This will work.
Posted on 10/26/2005 8:01:27 AM PDT by BerniesFriend
'Whites Only' Barber
While America remembers Rosa Parks, some in North Lafayette are being reminded of Jim Crow. A whites only barbershop owner says it's not what you think. Or is it?
Barber Herb Leger says, "I tell them you want a haircut, go across the street. They can give you a professional haircut, but I can't." Most people are shocked when they see whites only on Leger's barber sign. Like Victoria Cenales who stopped by to ask Leger why doesn't he accept black customers.
Leger told her, "It's not that I don't want black people in the shop. It's just that I'm not qualified to give them professional service." Cenales told him, "People will misunderstand that sign. That was back in the 60s."
Leger says he's inexperienced and not trained to cut black hair. "Completely different way of cutting hair. It's not the same," he says. The owner of Platinum Kutz, another barbershop across the street, says Leger has never sent customers his way, and customers inside can't believe Leger thinks it's okay to put up a whites only sign. Thirty-year-old Nick Milton says, "I had to think about what year I was in - whether I was in the 60s or the 2000s." "Just plainly state I don't do black haircuts. You don't have to say whites only," Ellis Banks says. Barber Ron Landry tells KATC, "It's a racial sign. It makes a statement. I don't like it."
Leger is 72-years-old and clearly remembers the animosity and hurt that "whites only" signs spread during the civil rights era. He says he's not racist, just not qualified. Cenales says his sign is "the way society is." "Most people are closed-minded," she says.
Leger understands the sign could send a mixed message. "In today's life, I can see. People, especially your black people are not very broadminded," he says. Platinum Kuts owner Jason Walker says, "I feel it's ignorance, and it has no place.
Leger says in a few days he's replacing his temporary sign with a permenant one without whites only. Since he only opened two months ago, he used it to establish the kind of services he offers.
That statement wins the Howard Dean Prize.
Replace sign immediately:
"I am not experienced in cutting African-American hair. I'll be happy to try, but you might get a better result with a different barber"
Actually, I have heard some hair stylists won't do certain races' hair because it is different.
It makes sense. The hair of blacks is different than that of whites. If I were black I think I would want someone who knew what they were doing cutting my hair.
The "Whites only" sign isn't the wisest move.
How about Asian hair? Hispanic hair?
Maybe he should say "Straight hair only"...
*shakes head*
Sarcasm tags didn't make it through for some reason.
What if it was a white dude with curly hair, like the late artist Bob Ross, or Gabe Kaplan, or that Napoleon Dynamite guy?
You put your finger on it. A very telling statement indeed. Of course, the guy who made the statement will never be able to understand what's wrong with it.
There is definitely a difference in hair. If he doesn't want to hire someone confident to cut black hair then I suppose he is obligated to tell these customers he can't cut it. It is awkward ... . I'm not sure what the answer is. If he doesn't want to learn to cut it or hire someone who can ... I guess that's his choice.
"We're out to get the pickup vote with confederate flags on the back"
Then put up a sign that says "not qualified to cut afro-hair." BTW, this guy is not a "hair stylist," but an experienced barber. How difficult can it be to take a No. 2 clipper and give a guy a cut? Anyone who has trimmed a hedge can probably cut an man's hair -- regardless of his race -- with No. 2 clippers.
"There is definitely a difference in hair. If he doesn't want to hire someone confident to cut black hair then I suppose he is obligated to tell these customers he can't cut it. It is awkward ... . I'm not sure what the answer is. If he doesn't want to learn to cut it or hire someone who can ... I guess that's his choice."
This isn't a racial or gender issue because underneath the hair we are all bald.
Stupid is...
LOL! Good post to start the day.
I'm mixed with curly, not kinky, hair. I often have better luck with hispanic hairdressers because many of 'your hispanics' are racially mixed and the hairdressers seem to know how to deal with the various hair textures that result. Black hairdressers sometimes don't know what to do if they can't press it or relax it and I've had white hairdressers say that they didn't feel comfortable doing my hair. Personally, I want someone who feels comfortable. The sign was stupid; the motivation behind it was understandable.
Some blacks are good at extortion. Like Jesse Jackson. Of course, some whites are also good at it.
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