Woman Says She Was Barred From Exam Over Her Natural Afro Hair

A woman has asked why Africans regard their natural hair as tattered while treating the hair of other races as the standard for professionalism. Lucy Emmanuel-Uzochukwu said on Facebook that she was denied entry to an examination hall because she had her natural hair in an Afro. She wrote that she was not allowed to take her exam because of her natural hair, and that it had been deemed unsuitable for the exam room. She described being told to leave the line and go back, not because she had not prepared for her exam or had broken any rules, but because of the hair growing naturally from her scalp. Emmanuel-Uzochukwu said she was wearing an Afro at the time and that her hair was not even very long. She added that a lecturer called it inappropriate, a distraction, and a nuisance, and told her to find something to do with her hair. She questioned how a lecturer could discriminate against hair that also grows from his own scalp. She argued that natural Afro hair has long been criticized, hidden, and treated as unacceptable. Even in workplaces such as banks and other corporate environments, she said, people are expected to meet certain appearance standards. She recalled a woman telling her that her bank did not allow her to wear natural hair, and that all female employees had to wear wigs or cover their hair. According to that woman, coming to work with natural hair would be seen as looking tattered. Emmanuel-Uzochukwu said it was painful that something as natural as hair growing from the scalp had been made to appear unprofessional and unacceptable. To take her exams, she said, she had to find a scarf to cover her hair. She called for the practice to stop and urged Africans to appreciate their natural hair, take pleasure in wearing it, and refuse to feel ashamed or inferior because of it.