Hair and Ethnic Allegiance

The wearing of dreadlocks is very closely associated with ethnic allegiance, has biblical associations (Leviticus 21:5), and is in deliberate opposition to the straighter hair of Caucasian persons. Interestingly, dreadlocks are no longer exclusive to people of direct African descent. Indeed there are ascetic groups within nearly every major religion that have at times worn their hair in this fashion. The way to form natural dreadlocks is to allow hair to grow in its natural pattern, without cutting, combing, or brushing, and washing it with pure water.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Black Power and other black pride movements in the United States brought about the emergence of the Afro hairstyle. Men and women grew their hair out to significant diameters away from their head as a rejection of Eurocentric standards of beauty, an embracing of African heritage and roots, and a confirmation of the idea that “Black Is Beautiful.”

The Afro is sometimes texturized so that it is not in its true African state, but slightly relaxed with a frizzier and more wiry appearance that springs out. Eventually, this hairstyle grew away from its political and cultural connotation and was embraced by the mainstream. Afros became popular even among those with loosely curled hair.

Other hairstyles often worn by people of African descent are cornrows and braids, two styles that survived in the African diaspora. While recent years have brought about a movement among women of African descent to wear their hair naturally, most in the Western world have their hair relaxed or straightened (Fig. 21).