Good Hair

I never thought about hair in that way. To me, hair is hair no matter what color, texture, curly or straight. Different ethnic background, different hair. Im Portugese-American and my husband is Syrian, Irish, English, Finnish, American-Indian and the list goes on. I have curly hair and my husband has straight hair as well as my son. We are pregnant with twins so any hair color, texture wouldnt be a surprise. As long as we are all healthy, we ll be happy!

I really appreciate the way you transformed a racist comment about your children's appearance into a way to positively reinforce admirable behavior on their part (and I think it is wonderful that he gave up his seat!). It is obvious that you are an incredible mother, and I will definitely use that technique in the future! The members of my family come from many different ethnic backgrounds, and I have always been uncomfortable about my Filipina-American aunties telling my cousins to marry white men so that their kids will have a "good nose", or my African-American family members comparing hair texture. I am of Swedish-Irish descent, and my husband is South African Indian, and I know that my children might experience similar comments about their skin color or hair texture, but until now I felt that my only response was to point out how rude and racist the commenter was being. All the best to you and your boys!

Right on! Just today I saw M.J. Blige speaking with Tyra on national TV about how she wished her hair was straight. Tyra said that if she wanted "good hair" she should just go out and buy it like all the other sisters. I was horrified. When are we going to get away from the whole "good hair, bad hair" thing? It tears at the very fabric of your being when you have beautiful, naturally coiled hair and society tells you it's undesirable... When I cut out my perm a few years ago, I truly became empowered and very happy... Plus, is there anything more liberating and fun than going out in the rain with a smile on your face? I wish you well.