Oh lord... I was asked a "do black people" question

I'm sure we've all experienced this... someone outside our race asking us if we use grease, if we have a "weave," how long it takes to get our hair done and etc... I haven't been asked a qustion like this since middle school and i'm now a freshman in college, so i was shocked and decided to share this with you.

Friend (9:54:28 PM): can you dispell a rumor for me
Friend (9:54:35 PM): how often do you wash your hair?
ME (9:54:42 PM): 2-3 times a week
ME (9:54:54 PM): why?
Friend (9:55:02 PM): ok...
Friend (9:55:17 PM): cause i've heard rumors that it's only like once a week... or as little as once a month
Friend (9:56:05 PM): i wash mine everyday though
ME (9:56:07 PM): once a week is probably the average
ME (9:56:20 PM): well duh, your hair gets oily fast
ME (9:56:27 PM): ours doesn't
Friend (9:57:22 PM): hrmmmm, interesting
Friend (9:57:32 PM): *turns black*
ME (9:57:33 PM):...you didn't know that?
Friend (9:58:22 PM): ummmmm
Friend (9:58:27 PM): how would i have known that?
Friend (9:58:35 PM): it's not like they teach us that in school or anything

My white roommate in college asked me why I don't wash my hair. I told her I get it "done" (pressed) every 3 weeks. Ain't no way in the world water is touching my head in between. Now I think back and cringe.

i didnt get this part....

Friend (9:57:22 PM): hrmmmm, interesting
Friend (9:57:32 PM): *turns black*

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i dunno....maybe im in the minority....but i have no problem answering questions like that...especialy if its a friend. *shrugs*

I hear ya on the questions! I get ( when I have braids )..................

1. WOW how long did it take to get that done?
2. how long will it stay up?
3. how often do you wash it, can u wash it, how do u wash it??????????
4. can I get my hair done like that?
5. now, how long is your hair........then

6.THEY START TO PUT THE HANDS ON IT IF THEY CAN

I actually had one white guy tell someone " don't EVER put your hands in a black womans hair unless your invited !" he told me later his girlfriend was a sista

carletta said:

I hear ya on the questions! I get ( when I have braids )..................

1. WOW how long did it take to get that done?
2. how long will it stay up?
3. how often do you wash it, can u wash it, how do u wash it??????????
4. can I get my hair done like that?
5. now, how long is your hair........then

6.THEY START TO PUT THE HANDS ON IT IF THEY CAN

I actually had one white guy tell someone " don't EVER put your hands in a black womans hair unless your invited !" he told me later his girlfriend was a sista

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LOL!!

carletta said:

don't EVER put your hands in a black womans hair unless your invited !" he told me later his girlfriend was a sista

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I know that's right! Homeboy has been schooled.

I don't mind answering these types of questions to a certain extent. But some of these questions are just so dumb. One girl asked me how do I pull my hair back. erplexed The ones I really hate are the people who think they know about "black hair" and how to do it. I work with a spanish girl who use to hang with a lot of black people (according to what she has said) and use pink oil, and she thinks she knows about "black hair." She once told me she wanted to do/tame by hair. I asked her why in the world would I want to go around looking like her and told her that she doesn't know who to do my hair anyway. She then proceed to tell me that she "can do some black hair." At this point I got irritated (which usually happens when someone even hints at the fact that I should straighten my hair) and told her that she may know how to straighten "black hair" but I don't straigthen, and it the only thing she can think of is straigthen then her knowledge of "black hair" is limited and she, therefore, didn't have the skills nor knowledge to handle me or my hair. She got red and embarrassed and changed the subject. I just hate when people tell me what I should do to my hair. My hair is super healthy and growing faster than everyone I work it (White, Black, Asian...eveyone) so I don't know why they think I need their advice.

Shatani said:

i didnt get this part....




i dunno....maybe im in the minority....but i have no problem answering questions like that...especialy if its a friend. *shrugs*

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i dont mind answerign questions either.

It irks me when they ask those types of questions in a crowd of white people and all the white people wanna listen in and ask more q's.
Ugh, help me....

Eiano said:

It irks me when they ask those types of questions in a crowd of white people and all the white people wanna listen in and ask more q's.
Ugh, help me....

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hahaha...i fell you....sometimes im in the mood to educate, and sometimes tell them to back up off me and go read a book.

