Colorism, Texturism, and Proximity to Whiteness
Hair has been and still is a vital source of African Americans' identity within the United States. With America's strong roots in Slavery and White Supremacy, the notion of the proximity to whiteness has been ideal. This perpetuates colorist actions (which is a by-product of racism) that are displayed by people of the same racial/ ethnic background and are also seen within the same family systems (Dove, 2021). Since the depiction of success is based on white supremacist beliefs, it equates having light skin to the opportunities one receives, and how people are treated “based on skin tone, hair texture, and/or facial features” (Dove, 2021). The issue of having a “good” hair texture that has been influenced by European beauty standards is almost always skewed towards women. This means that black women are often internalizing white supremacist beliefs. Some of those beliefs are that lighter skin people who oftentimes have looser, more defined curls are perceived as more beautiful in their eyes and in society (Dove 2021). The need to fit into society to be accepted as “presentable” has led African American women to straighten their hair in the name of achieving “good hair”. In 2008 home relaxer sales totaled $45.6 million, and has stayed the same in years to come after that (Louise, 2009).
The original Hair typing systems were created by Eugen Fischer who was Nazi German scientist. His system was based on white racial supremacy beliefs that used hair texture to determine “Blackness”(Asare, 2022). This hair typing model was used to control the Namibian people and between 1904-1907, approximately 80,000 were killed by the German military(Asare, 2022).
This form of system categorization was also seen in From Savage To Negro. WJ McGee was a professional anthropologist who argued that darker races were farther behind and slower. This led him to test his theory by experimenting to gauge how inferior people of color were by testing in “terms of strength, endurance, sensitivity to temperature, touch, taste and visions” (Baker 1998, 70). Within the book as well as the article we see the way biological differences are used to label black people and people of color as inferior. Not only the biological difference of skin color was used to base the inferiority of Black people but so were other characteristics such as their hair texture or the shape of their head. This was all used to classify darker skinned people as inferior and depict them as being barbarous, animalistic people. This view of them made it easier to uphold white supremacy and control and brutalize black people because they were seen more as property than actual human beings.