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Should Not Black Men Have Mustaches on their Lips and Hair on their Heads?

By: Robert Taylor

[ Posted On: 2009-02-20 ]

As a general rule, I do not comment on personal issues which I consider to be primarily a matter of individual taste. However, when a trend begins to emerge, I feel duty bound to speak out, especially if the trend appears to be of dubious origins.

In the past few years I have noticed a trend, especially among prominent African American men who appear frequently on television, of both going bald and shaving off their mustaches.

Culturally, I think African American men should wear mustaches. I cannot fully explain why I think this way, except to note that historically that is the way it has been for at least the past 100 years. Thus, when I see Black men violating that cultural standard, I begin to wonder why.

The following questions immediately come to mind: Are we shaving our heads because we are in some way ashamed of our hair? Does it not logically follow that if you are cutting off your hair, you do not like your hair? And is that not an act of self-hatred? Secondly, are we shaving off our mustaches because of a Euro-centric cultural standard which says mustache-less Black men look younger and appear less threatening to whites?

I could be off-base on this issue but I must wonder why one does not see much of this trend in poor and working-class Black America. But the higher you go up the economic ladder and encounter Black men who must interact frequently with whites, the more they tend to shave their mustaches (especially), their heads or both.

When I was a child, I almost never saw an adult African American male who did not have a mustache. Regardless of social class, the mustache was there at least 98 percent of the time. I simply want to know what happed to change that. Is it a new form of self-hatred or an extreme desire to be accepted by the dominant society?

There is a reason for everything. Nothing just happens. Furthermore, I do not believe that any social development is neutral. Every trend takes us in some direction - be it positive or negative. Therefore, I am justified in asking why this trend is taking place. I raise this question with the full belief that how you groom yourself is your personal business and no one has a right to force you away from your personal taste.

Nevertheless, is the trend positive or negative? I just fear it may be a form of self-hatred.

Article Source: http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard

About The Author: Robert Taylor is editor of the National Black News Journal. Visit his digital newspaper at www.freewebs.com/blacknewsjournal or contact him directly at TaylorMediaPrime@yahoo.com .

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