I am used to these types of questions, I grew up in an all white area, the only black for years. The only question that ever bothered me was when the librarian in 3rd grade asked me if I had a weave. Even though I wasn't sure what a weave was at the time, I just responded that it was all my hair.

i usually ask after the barrage of questions why they tan. if they wanna magnify on our hair and ask a million questions about why we do what we do to our hair and what is fake and what not, I just say why do you tan when you know you are risking getting cancer, age spots, and early signs of aging? Are you tryin to be black? Tryin to avoid lookin sickly/pasty? Tanning is very artifical. Especially when they gotta lay up in a claustropobic bed thats plugged into a wall! Or buy color-in-a-bottle from CVS. There is no such thing as a naturally tanned complexion for white people. I went to Jersey shore and there were at least 5 tanning salons around the corner from the beach! I guess they dont wanna blend into the snow during the winter...I mean if they are so proud of who they are why dont they be the natural white people they are all year round? At least my weave/braids makes my hair grow. Fryin in the sun does y'all no good. I said that to one friend and she hasnt tanned yet!

jodydreams said:

i usually ask after the barrage of questions why they tan. if they wanna magnify on our hair and ask a million questions about why we do what we do to our hair and what is fake and what not, I just say why do you tan when you know you are risking getting cancer, age spots, and early signs of aging? Are you tryin to be black? Tryin to avoid lookin sickly/pasty? Tanning is very artifical. Especially when they gotta lay up in a claustropobic bed thats plugged into a wall! Or buy color-in-a-bottle from CVS. There is no such thing as a naturally tanned complexion for white people. I went to Jersey shore and there were at least 5 tanning salons around the corner from the beach! I guess they dont wanna blend into the snow during the winter...I mean if they are so proud of who they are why dont they be the natural white people they are all year round? At least my weave/braids makes my hair grow. Fryin in the sun does y'all no good. I said that to one friend and she hasnt tanned yet!

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when i skipped work and went to the beach the other day, this woman changed colors right before my eyes!!! she was just sittin there in teh sun reading.....one minute i looked over and she was fine, later i lookd over again and she was straight up ORANGE!!!!! i mean, chick looked like a big ole oompa loompa!

jodydreams said:

i usually ask after the barrage of questions why they tan. if they wanna magnify on our hair and ask a million questions about why we do what we do to our hair and what is fake and what not, I just say why do you tan when you know you are risking getting cancer, age spots, and early signs of aging? Are you tryin to be black? Tryin to avoid lookin sickly/pasty? Tanning is very artifical. Especially when they gotta lay up in a claustropobic bed thats plugged into a wall! Or buy color-in-a-bottle from CVS. There is no such thing as a naturally tanned complexion for white people. I went to Jersey shore and there were at least 5 tanning salons around the corner from the beach! I guess they dont wanna blend into the snow during the winter...I mean if they are so proud of who they are why dont they be the natural white people they are all year round? At least my weave/braids makes my hair grow. Fryin in the sun does y'all no good. I said that to one friend and she hasnt tanned yet!

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LOL! Girl you are somethin'! But I agree with you.

im the same as Shatani...sometimes im ok with answering questions and sometimes ill be ready to slap them, especially when they come at me wrong like puttin their hands all in my head and then saying oh yea thats how my hair is without a perm, its "poofy curly" or when they say somethin like they know how to do hair and for a little price they will "hook me up"

but if its just general, genuinely curious questions like how i achieve a hairstyle or how i take care of it, then yea i have no problem answering that

jodydreams said:

i usually ask after the barrage of questions why they tan. if they wanna magnify on our hair and ask a million questions about why we do what we do to our hair and what is fake and what not, I just say why do you tan when you know you are risking getting cancer, age spots, and early signs of aging? Are you tryin to be black? Tryin to avoid lookin sickly/pasty? Tanning is very artifical. Especially when they gotta lay up in a claustropobic bed thats plugged into a wall! Or buy color-in-a-bottle from CVS. There is no such thing as a naturally tanned complexion for white people. I went to Jersey shore and there were at least 5 tanning salons around the corner from the beach! I guess they dont wanna blend into the snow during the winter...I mean if they are so proud of who they are why dont they be the natural white people they are all year round? At least my weave/braids makes my hair grow. Fryin in the sun does y'all no good. I said that to one friend and she hasnt tanned yet!

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LOL!! girl you are crazy...that sounds like somethin i would say!

