Black Women Scrutinized For Not Culturally Appropriating Their Hair
These Black Women On TV Faced Scrutiny For Their Natural Hair
Three on-air anchors recounted their experiences at news networks, which aren’t always accepting of Black women’s natural hair.
Before the 2010s, you’d be hard-pressed to find a Black news anchor wearing her natural hair on-air. To forgo the relaxer, or the quintessential “anchor bob,” could jeopardize a reporter’s likability, and even her job. This is what happened to Brittany Noble, a reporter who was fired from her local news station in 2018. She had been wearing her hair straight, and in wigs and weaves, when she started the job in 2015. But in 2017, she decided to go natural; after a month, Noble was told by her news director to change her hair back because it looked “unprofessional.”
“My goal was to just try to get on their good side so I could share stories that I felt were going unnoticed in the newsroom — many of these stories having to do with race,” she told HuffPost. “I figured if they are not willing to accept my natural textured hair, no wonder so many of our stories are going untold.
A few unresolved corporate complaints and outrageous insults about her hair prompted Noble to speak out, but to no avail. She continued to get harassed by management and was told that the company policy prohibits on-air talent from having “shaggy, unkempt” hair.
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