ancestry. Not saying it's impossible because I don't know that, but my own eyes and experience indicate that 'pure' Africans don't have straight hair.

Oh okay. Well when I said that little sentence, I was not implying that type 1 was any better than any other hair type. I wished all blacks could see the pics to show that black people can have different hair textures besides 3 or 4. And also the fact that those pics of those little kids were cute. I can only speak for myself. I don't know about anyone elses' responses you have seen that relate to what you are saying.

btw, what is a pure African? I just asked if anyone has seen any BLACKS with straight hair. That could be a black person in any population group in this world.

 

[Tiffany]

What do u consider "all Black"? How can a Black person be all black or 100% black??? How come someone that is mixed with something else cannot be considered black? Black is just a category people are placed in because of COMMON traits. That doesn't mean every black person should possess these traits. That's impossible.

For example, a common black feature is big lips. I don't have big lips, does that make me "not-all-the-way Black"? Certainly not!

Girl let it go! Straight hair is NOT a Black trait. I believe what I want & you believe what you want! Use some of your energy to start another one of your "spin off" threads. lol

 

[Tiffany]

you were alive during the period of time the first slave came to the US?

monister

Whatever! They ALL had nappy hair.

 

[baglady215]

Maybe someone should define "black" and then pose the question... The same word can have different meanings to different peole...

 

[Poohbear]

Girl let it go! Straight hair is NOT a Black trait. I believe what I want & you believe what you want! Use some of your energy to start another one of your "spin off" threads. lol

I did not say straight hair was a black trait. It's actually a Caucasiod trait. I'm just saying a black person can have a Non-Negroid (non-Black) trait. Do you get what I'm saying? Not trying to argue with you at all. Another example that's a little off topic here...

Dark skin is a Black trait.
Light skin is not a Black trait.
Look at all the light skinned people who consider themselves Black. A light skinned person can be Black even though they do not have dark skin. Does that help you understand what I'm trying to say?

 

[MissMarie]

Okay, I'm glad to see that I interpreted the original question correctly. One would assume that if you were referring to a narrow definition of black that you'd specify what you meant and to which population you were referring.

btw, what is a pure African? I just asked if anyone has seen any BLACKS with straight hair. That could be a black person in any population group in this world.

I'd like an answer to that too, what makes someone completely African or all black?

 

[Poohbear]

Okay, I'm glad to see that I interpreted the original question correctly. One would assume that if you were referring to a narrow definition of black that you'd specify what you meant and to which population you were referring.

Thank you! I was just referring to Blacks in general. It could be any type, sub-type, micro-type, mixed, or what have you.

 

[kristina]

Oh okay. Well when I said that little sentence, I was not implying that type 1 was any better than any other hair type. I wished all blacks could see the pics to show that black people can have different hair textures besides 3 or 4. And also the fact that those pics of those little kids were cute. I can only speak for myself. I don't know about anyone elses' responses you have seen that relate to what you are saying.

btw, what is a pure African? I just asked if anyone has seen any BLACKS with straight hair. That could be a black person in any population group in this world.

The second paragraph was responding to Porsche who said that it was silly for others to mention that the blacks they've seen with straight hair have non-African ancestry because we're all mixed. There was a subdiscussion of race where some posters (I forgot the name) rejected the statement that straight hair is not a negroid feature. Actually the point Porsche was making doesn't conflict with the statement that straight hair isn't a negroid trait- if we're mixed, then the fact someone black has straight hair or blue eyes doesn't mean that straight hair or blue eyes are negroid traits, it means it's a recessive gene trait that many of us being mixed have but is rarely seen because it's recessive. I don't have any scientific research but at minimum a pure African (if there's such a thing) is someone who can trace their blood line and would not see causacian and mongoloid blood, someone I'd posit is extremely unlikely to have type 1 hair.
To the question you asked I answered that question yes, I have seen Brazilian and Dominican blacks with straight hair (now that I think of it a girl in my class is from Barbodos and her hair appears type 1 as well). So to beat a dead horse, blacks can have type 1 hair but it's not an African trait.

 

[MissMarie]

I did not say straight hair was a black trait. It's actually a Caucasiod trait. I'm just saying a black person can have a Non-Negroid (non-Black) trait. Do you get what I'm saying? Not trying to argue with you at all. Another example that's a little off topic here...

Dark skin is a Black trait.
Light skin is not a Black trait.
Look at all the light skinned people who consider themselves Black. A light skinned person can be Black even though they do not have dark skin. Does that help you understand what I'm trying to say?

