A woman at my PhD defense said “So are you saying racism is STILL so bad it impacts learning environments?”

I said: Well, I, a black student, straightened my hair before coming today. I knew even my natural hair would change how you, my educator, perceived me”

Silence

A black Professor said “Yes racism impacts achievement. Next question..”

She goes, “I don’t think that’s true. I think it’s just related to poverty, but black ppl are so loud that we only focus on their story”

And that my friends, is how she answered her own original question

Think about the mental toll. Knowing that just leaving your NATURAL HAIR could be the difference between getting the job or not

I’ve talked about this w/ Black students many times. It’s just one of the many things. But this is how deeply ingrained bias is

As a professor one story I hear regularly when talking honestly with Black students is about hair. Painful memories from high school where a white student who sat behind a black student would complain to the class that they couldn’t see the board because of their hair

Totally different students
from totally different states
but so regularly the EXACT same story

Even our HAIR is deemed offensive. Anyway something to think about.