Dear Visible Man,
I was recently reading a news article in which a public school banned a little black girl from school for wearing braids. I was surprised that public schools would do so given the focus on diversity in education today. I was even more shocked to learn that this was a school organized for black students. I thought this was the action of an ignorant white school official.
I had no idea until learning today that the person creating this ridiculous rule was black. I grew up during the strife of the civil rights movement. I am concerned as to how this will impact the next generation. I find this very confusing. What do you think about this?
Lee, age 64, Kirkland, WA
Dear Lee,
I appreciate your writing.
Although you did not indicate the basis of your information, I will
assume that you may be referring to the recent news story arising from Tulsa,
Oklahoma. In this story a 7-year-old
African-American girl Tiana was banned from school for wearing dreads. The public school that you referred to is
Deborah Brown Community School, a charter school founded by an African-American
woman named Deborah Brown.
The school was created for the purpose of educating a
predominantly black student population.
In reviewing the news article of the Associated Press, the school had
developed a policy banning dreadlocks, Afros, Mohawks and other “faddish”
hairstyles declaring them unacceptable and “potential health hazards.”
The furor that erupted from this created new stories and
responses from around the world. The
school ultimately apologized and rescinded its policy. The parents transferred the child to another
public school. The news article
concluded with an interview with and acknowledgement that the 7 year old had
received thousands of emails and phone calls of support from around the
world. When asked by the reporter how
she felt, Tiana replied she feels “cared about.” Truly, this is a heartbreaking news story that
has a happy ending. Did we miss
something?
Yes, it is heartbreaking to learn that a 7-year old child could
be barred from school for wearing dreadlocks.
And it was correct that the school official should remove the rule
banning the wearing of those hairstyles. And yes, it is heartwarming that
thousands of emails and phone calls of support from around the world were
received. Again, did we miss something?
Although race may be a factor, the
underlining issue is fear (and not race). The real issue is fear of the
unknown, the fear of doing something different.
Understanding that charter schools are intended for the task of
educating a predominantly black student population that the classic public
school system has failed, I don’t believe that Ms. Brown’s commitment was in
the wrong place.
As stated in the news article, at the same time, another
charter school, Horizon Science Academy in Lorain, OH, implemented a similar
policy. It too rescinded the policy
following the backlash of criticism received by the Deborah Brown Community
School. In its response, the dean of
students at Horizon stated, “our word choice was a mistake.”
Word choice? I am
sure that Ms. Deborah Brown or the dean of the other charter school did not
wake up one morning, jumping out of bed stating, “Hmm… let’s develop a rule
banning wearing dreadlocks.” I believe
what happened is that Ms. Brown and other like-minded school officials are no
different from many of us and were simply following the “script.”
The script?? Yes,
the script of the larger group i.e. the traditionalist segment, which believes
that in order for African-Americans to market themselves and be successful in
the professional or corporate world, they must want to “fit in” and achieve the
look of acceptability that professional or corporate culture is seeking. It is perceivable that the “groupthink” believes
that the wearing of dreadlocks, Afros, Mohawks and other “faddish” hairstyles
will impact either the ability to gain employment or upward movement on the
corporate ladder. It is this perception
that led to the implementation of the hard lined banning of such “faddish
hairstyles.”
Let’s follow the process of the “script” and in doing so
deconstruct how fear, using shame, is being viewed.
· First, there is a segment of the larger group
i.e. society (professional & corporate culture) applying external pressure,
telling another segment of the larger group i.e. community (“traditionalist”
African-Americans), that “your hair, if dreadlocked or faddish, is unacceptable
and has potential health hazards.”
· Second, there is a segment of larger group i.e.
community (“traditionalist” African-Americans) applying external pressure,
telling another segment of the larger group i.e. family (parents) that “your
hair, if dreadlocked or faddish, is unacceptable and has potential health
hazards.”
· Third, there is are traditionalist community
mores in the form of school officials applying the external pressure and
delivering the message, telling individuals (students) that “your hair, if
dreadlocked or faddish, is unacceptable and has potential health hazards.”
The goal of the script is to enforce the will of the larger
group i.e. community (African-American traditionalists). This is done by
introducing the concept of shaming the individual. So rather than it being an
error (i.e. “our word choice was a mistake,”), it is, in reality, a specific
strategy that sacrifices the psychological wellness of the individual for the
perceived good of the group. This
strategy has been utilized throughout generations to secure and maintain
control over the group.
In this situation, the “script,” built on a destructive
foundation (internalized shame), collapsed.
The larger group of African-American traditionalists, which depends on
the loyalty and submissiveness of its members and requires parents to install
internalized shame into their children, must instead must now beat a hasty
retreat due to the unwillingness of one set of parents (Tiana’s parents) who
refuse to reinforce the “internalized shame game” upon their 7-year-old
child. The following uproar in the media
exposes the strategy which of course, is now explained away by saying “our word
choice was a mistake.”
I believe that the larger group, the traditionalists, has
good intentions. However, there must be
a concern for the outcome of those good intentions. The traditionalists, in their zeal to prepare
a younger generation to enter what may a hostile workplace environment, failed
to take into account the damage that they may be inflicting as they seek to
internalize shame within the individual. In this situation, the outcome was traumatic
for a 7-year old child.
Is racism a
factor? No doubt it is. The
traditionalists believe that the African-American individual‘s physical
presentation is just as key to getting ahead in a racially hostile environment
as their hard work. However, the traditionalists are out of step as the young
people of today are insisting upon the right to come to the workplace
displaying their self-identity and wanting to be evaluated on their performance
and individual merit.
The consequences of shaming behavior sends messages which
reinforces young men and women to reject themselves by seeing their natural
hair as dirty or unclean. In doing so,
these messages also impact their self-concept, self-esteem and self-confidence
and consequently create the unconscious demand to seek other standards in order
to obtain the holy grail of “acceptability.”
Acceptability? It is
recommended that the traditionalists of the African-American community explore
the psychological damage that was also inflicted upon themselves by their
parents as they sought the Holy Grail i.e. “acceptability by others.” If indeed the “traditionalist” has arrived at
the Holy Grail, then they must seek to answer the following questions:
· Who am I? Who (or what) have I become?
· If others reject me, how will I feel about me?
· How do I feel about me? Do I accept me?
· How do I show that I accept me?
The day of the traditionalist is fading. Yes, there remain holdouts such as the dean
of the business school for Hampton University (a historical black
university). This dean has defended and
left intact a 12- year old ban on dreadlocks and cornrows for male students,
asserting, “the look is not businesslike.”
This dean is an icon of the past, an era in which that generation chose
to live in fear and in doing sacrificed the psychological wellness of its
children.
There is a new day coming, a new sun rising over the
horizon. As the traditionalists pass on,
they will be replaced by a generation who are willing to “live with fear” and
not in fear. The upcoming generation has
an opportunity to grant itself the right that the previous generation, living in
fear, was unable to do so. This is the
right to create one’s own path, instead of walking the “same old road” that was
designed for the group. Hopefully this
younger generation will learn from the mistakes of their elders.
This younger generation may decide to arrive at the
workplace wearing dreadlocks, Afros, Mohawks and other “faddish”
hairstyles. Unlike the generation before
them, they will not have to sacrifice their souls or the wellness of their
young. Rather when they leave the
workplace, they will exit with the psychological self, intact, self assured and
well loved.
“A wise person learns from
his/her mistakes, makes corrections and finds the right path; the foolish one
will continue without direction, never finding the road even when it is in
front of his/her face.”
“Ten Flashes of Light for the
Journey of Life”
The Visible Man
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