Bianca Dawkins sent us an email on Blackhairinformation about an incident involving herself and a salon she visited last week. She wanted her story told and when I read it, I was more than happy to oblige.
Bianca wanted a simple, wash, blow-dry and flat iron but when she finally got into the stylist seat he said he couldn’t do it.
He referred to her hair as “an animal that cannot be tamed”. And that wasn’t all, read below from her interview with City Pages
Bianca Davis called ahead.
In making an appointment at the Denny Kemp Salon and Spa in Minneapolis, Dawkins informed the receptionist that she had “textured hair.”
What Dawkins wanted done was very simple: a wash, a blow-dry, and a flat iron treatment, leaving her with straight hair. Because Dawkins has “really curly, tight curls,” she told the desk assistant her hair would need up to two hours.
When she arrived there on Friday, Dawkins found the stylist wasn’t exactly ready for her. And it wasn’t clear if he ever would be.
According to Dawkins, the man grabbed some of her hair and informed her he couldn’t handle it, referring to it as “an animal that can’t be tamed.” Later, she says, he brought around a handful of other staff to look at Dawkins’ curls. None was up to the task.
At that point, Dawkins had had enough. “So, what? Black girls can’t come in here and get their hair done?” she asked.
According to Dawkins, the stylist replied, “Well, it isn’t the 1950s or ’60s, where we can just put up a sign in the window.”
“In that moment, I was having my identity attacked,” Dawkins says. “I couldn’t believe what was happening. I just put my head down and walked out.”
Bianca Dawkins had been treating her hair her whole life, but switched to a natural style around 18 months ago.
Later, she posted on her experience on Facebook, where many friends shared it, and a lot of others took their issues directly to the salon, communicating their anger through emails and phone calls.
On Facebook Bianca shared her ordeal in this statement:
My hair has been natural for over a year now and it has been a journey. I’ve experienced the toughest part of my journey yesterday when my hair was referred to an animal.
I thought for a second should I get a perm but I didn’t want this incident to get the best of me. I want to be apart of the movement that is creating awareness that “All People” should be made to feel beautiful. I want everyone to receive great experiences when they are getting pampered. No one should feel like their hair should be “tamed” or they are not to be accommodated or supported when trying to find and receive treatment.
I don’t want the incident that happened to blow over, and just be a thing that happened because many people have experienced this and it is just pure ignorance. #iamnotananimalthatneedstobetamed #iamhuman #everyoneshouldbepamperedproperly
