Mandated Hair Care...Will it Work?

[RDKirk]

Bill S6528A’s main goal is to diversify cosmetology school education in order to equip all students — regardless of race — with the knowledge to work across every hair texture. As the bill states, graduates should have the ability to provide styling and hair care services “to individuals with all hair types and textures, including, but not limited to, various curl or wave patterns, hair strand thicknesses, and volumes of hair.”

MSN

www.msn.com

So, NY has passed a law requiring barber and beauty schools to teach students how to do African-American kinky hair styles as well as styles for straight hair.

Historically, cosmetology schools across the U.S., including in New York, have not included natural hair education as a part of the general curriculum — and if they did, training was typically minimal.

For the most part, the only way students could learn how to work with textured hair was by seeking additional training — which requires having access to extra funds for tuition and the bandwidth to take on more courses. Over time, this has created a permanent blind spot for most stylists when it comes to properly serving Black clients.
.....
For Keya Neal, a former hairstylist, founder of Texture vs. Race, and supporting member of the Professional Beauty Association’s Texture Education Collective, the answer is simple: It comes down to racism.

“The exclusion of texture from the general curriculum is a direct result of the salon’s history of segregation,” Neal says. She adds that, historically, cosmetology literature has only included depictions of white women — which can be seen in vintage textbooks — along with tutorials solely focused on working with straight or slightly wavy hair. “This set the industry’s tone and standard in relation to texture, inclusion, and race,” she shares.

Well, if you go back far enough--prior to the Civil Rights Act--there were black barber colleges and style schools that specifically taught black barbers and sylists how to do black hair. But they went further than that: There are many types of scalp problems hair care experts encounter that are often race-based. In some cases, it's genetics. In some cases, it a matter of cultural practices.

My mother was a barber. She attended Tyler Barber College, a historic black institution in Tyler, TX, back in 1958. I remember as a kid reading through her text books and being horrified by the pictures of various scalp ailments barbers might run across.

But Tyler Barber College went defunct after the Civil Rights Act. As far as I can tell, black barbers and beauticians are not getting that kind of training on specific black hair and scalp problems anymore. As the article relates, it's something they have to pursue on their own. So, what frequently happens is that black barbers and stylists wind up being better educated on all kinds of hair and scalps than white barbers and stylists.

While many white stylists aren’t equipped to work with textured hair, most Black hair-care professionals have the skills to style all hair types — and are expected to. “Throughout my career, there has always been an expectation for me to know everything while being presented with lesser opportunities,” says Neal. “My white counterparts were not expected to know how to apply their niche to all textures, yet I was.”

But despite an obvious education gap among white stylists, a 2022 report published by Unilever found this demographic was still paid the highest annual salary compared to hairstylists of all other races.

“There is an inequitable expectation of excellence applied to all Black artists in any segment of the industry,” Neal continues. “I see this in how Black stylists migrate to white salons to expand their textural skills, while their white counterparts very rarely take the same opportunity to learn from Black salons.”

The same can be said for barbers, too. During the 19th century, the first Black barbers in America were still enslaved and solely groomed white men. Today, black-owned barbershops primarily serve Black clientele, but it’s not necessarily uncommon for a white person to walk in and be able to get a proper cut. At the same time, many white barbers are not trained on the basics of Black grooming, like knowing which razors are suitable to use in order to prevent common concerns specific to textured hair, like ingrowns [pseudofoliculitis barbae]. In the event a Black person is unable to see their regular barber, things can get tricky — especially if you’re in a predominantly white area.

But I discussed this article with my wife. Her opinion echoed mine: Barbers and stylists become experts in what they like to do and what they do most often. That's likely to mean that people with kinky hair are going to patronize barbers and stylists who specialize in kinky hair.

 

[Handmaid for Jesus]

MSN

www.msn.com

So, NY has passed a law requiring barber and beauty schools to teach students how to do African-American kinky hair styles as well as styles for straight hair.



Well, if you go back far enough--prior to the Civil Rights Act--there were black barber colleges and style schools that specifically taught black barbers and sylists how to do black hair. But they went further than that: There are many types of scalp problems hair care experts encounter that are often race-based. In some cases, it's genetics. In some cases, it a matter of cultural practices.

My mother was a barber. She attended Tyler Barber College, a historic black institution in Tyler, TX, back in 1958. I remember as a kid reading through her text books and being horrified by the pictures of various scalp ailments barbers might run across.

But Tyler Barber College went defunct after the Civil Rights Act. As far as I can tell, black barbers and beauticians are not getting that kind of training on specific black hair and scalp problems anymore. As the article relates, it's something they have to pursue on their own. So, what frequently happens is that black barbers and stylists wind up being better educated on all kinds of hair and scalps than white barbers and stylists.



But I discussed this article with my wife. Her opinion echoed mine: Barbers and stylists become experts in what they like to do and what they do most often. That's likely to mean that people with kinky hair are going to patronize barbers and stylists who specialize in kinky hair.

That is economic. There are black stylists who specialize in natural hair who have gone to court and won because the government wanted them to have a license to do black hair styles such as dredlocks and cornrows. Your wife is right. People who are interested could get a clue by watching the movies Barbershop and Beauty Shop imho. As a nurse, I worked with a black scrub technician who was also a beautician. She told me about how studies for barber and beautician was just as rigorous as my nurse training. Personally, it will be interesting so see if we see a lot of white practitioners doing black hair styles. It is interesting to me that theschool that trained your mom went defunct, but i guess it could be a good thing. However, since there is no requirement for the practitioners to have a license, it could also be a step to regulate who can do black hair care which,imho, could be a burden on black families.

 

[Chesterton]

But I discussed this article with my wife. Her opinion echoed mine: Barbers and stylists become experts in what they like to do and what they do most often. That's likely to mean that people with kinky hair are going to patronize barbers and stylists who specialize in kinky hair.

There are all kinds of specialties in various fields. I don't see how this is any different. If I'm charged with a crime, I'm not going to a real estate lawyer, I'm going to a criminal defense lawyer. If I'm in the mood for spaghetti, I'm not going to Taco Cabana. And I don't think anyone has the right to force Taco Cabana to make spaghetti.

 

[RDKirk]

That is economic. There are black stylists who specialize in natural hair who have gone to court and won because the government wanted them to have a license to do black hair styles such as dredlocks and cornrows. Your wife is right. People who are interested could get a clue by watching the movies Barbershop and Beauty Shop imho. As a nurse, I worked with a black scrub technician who was also a beautician. She told me about how studies for barber and beautician was just as rigorous as my nurse training. Personally, it will be interesting so see if we see a lot of white practitioners doing black hair styles. It is interesting to me that theschool that trained your mom went defunct, but i guess it could be a good thing. However, since there is no requirement for the practitioners to have a license, it could also be a step to regulate who can do black hair care which,imho, could be a burden on black families.

I'm not sure about current laws or laws in other states, but Oklahoma and Texas long required licenses for barbers...but not for beauticians. I suspect that's because 'way back in the day, barbers performed other tasks such as dentistry and minor surgery.