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A woman has questioned why Africans consider the natural state of their hair to be "tattered" while making the hair of other races the standard of what is considered "professional".
Lucy Emmanuel-Uzochukwu took to Facebook to share rhat she was denied entry into an exam hall because she wore her natural hair in an Afro.
She wrote: "I was denied the right to write my exam because I wore my natural hair.
"Yes, you read that right. My natural hair was considered inappropriate for an exam hall.
"Imagine being told to leave the line and turn back, not because you weren’t prepared for your exam or had broken any rules
"But simply because of the hair that grows naturally out of your scalp.
"That was exactly what happened to me.
"I was wearing an Afro, and my hair wasn’t even very long then.
"But a lecturer called it inappropriate, a distraction, and a nuisance.
"He told me to go and look for what I should do with my hair.
"It’s crazy how a lecturer would discriminate against hair that also grows out of his own scalp.
"Natural Afro hair has been talked down on, hidden, and deemed inappropriate for far too long.
"Even in workplaces like banks and other corporate environments, you have to look a certain way to be considered acceptable.
"A lady once told me that her bank doesn’t allow her to wear her natural hair.
"All the ladies must always wear wigs or have their hair covered. According to her, you can’t come to work looking tattered.
"So, leaving our natural hair out now makes us look tattered?
"It’s heartbreaking that something as natural as the hair growing out of our scalps has been made to look unprofessional and unacceptable.
"I had to look for a scarf to cover my hair just so I could write my exams.
"Think about that for a moment.
"This needs to stop.
"We, as Africans, need to learn to appreciate our natural hair and derive joy in wearing it without feeling ashamed or being made to feel less than others."
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