"For white people who might be having a little trouble with black-person hair, Carol's Daughter is a fantastic hair product. We got it for Z. Now her hair has this beautiful luster. And it smells nice, too." (Brad Pitt in Esquire)It seems Hollywood actor Brad Pitt has caused outrage within the black community when he talked about the cultural aspect of having to raise a black child with "black hair". Personally, I don't see anything wrong with what he said, but let's not act simple like we didn't know what he meant. Yes, black people's hair comes in different textures and quality but kinky hair is mainly associated to black people than any other race and many of us don't take kindly to the rain or humid surroundings especially when it comes to our hair as this results in many of us having to wear braids or alternatively, using chemical processors.
Zahara is a black child and a beautiful black one at that but she does not have typical 100% negroid hair. She is going to grow up to have hair like Chilli from R&B group TLC. Somalian people look like that. As my mom would say, they are black people who were just made to have those features. Zahara's hair is growing and becoming out of control so Brad felt the need to address the issue by claiming he uses black products (Carol's Daughter) for her hair which is a positive step in the right direction. After all, I see white mothers with their mixed race children all the time and they don't know how to care their chidren's hair at all. I mean white folks who chose to adopt black children or concieve them should read up on how to treat their kids hair or send them to a black salon, and obviously Brad did his research.
He and Angelina Jolie are wonderful people (although I may not agree with how they got together, infidelity is never good) but they take great pride in their kids. They have done a lot for Africa and black children as well as many charities out there. They are good people. Any man who will come into a relationship with kids that are not biologically his and embrace those children by adopting them and giving them his name is a dime a dozen. Angelina rewarded him with a biological child of his own despite claiming once that she could never see herself maternally carrying a child. Brad (unlike Justin Timberfake) doesn't act down with black folks just for career gain. He puts his money where his mouth is. He has even been attracted to black women (he has dated Robin Givens, Sinitta and Thandie Newton) so I say kudos to him and cut the man some slack! Sales for Carol's Daughter will shoot through the roof after this.
12 Comments:
I'm black & I give brad kudos for his comment. I see white parents with black foster kids all the time here in Cali & their hair usually looks a kot mess so cheers to Brad for giving all those people a helping hand. It's obvious that he loves the girl too so I don't see how he could've meant any harm with his comment.
how do you know zahara will have hair like chilli from tlc?
and the reason that KINKY is mainly associated with black hair ,is because OUR HAIR IS KINKY.
about 95% of us have kinky hair.
and i agree with JERAMIMI.
I just want 2 say... Toya I admire u, u work on dis blog a lot n itz not only bout da music itz bout smart topics like dis... Respect :)
Antonia, I do try to be conservative at times but thanks. I think EVERY black person has an opinion on this, so I thought I may as well share mine.
Kitty, have you seen Zahara's natural birth mother? She has that type of hair, and in a shoot that they did earlier this year, I think it was People magazine, I'm not sure. It was a photo spread they did for one of those top Hollywood mags. Zahara's hair was really wavy.
I too agree with Jermimi. Well said.
I am African and I 100% agree with Brad's comment. What exactly is wrong with the comment? because he said 'black-person hair'? some people have said he should have said 'African American' hair...well guess what? not all black people are african american..
Zahara is of Ethiopian heritage and people from Ethiopia and Somalia have wavier hair whch is even easier to handle but its still tough for white parents to manage it...
In Canada and the US, I cannot count the number of black children fostered or adopted by white people whose his hair is in a HOT MESS state...I mean its horrible...
I think Brad's comments can really help these kids...
Anyways, Toya u rock!!!! Keep it up girl!
Thank you. Bear in mind that his usage of the word "black" and not "African-American" shows his comfort zone factor around black folks. He scores cool points in my book for that alone.
I think black people have alot more to worry about than Brad Pitt making a comment regarding is daugther hair which he seems to love. I'm glad he and Angelina made the effort to research products. I hate to see looking black girls who have white parents look totally jacked up by the head.
I rate Brad for being frank.
I know a couple who have a mixed race child (White mum, Black father) and they just left their daughter's hair. They didn't run NO black hair product through it and just washed it with Wash and go. No Pink lusters, or Dark & lovely - NUTHIN!!
I rate Brad for mentioning this, because it will hopefully make others out there neglecting or using white hair products on Black and or ethnic hair take some notice.
"Bear in mind that his usage of the word "black" and not "African-American" shows his comfort zone factor around black folks."
I didn't think about that, but it's true. Most caucasians use the term African American & it's so obvious at that point that they don't actually know any black people in the everyday lives. Those are the type of people who can count the number of friends of color they have on one hand. Brad's not scared to say black and that is a message in itself.
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