My take on the Navys and Everybody elses negative opinions on African American Natural Hair. Heres a couple of questions that I think we should ask ourselves? What if roles were reversed and we as Black business owners and operators refused to do business with others until they changed their natural features to make us feel more comfortable?? Because this is all about others feeling comfortable and nothing else. How many Caucasian do you think would be outraged or upset that to get a good paying job or just to be treated equal they had to go through a long painful process of converting straight hair to an Afro or dreads??Ridiculous right??? If we did this the out cry of racism and civil rights violations by our caucasian brothers and sisters would go threw the roof!! Of course, we would never really consider doing that to another human being so why is it okay for them to do it to us? If we are considered equal the reverse should not be so difficult for the other side. Right??? Lets take it a step further shall we, if we had something called Black Standards for Natural Hair and it were deemed the first and foremost standards of the US Navy then these consideration for straight haired females would go as follows; **UPDATED NEW NAVY STANDARDS** P-1. All females will be expected to convert their hair to the short Afro and or twist regardless if their hair does not naturally fall so. The texture must be curly, kinky or coily no exception. All hair longer than 4 inches will be gathered and pinned back into a neat Afro Puff no exception. No straight hair ponytail or straight hair will be allowed at anytime. P-1a. 4 inch length for Afro Puff and Afro will be calculated with the shrinkage factor of 4 inches. i.e. hair can be up to an actual eight inches in length without violating regulation. P-2. All females will be expect to keep straight hair cut off and out of visual sight to comply with the Navys new standards for hair. In short if your hair does fall into the curly, kinky or coily category then it is not in compliance with the Navys new standards and paragraph 4 will be enforced. P-3. Acceptable alternative: Straight hair can be placed into tiny cornrows as long as they are neat and no straight hair is left to hang. Afro Weave can be glued in or sewn into the cornrows to achieve the mandatory Short Afro. Cornrow Extensions are to be clean, neat, tight and re-done within an acceptable wear period( every 2 weeks for upkeep and neatness regardless of expense.) P-4. Unwillingness to cooperate with these standards will result in immediate discharge from duty in the United States Navy. This is what would happen if our standards for natural hair were enforced with no consideration or respect for understanding the growth of straight hair. How fair would they think our standards are and would there be a ton of people being discharged? How many Caucasian would be content with changing their natural selves so we can feel comfortable about their existence?? Doesnt the potential enforcement of **New-updated Navy Standards**seem a little one sided and racist? **standards listed above are in no way shape or form connected with any military standards. they are meant to point out that fair and truly informed consideration was not used in the Navys decision on African American hair.**
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 04:51:42 +0000