Oh lawd . I must have a look on my face that just screams -- "keep your 'do black people' questions to yourself" I'm still waiting for that time so I can segue into my 'why do white people love casserole so much' question . -- jainygirl

I hate it when they ask those questions. I feel that we as black people don't ask white people about their hair. How they wash it etc. I have never asked a white person about their hair at all, but when they see our hair in braids, long (is it real), how did your curl that way, they want to start asking questions. Sometimes I feel they want to see how ignorant we are and we are not. I don't care what kind of questions they are. If they are pertaining to black people they just want to here your response to see how well you speak. Maybe some not all, but the ones that I have encountered with definitely wants to see how well you speak. That is ignorant of them or anyone.

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Jainy girl, you are funny. Now that I think about it. I've seen more than enough casseroles at work gatherings. I stay away from open food at these things b/c I've been in the bathroom with some of these women!!! I only eat it if it's individually wrapped or from a place I recognize (ie. Subway sandwich etc.)

There's one white co-worker that I enjoy working with in the studio 3x a week. We've worked together for over 6 years and are pretty cool with one another. I mentioned leaving work early to get a perm one day and the questions started. I told her since it was Black History Month (February) she was allowed to ask me anything about our culture. I've explained, touchups, perms, Jerrhi curls, soul food dishes (which she loves), slang terms, myths/truths, different grades of hair, different skin tones, you name it. She doesn't try to act black which I appreciate and doesn't claim to have "black friends". She's pretty cool.

Shatani said:

i mean, chick looked like a big ole oompa loompa!

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I hope she didn't have any of Willy Wonka's cholocate with her. It surely would have melted.

White people are funny. The only questions I get asked by the about my hair is when I have braids in. It's funny, I thought they would have many more questions about my natural hair, but they don't. . .

But I'm sure they're thinking, "how does she COMB it?"

the experience that sticks in my mind is i had a roomate who had waistlength 4a hair. There was no curl just long frizzy 4a. At first she had to get out at 3am so I rarely saw what she did with it but it was always worn up as we all had to. I had a relaxer then. One evening she was going out and I was home. I watched her wash condition then comb out her hair. She then rinsed and lightly blow dried. (This is how I learned to do it. ) She held section out and ran a soft brush slowly down following with the dryer on low. It lengthened out the hair. Then she was this giant fluff. She then used VO-5 generously. Then she used steam electric curlers. None of this really straintened her hair but it gave her control and a sparkle. she would then use clips to stlye and out she went. Later when she came home it was everywhere. She braided it and went to bed. The next day she came right out and said when she was younger her mom always relaxed her hair. Then asked me why do I relax mine. I was dump founded and had been questioning my self secretly after seeing her way of caring for that head of hair. She always thought it was just a hangup with her mom about having straight hair. She did say she had never been around blacks before and did not realize we relaxed our hair also. I always remember that and was one of the things that spurred me to go natural later. I then messed up and tried a wave neuvou. I saw that she excepted that hair and had found ways to take care of it just as it was. She had later told me as we talked how dry and unrully she was always told her hair was. Her mom just did not know what to do or did not want to know and wanted her to have straigth hair like all the other girls. By the way she was a bright strawberry blonde with a lot of red. Thick but because she learned to care for it it was beautiful. She did let me feel he hair and it was just like my best friends 4a hair.
I think some people are not being rude but are just so curious. I certainly had been dying to see exactly what she did with hers.

Yea... people of other races can be a bit much at times when it comes to questioning us about our culture, hair, etc. I remember my freshman year of college, I chose a 7:30AM American History class... and of course I was the ONLY black girl in the class (come to think of it, I was the only black girl in all my classes that semester ) I always like to go to class like 10 mins early so when I get there, there are like 12 other students (white and asians) already there. So I sit in the middle of the class because the front and back seats are taken. So I am surrounded and my hair was braided. The girl in front of me asked a question and the oh my goodness the other questions just started pouring in...

How long did it take to do that?
Did it hurt?
Can you wash it?
How long can you keep it in for?
Do you know how to braid hair?
If you braided mines would it stay?
How much did it cost?
Can I touch it??

So like 2 months later I took my braids out and relaxed my hair. I wore it down and at that time it was just a lil bit past my shoulders. So I went to the same class early as usual. And the same girl who started the parade of questions 2 months ago said to me "is this another waeve?" I said NO this is not a weave this is my real hair. Then this whoremonger says "wow, i didnt know your hair was that long" I'm like beyotch you didnt know me in the first place and you still dont know me! Some people are just so dumb. Some from that day I never got asked another hair question from anyone in that class. But I do notice that the white girls at my school auotmatically assume that black people know how to braid hair. I cannot count the amount of time I was stopped by a white girl that asked me if I know how to braid hair.