At some point don't these traits become black traits because populations black people have them?

If you don't have full lips, but yet you're black do you have "white" lips or are you a black person that simply has a different feature than some other black people?

Blacks are diverse. There are some features that are more common among Africans and the diaspora, and things that are generalizable, such as darker skin tones, but there does not exist some checklist where a person must have a, b, and c to be black (or a true African) and if one is missing they aren't on the list. I don't get the limitations people put on what is black, saying that some people are more black than others. Its akin to saying, on a socioeconomic level, that because a disproportionate number of blacks in American cities are working and lower class that therefore that is a defining social characteristic of blackness, and that anyone who is outside of that isn't as black as others regardless of how they identify and how they are viewed in the broader society.

 

[LookieLoo]

The second paragraph was responding to Porsche who said that it was silly for others to mention that the blacks they've seen with straight hair have non-African ancestry because we're all mixed. There was a subdiscussion of race where some posters (I forgot the name) rejected the statement that straight hair is not a negroid feature. Actually the point Porsche was making doesn't conflict with the statement that straight hair isn't a negroid trait- if we're mixed, then the fact someone black has straight hair or blue eyes doesn't mean that straight hair or blue eyes are negroid traits, it means it's a recessive gene trait that many of us being mixed have but is rarely seen because it's recessive. I don't have any scientific research but at minimum a pure African (if there's such a thing) is someone who can trace their blood line and would not see causacian and mongoloid blood, someone I'd posit is extremely unlikely to have type 1 hair.
To the question you asked I answered that question yes, I have seen Brazilian and Dominican blacks with straight hair (now that I think of it a girl in my class is from Barbodos and her hair appears type 1 as well). So to beat a dead horse, blacks can have type 1 hair but it's not an African trait.

^--- In total agreement with the above.

 

[Tru_Mind]

Black people are muti-racial. All of the examples I read on the first page kinda point out the fact that the black people are muti-racial.... well who the hell isn't? No matter where you go the majority of black people are mixed with SOMETHING. So saying they have straight hair because they are mixed is a little dumb to me. A good of those people aren't mixed anymore than the average person is.

I know 1 black man and 1 black woman with straight hair. Another woman has slightly wavy hair... like type 1b or c if that hairtype exists. The funny thing is all of the bi-racial people that I know have curly hair.

Thanks Porshe! We're seeing things the same way.

-tru

 

[qtgirl]

Thank you for so eloquently stating what I was saying earlier.

This was in part the reason I asked what's the prize for having Type 1 hair. I agree with qt that it did sound like people were trying to prove something and it does to me express some internal issues considering the context- people started posting pictures of children with straightish hair, it's immediately followed by posts of admiration and then you expressed that you wished everyone could see their hair. It definately seemed that you felt that there was something particular to be gained/benefited from all black people seeing blacks with type 1 hair. My instant reaction was why? Is this somehow affirming in some way? It's like when black people start bragging about their or their families non-african traits- yeah maybe it's a statement of fact but it's still culturally loaded. Of course, you could have meant that it would have been interesting for blacks to see (the way it's interesting to see a person with violet eyes). But why all blacks? But considering the context, I think it was reasonable to conclude that statement to at least on some level exuded some unnecessary deferrence to type 1/ type 2 hair (and that's my diplomatic why of putting it).
And with respect to people noting that people with type 1 hair are mixed, I think this statement is responsive to the posts made that race is a purely a social construct and therefore associating any traits with races is bogus (that's how I understood the statement especially when someone posted that it's a stereotype to associate straight hair with Asians). Basically, what the comments express to me is that one doesn't need to understand phenotypes to notice a correlation between straight hair blacks and non-african ancestry. Not saying it's impossible because I don't know that, but my own eyes and experience indicate that 'pure' Africans don't have straight hair.

 

[Poohbear]

The second paragraph was responding to Porsche who said that it was silly for others to mention that the blacks they've seen with straight hair have non-African ancestry because we're all mixed. There was a subdiscussion of race where some posters (I forgot the name) rejected the statement that straight hair is not a negroid feature. Actually the point Porsche was making doesn't conflict with the statement that straight hair isn't a negroid trait- if we're mixed, then the fact someone black has straight hair or blue eyes doesn't mean that straight hair or blue eyes are negroid traits, it means it's a recessive gene trait that many of us being mixed have but is rarely seen because it's recessive. I don't have any scientific research but at minimum a pure African (if there's such a thing) is someone who can trace their blood line and would not see causacian and mongoloid blood, someone I'd posit is extremely unlikely to have type 1 hair.
To the question you asked I answered that question yes, I have seen Brazilian and Dominican blacks with straight hair (now that I think of it a girl in my class is from Barbodos and her hair appears type 1 as well). So to beat a dead horse, blacks can have type 1 hair but it's not an African trait.

thanks for explaining.

