The Tangled History of Cornrows
The hairstyle once helped African slaves escape to freedom
A White friend recently got back from her hairstylist with neat lines of cornrows in her blonde hair. Tiny colorful beads at the end of each braid clicked together as she flipped her locks over her shoulder.
“I don’t even have to wash my hair now,” she exclaimed.
“Ah, ok,” I replied. “But since when is washing your hair a problem?”
It wasn’t. And although I know she was only wearing cornrows because she thought it looked cool, her hairstyle made me weirdly uncomfortable. (I say “weirdly” because I had no right to be offended.)
But I did launch into one of my history lessons...
Yes, I am that annoying friend.
Then I felt bad because I had made her feel bad about a hairstyle she was only wearing to follow the latest trend. But I kept thinking — I wonder if White women would so casually adopt this hairstyle if they fully understood its history?
The tangled history of cornrows
Cornrows are a style of braiding close to the scalp and formed in linear and geometric patterns. Traditional cornrowing is known as Irun didi, but there are also many other styles.
