Institutional Racism & the Limits on the Body Literature Essay

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Institutional Racism and Limits on the Body
The texture, color, look and other assumptions made on a person’s hair, especially women and girls, has become a tool for discrimination on what some scholars refer to as hair harassment. Women of African descent are the ones who experience this type of discrimination the most due to their black hair. In my research, I found out that black women face various racist remarks from their white peers based on their hair color. Hair harassment in the U.S. varies across locations. In areas dominated by black people, black hair is common hence limited racist remarks (O’Brien-Richardson p523-534). In white-dominated areas especially among people of higher social classes, hair harassment is very common with black women facing remarks like on how bad they look and how they need a make-over. Some states have adopted systems that seek to protect black women who want to have their black hair natural even in the workplace (McGregor, p1-17). It leaves me with a question of why they have to be protected. Black hair is not a weakness hence they should not be ma...