 

[Pretty Star]

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[Pretty Star]

I was watching a program on TLC (it might have been The Real Eve) and the researchers were discussing the environmental uses for the differences in hair and skin color. In hot, tropical climates like most of Africa, kinky,curly hair is advantageous because it allows for heat to be dispersed from the scalp. The strands of hair grow away from the head allowing the heat to escape. Straighter hair on the other hand, lays next to the scalp trapping the heat next to the body.

The stereotypical caucasian nose is advantageous in colder climates because the high, thin nasal passage warms incoming air. Broader, flatter noses help to cool the incoming air.

Melanin or the lack thereof is related to our ability to absorb Vitamin D from the sun. Melanin inhibits Vitamin D absorption from the sun. So if you live in a northern climate that gets relatively less sun for large parts of the year, fairer skin allows you to maximize your Vitamin D absorption when it's available. On the flipside, the ability to produce melanin offers more UV protection in climates that get a lot of sun year-round. I know that was OT, but I just find stuff like that amazing. There is a method to the madness.

I read this as well. There are biological/environmental reasons why people of different races look different. Thanks for sharing. So interesting.

And to answer the question I don't know anyone with 2 black parents who has type 1 hair.

 

[Taina]

Does anyone know any black people with Type 1 hair???

Relaxed hair would be considered type 1 hair, but do you know any blacks who's hair is type 1 withOUT a relaxer???

Well i know dominicans black ppl with type 1. we call them "culisos" or "culisas" if they are men or women, is how we name this type of ppl in DR

 

[*Muffin*]

Not type 1 but by my 1st cousin on my mother side has type 2 hair. She is dark-skinned (mocha baby!) and her hair is like Ananda Lewis'. While her sister is light/brown-skinned and has type 4 hair (Go figure!, and they have the same father).

And they are not mixed. They use to get a lot of questions while growing up since it seems to disturb some Black people when they see a dark skin person with straightish wavy hair.

eta: Someone mentioned above, but I don't believe that you have to have some "other influences" in your lineage in order to have 3-type hair.

This describes my family on my father's side very well. I kid you not, the people with darker skin on my dad's side have a very loose hair texture, while the lighter skinned ones have a tighter hair texture.

 

[Almaz]

NOT all Ethiopian have Arab heritage. Neither do Somailis. Some but not all depending on the region. There are some Kenyans and Rwandans with type one hair too and they surely not an Arab in the bunch. These areas are made up of many different ethnic groups only a few are mixed with "Arabs". This is a myth. Tell that to an Amhara they would cut you down.

 

[GodivaChocolate]

my nephew has type 1 hair but.......I was thinking about it..what difference does it make...what people have and don't have????? Just maybe we spend to much time concentrating on issues that aren't pertinent to us personally(?) JMO

 

[DeenIsFirst]

My grandmother has type 1 hair (meaning when it was long, there was no wave pattern. Now that it's shorter, it flips up at the ends). Growing up, her hair was at least waist-length. She is dark skinned and she says people used to make fun of her for having straight hair. They would also speculate about what her roots are. But just by looking at her, she does not look "mixed" at all. In fact I look a lot like her, except I'm a 4b

 

[Eritreladiee]

It happens. My grams hair is pretty much straight hair, with a bit of a wave.

 

[song_of_serenity]

It happens. My grams hair is pretty much straight hair, with a bit of a wave.

She looks a bit East Indian...?

 

[Eritreladiee]

She looks a bit East Indian...?

She does, but she's African, 100% Eritrean

 

[Kurlee]

She does, but she's African, 100% Eritrean

even though i don't think so, many people will assume that eritreans are "mixed" to explain their features and hair

 

[Almaz]

And there inlies the problem people Assume what they dont' know. I know some Staight up outta Lagos Nigerians with this hair and the so called Typical West African features.

even though i don't think so, many people will assume that eritreans are "mixed" to explain their features and hair

 

[jamaraa]

Well people need to keep up w/ modern anthropological studies before they speak on the matter. East Africa well, the original man and all that...however when it comes to their looks and all, evidence pointed to them having the original traits and passing them on. IOW, the East Africans aren't mixed, the other folks are!