Several years ago when I first entered the fashion industry, I interned at a Canadian ready-to-wear brand under the creative director. After a month of wearing my hair straight, I arrived to set in a twist out. I remember being really excited that morning with the bounce in my curls. When I walked in, I was instantly offended when the white creative director said, "Oh my gosh, I love your wild hair." Although it was intended as a compliment, referring to a Black person's hair as "wild" is inappropriate under any circumstance. We are not an artifact on display at a museum.
And my experience is not isolated. As an actress, Battle faces the struggle with her hair daily. To protect it from scene work and multiple costume changes, she tends to wear braids or wigs, but has experienced directors who have said everything from "Can you put your hair into a ponytail?" to "Did you even do your hair today?" to "Is your hair real?" White counterparts can style their hair any way they please and people don't seem to question if it's real or not. But for Black people, that line is too easily blurred.
These microaggressions are often unintentional and go largely unnoticed by everyone but the person on the receiving end.
These microaggressions, or subtle verbal and non verbal put downs of Black traits, are often unintentional and go largely unnoticed by everyone but the person on the receiving end. In other words: they stick with you. The deliverer doesn't understand the implications of their words, and it's really hard to unlearn this narrative when it's been forced on you for so long. For me, it's the reason I debated the big chop a whole year before actually committing. Pondering how scary it would feel to show up to work as myself, instead of this culture-pleasing employee I had morphed into.
Image Source: Olivia Battle