'Whites Only' Barber

KATC3 TV NEWS Lafayette, Louisiana ABC affiliate ^ | 10/26/05

[swain_forkbeard]

My guess is that he would not be happy to try. Just a guess now.

Concerning the blunt signage, the following observation, "Since he only opened two months ago, he used it to establish the kind of services he offers", says it all.

[teenyelliott]

If anyone did not get that you were making a joke w/o having to be told, then they are stoopid.

[cripplecreek]

I suspect the guy would have a much easier time explaining his situation to a white man than a black man. Now that I think back over the years I don't think Ive ever seen any blacks in the places where I get my hair cut. I think it's kind of a naturally occuring segregation.

Think about it. How often do you find a tanning salon full of black people?

[ncountylee]

How about 'high yallas?'

[KarlInOhio]

Maybe he should say "Straight hair only"...

Because the other type goes to a fabulous stylist instead of just a barber?

[Eagle Eye]

Where's the outrage about the malls in Atlanta that won't cut white people's hair?

[George Smiley]

I suspect, but don't know for sure, that he's lying.

In order to get a cosmetology license, I believe that you have to demonstrate proficiency with *all* types of hair.

And all hair *isn't* alike.

I'll never forget my wife having to explain this to my daughter when she came home from a friend's house [daughter:white, friend: black] with some of the friend's hair care products in her hair- they'd been playing, as little girls do.

And we were grateful it was just conditioner they had used- some of those products have real strong chemicals in 'em...

[evets]

Here's a video of Janet Jackson tanning.

[staytrue]

Anyone who has trimmed a hedge can probably cut an man's hair -- regardless of his race

So if Michael Jordan came in and wanted his head done in his normal fashion (bald) this guy could not do it ?

[303george]

I had an old barber once with a similar policy, only he didn't have a sign. But one day I am in the chair getting my hair cut when a young black guy comes in and sits down. Without even missing a beat the barber says:

"Sorry son, I don't cut black hair, unless you got Cab Calloway hair."

I busted out laughing, the guy sat their stunned (perhaps unaware of who Cab Calloway was) then slowly got up and left.

I don't think the barber was a racist, he just needed to work on his tact.

[skikvt]

Perhaps he doesn't have the sort of hedge trimmers necessary to take on a serious set of dreads...

[staytrue]

The sign was stupid; the motivation behind it was understandable.

I find the motivation to be very questionable. A lot of black athletes like a bald head. I would think this guy would be qualified to shave a bald head, black, white or whoever.

[Labyrinthos]

In order to get a cosmetology license, I believe that you have to demonstrate proficiency with *all* types of hair.

That's my understanding. However, given this guy's age, he might have "grandfathered" in prior to the proficiency requirement.

[GreenLanternCorps]

Before visiting Herb Leger:

After visiting Herb Leger:

[Labyrinthos]

So if Michael Jordan came in and wanted his head done in his normal fashion (bald) this guy could not do it ?

That's what he claims.

[kenth]

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."


Trying to be coy doesn't hide the blatant ignorance he's showing. He put the sign up, the least he could do is be honest about it. One puts a sign up like that, they fully understand the connotations behind it. Claiming it has a new meaning today is just to try and add insult to everyone's intelligence.

[nmh]

I suspect allot of them assume anyone trained to cut hair will be able to cut theirs. If you walk into a hair saloon in the NE as a black person, this would be a non issue. They'll cut anyones hair.

[dmz]

LOL. Do they have a sign outside their shops that reads "Blacks only".

This white guy would NEVER set foot in his shop, but I've been known to tilt at a few windmills.

[bk1000]

"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."

So, you can say 'No Blacks', but you can't say 'Whites only'? That's just plain stupid. Get the chip off your shoulder and get a %#$% haircut

Also, I knew some girls in cosmotology school in the '80s and you either elected to train to cut both styles of hair or one or the other. This practice has never been considered racist.

[GSlob]

"Anyone who has trimmed a hedge can probably cut an man's hair -- regardless of his race -- with No. 2 clippers."
Unless one is talking about shaving the head clean or (as they did in more primitive places and times) setting the hair on fire and then extinguishing it - doing a quality haircut is more involved. Since no customer would be pleased at a botched haircut, the guy's logic is unassailable. One could only comment on his way of expressing it.