You used the “proper” spelling for Doo-Rag. I knew what you meant immediately. When I see a man wear that in a public setting, I automatically think “low class, ghetto, dope smoker, very low income, tacky”. Who thought this would be appealing to the public? Somebody is out of touch.
Numerous alternative spellings exist for durag, including do-rag, dew-rag, and doo-rag, all of which may be spelled with a space instead of a hyphen, or with neither a hyphen nor a space. The simplest etymology for do-rag is that it is named as such because it is a rag worn to protect one's hairdo. An alternative etymology claims that name should be spelled dew-rag, and dew is a euphemism for sweat.[3]
Early usage The Oxford English Dictionary dates the first published usage of "do-rag" to the 1964 Facing Reality pamphlet Negro Americans take the Lead,[4] written by Martin Glaberman. The pamphlet noted that in the wake of the 1963 Detroit Walk to Freedom, "the leading local newspaper announced it would feature a one-a-week column by a prominent local Negro. Trying to be a laborer worthy of his hire, the prominent local figure wrote a column denouncing 'do-rags.' The common habit of wearing a silk stocking over the head, presumably to protect the setting, aroused his ire."[5]
Other early published usages include:
On June 4, 1966, the Akron Beacon Journal printed "do rag ... a cloth band worn around the forehead as a sweatband or to keep hair in place".[7]
On September 2, 1966, the Dayton Daily News printed "the man with the black dew rag... one with the black bandana".[8]
In late 1966, "do rag ... processed hair done up in black rags" appeared in Newsweek.