Dominician prejudices?....

[EbonyRose]

I have a dominican pilot here in my unit and he said that most dominicians regard black people's hair and any hair that is not european looking as bad hair . I think that this is his and maybe his family's stereotype but he insists that it is widespread and confesses that no matter what i do to my hair, it is still bad--it doesn't upset me because i proud of my heritage and the sandy brown type 4 hair that i have and don't regard it as bad--but it is a shame, if this is a widespread thought pattern. he gave me some examples but still....
i told him that he is basically holding onto racial prejudices that were handed down by the white europeans and he insists that they are harmless (what a fool). this guy is way darker than me (i'm a lighter shade of paper bag brown) and if you never hear him speak, you would swear that he is a black man--he says to prove it read most of the website sites about hair--it will state "cabello melo"(i hope i spelled that right-anyways, it is supposed to be "bad hair").
Do you any of you know if this is true? has any of you experienced this?

 

[Queenie]

It's true. I was watching "Mad Hot Ballroom" which is a documentary, and one of the girls said soemthing about wishing she had bad hair. One of the ladies was combing another girls hair into a style that this girls hair was too loose for. The lady laughed at the girl's comment.

 

[kristina]

cabello malo- yeah, this from my experience is true, from a generalized standpoint... just as it's true in our culture too that type 2s and 3s hair is also revered as prettier than type 4 hair. I do think it's a bit worse for Dominicans- maybe because there is less history of any civil rights black defiance rejection of these beliefs. What strikes me about Dominicans (and this is obviously a generalization, there are plenty of people who reject this) is not that they feel this way, but they seem proud about this feeling which they (tacitly) acknowledge was a direct by-product of slavery. I mean most people here feel the exact way but (due to the '70s and black power movements perhaps???) rarely are so brazen about it.

 

[aileenadq]

I'm half Dominican. And because there is a mix of races even among Dominicans, there are different hair types. There are plenty of people that percieve straighter hair is better...That being said, I think it's crap.

 

[starz]

Sad but true. I've heard the pello mala phrase many times. I hate hearing hair referred to as good or bad no matter what nationality it comes from, it makes me cringe inside.

 

[MizaniMami]

Personally I think we need to stop getting so upset about how others perceive our hair. Long as you like it that should be the only thing that matters.

It's something about just about all races that we might not like. You don't see them getting upset over it.

 

[~*~ShopAholic~*~]

Say it again.

Personally I think we need to stop getting so upset about how others perceive our hair. Long as you like it that should be the only thing that matters.

It's something about just about all races that we might not like. You don't see them getting upset over it.

 

[EbonyRose]

this is so crazy--he doesn't feel that his comments can cause a stigma. one of the other guys -that is trini--indian and black told him the same thing--but he refuses to acknowledge it--he said that his sister has blonde hair and blue eyes--and he looks at us black as different--he said that the consensus is that "black people always F things up" and that at least in the D.R. they don't lynch blacks like they do in the states. as if the thought process isn't a bad one

 

[*Frisky*]

Personally I think we need to stop getting so upset about how others perceive our hair. Long as you like it that should be the only thing that matters.

It's something about just about all races that we might not like. You don't see them getting upset over it.

Amen...I think some people's hair may be more manageable and easier to take care of from other's but I wouldn't say they have bad hair.

 

[Wildchild453]

This is interesting b/c its the same view alot of Black people have towards their own hair. There are alot of Dominicans that have hair kinky like ours, that's why they blow it out

 

[*ElleB]

Yup, I've lived around Dominicans my entire life, and gotten my hair done by them since I was 12. They always, always, always try to get the hair BONE STRAIGHT!!!

 

[glamazon386]

Yeah, most of the Dominican ladies have relaxers and then blow out their hair to make it super straight.

 

[LizLeila]

It's true. I have experienced it.

 

[Healthb4Length]

I read something years ago that stated that in the past DOminican Men would beat their women if they had Pelo Malo, I can't find the link, I read it 4 years ago but I was pretty shocked.

 

[Lynnerie]

WOW! Maybe thats why they always wanna relax your hair everytime you walk in the salon. And that heat is just blazin with those blowdryers.

Oh well, there's always gonna be prejudices as far as hair and skin color are concerned. You have to be content with what God gave you.

 

[peacelove]

Shoot, I hear Americans talking about "good hair" and "bad hair." We have all be influenced by this IMO. And you know what? Not to open a can of worms because I am sure this has been talked about a million times on this board, but I am gonna keep it really real right now. Now I would never ever in a million years refer to anyone as having bad hair based on texture. NEVER. I have never done that in my LIFE. But yet, say someone showed me 2 photos of two women with the same amount of BIG healthy hair. One girl with a healthy 4b afro and one girl with healthy 3b/c curls and told me which one do I want -I would pick the 3b/c without hesitation. Now WHY? If they both have healthy hair, why do I even care about the texture? Does that make me any different than someone who says "good hair" and "bad hair"??? Probably not really.