I don't mind the questions because I ask them questions too. One co-worker asked me how often I wash my hair and I told her it all depends on how I'm wearing it.

She said she wanted to stop shampooing everyday because she felt her hair was becoming thin and dry from the daily blow drying/curling. I asked her why did she have to do all that?????? I honestly didn't think that they went though all that every morning. But if she didn't she looked like a drowned rat.

Another co-worker wears a wig every day and started out with a weave. Now you know I asked her about that!!!!

Shatani said:

when i skipped work and went to the beach the other day, this woman changed colors right before my eyes!!! she was just sittin there in teh sun reading.....one minute i looked over and she was fine, later i lookd over again and she was straight up ORANGE!!!!! i mean, chick looked like a big ole oompa loompa!

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Shatani, love ya quotes! At least u don't have people asking dumb qs like this....I have recently cut my hair short and now am natural. So many people have seen this and this 1 person in particular.I wore this braid wig and alot of people like it. This 1 person had the nerve to ask me how my hair got so long, and so fast. This 1 person has also snapped on me about my decision to go natural. She is married to a black man and has children and grandchildren w/ multitextured hair. U would think she wouldn't ask a dumb q like that!

Natrlchallenge said:

Shatani, love ya quotes! At least u don't have people asking dumb qs like this....I have recently cut my hair short and now am natural. So many people have seen this and this 1 person in particular.I wore this braid wig and alot of people like it. This 1 person had the nerve to ask me how my hair got so long, and so fast. This 1 person has also snapped on me about my decision to go natural. She is married to a black man and has children and grandchildren w/ multitextured hair. U would think she wouldn't ask a dumb q like that!

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what?!?! who the hell is she to have any kind of expressed opionion about YOU going natural?!?!?

I get those questions allll the time w/ some of my classmates. this one particular girl, she notices EVERY time I come in w/ a new hair do, wig, eave whatever, she always have a question. It got to the point now, I just give her a dumb look, and she dont ask AS much anymore....
I once had some of my classmates, all of them white over for a study group. It was my wash day, so I had just showered, and blow dryed my hair. After study group, they were on the way out, and they asked what I was about to do, so I said, Im about to press my hair.....You would have thought I said, perform a magic trick. They all was like oooh, can we watch . So, after the shock of the behavior left, i let them watch me press a section of my hair, and that thought I had done a magic trick. They was like WOW, mouths all open, and just totally amazed at how my puffy hair, went down to a silky smooth state.
Then they had question about, the pressing comb, and on and on. After they saw that was beginning to irritate me, they left. But, they had to mention to the class the next day. I didnt know how to take that experience

honeycomb719 said:

I get those questions allll the time w/ some of my classmates. this one particular girl, she notices EVERY time I come in w/ a new hair do, wig, eave whatever, she always have a question. It got to the point now, I just give her a dumb look, and she dont ask AS much anymore....
I once had some of my classmates, all of them white over for a study group. It was my wash day, so I had just showered, and blow dryed my hair. After study group, they were on the way out, and they asked what I was about to do, so I said, Im about to press my hair.....You would have thought I said, perform a magic trick. They all was like oooh, can we watch . So, after the shock of the behavior left, i let them watch me press a section of my hair, and that thought I had done a magic trick. They was like WOW, mouths all open, and just totally amazed at how my puffy hair, went down to a silky smooth state.
Then they had question about, the pressing comb, and on and on. After they saw that was beginning to irritate me, they left. But, they had to mention to the class the next day. I didnt know how to take that experience

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damn, like youre some kind of sideshow freak!!!!

ive had white roommates since i went to college, and they always like to watch me do my hair....thats alright, i liked to watch them cook....i just couldnt figure out how the food could look so pretty and taste like lickin the floor under the fridge!

I don't mind people asking questions usually. I do take exception with dumb ass remarks. For example, in college, sitting around with a few YTs and we were discussing Speechs and I mentioned how I hate to give speeches and I'm so nervous...blah blah blah. Do you know this chick had the NERVE to say...

"I thought all Black people liked to talk"..and continued with "all the Black people I know, love to talk"

**first off FOOL, since when is talking and giving a speech the same thing, but thats not even the point**


....I was truly speechless, mind blown, don't even remember what I said right now.