I think that we all do or have suffered from some level of this very prejudice truth be told.

 

[Crackers Phinn]

I don't know why this is surprising.

 

[sweetascocoa]

I don't know why this is surprising.

i know..............

 

[Tene]

I don't know why this is surprising.

Yeah really

 

[erin558]

I don't know why this is surprising.

seriously. I didn't think this was a big secret.

 

[OneInAMillion]

seriously. I didn't think this was a big secret.

ITA. This type of thinking is not exclusive to African Americans. What's the shock? Most groups display these prejudices...and about the pelo malo...some African Americans use it all the time. However, we can't say that all Dominicans have that mindset, in the same we wouldn't make that generalization about African Americans. I've been to DR several times (the first time when I was natural) and I received so many compliments on my "curly" hair.

On another note, it would be interesting to see the history of black hair across the African Diaspora, not just in the US. I wanna know when Dominicans (among others) started relaxing, mainly because here we have some knowledge about the history of relaxing and hot combing. I wonder if there's a book on this for places outside the US. I've read some interesting brief stories about Afro-Cubans and their hair history...

Point being, the prejudices extend pretty far erplexed .

 

[a_ caribbean_dream]

My father is from Haiti and my mother is from the Dominican Republic. I have been told numerous stories of how bad it was for my grandfather to accept the fact that my parents were getting married, nevertheless accept him in general.

My grandfather was worried that his grandchildren would wind up with pelo grueso y malo and piel moreno. My mom had two children: my older brother and I. When my brother was about 6 years old my grandfather died. We have an inside family joke that bets my grandfather would've died anyway if he saw me. Mind you, my brother looks alot like my mother with crazy justin timberlake curls and waves on the sides. And I look exactly like my father. genetics i tell you....

 

[Lynnerie]

Every race has their prejudices. I remember when white girls with straight hair used to get curly perms. Asians have a system of straightening hair, and I knew an Italian girl who would get a mild relaxer. It's never gonna end. I hear kids in my class talking about "good hair" and stuff like that. One girl even said she had N**** hair. Now you know she heard that at home. Its a cycle that gets repeated.

 

[Shimmie]

I read something years ago that stated that in the past DOminican Men would beat their women if they had Pelo Malo, I can't find the link, I read it 4 years ago but I was pretty shocked.

This is the man who'd get the mess beaten out of HIM...not me or any other woman. And then bury him in all of our 'wasted' dumped out hair products that we don't or can't use.

Anyway, as it was mentioned earlier, there's no such thing as 'bad' hair. We all have challenges; just look at the hair care market and products for ALL hair types and who frequents them even more than we do? Who is the hair care product industry marketed to the most? NOT Us!

I love my hair...it brought me to this wonderful forum of the most beautiful women with the most beautiful hair in the world...all of you. You've shared and taught me so much. Only good hair can live upon the heads of such caring women such as yourselves.

Through you, God has enriched and has enlarged my territory in wisdom for my hair, skin and body. Dominicans do not dominate; nor do they dictate who we are...Amen.

 

[Healthb4Length]

This is the man who'd get the mess beaten out of HIM...not me or any other woman. And then bury him in all of our 'wasted' dumped out hair products that we don't or can't use.

Anyway, as it was mentioned earlier, there's no such thing as 'bad' hair. We all have challenges; just look at the hair care market and products for ALL hair types and who frequents them even more than we do? Who is the hair care product industry marketed to the most? NOT Us!

I love my hair...it brought me to this wonderful forum of the most beautiful women with the most beautiful hair in the world...all of you. You've shared and taught me so much. Only good hair can live upon the heads of such caring women such as yourselves.

Through you, God has enriched and has enlarged my territory in wisdom for my hair, skin and body. Dominicans do not dominate; nor do they dictate who we are...Amen.

ITA w/everything you've stated!

 

[EbonyRose]

i posted this thread not to say that this type of behavior was hidden in the AA community because i experience it in my own family--being one of the lighter ones with sandy red hair--but because he/this guy is just so happy and open about his attitude. he's a good guy really but he does not see that his comments stem from a long line of bad company. I was personally shocked by his unwillingness to see everyone's else opinion as well. he is entitled to his but we were not. As I said before, I was not bothered or angry-because I'm comfortable with what i have; yet, i did learn from him that this attitude was in the DR (whether generalized or not) as well-which i didn't know.

 

[honeisos]

heck ... this happens in the white communities too ... on naturally curly .com you hear them complain all the time that they are teased and put down ... because thier hair is not pin straight.

 

[delp]

My good friend is Dominician and she told me that most dominicians that do not have obvious black features like her don't are racist. In fact, she told me alot of her racist jokes. I just did get them. I guess you have to be dominican to get them. Anyway, this is true.