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Black career women's hair hurdle: Natural or straightened?

Angela Green (right), a biracial television anchor for WNCT in Greenville, N.C., posted a video on her station's Facebook page asking whether intern Madison Jaggars (left) should straighten her hair for the sake of her career. (Courtesy of Angela Green)
Angela Green (right), a biracial television anchor for WNCT in Greenville, N.C., posted a video on her station's Facebook page asking whether intern Madison Jaggars (left) should straighten her hair for the sake of her career. (Courtesy of Angela Green)
By Rosalind Bentley
Sept 22, 2015

To perm or not to perm? That was the question Angela Green, a biracial Greenville, N.C., television anchor, posed to an African-American female intern at her station last week.

The intern didn't want to straighten her natural curly hair after it was suggested, by someone outside the station, that she consider straightening it for a school project because her natural curls were "distracting."

The intern’s curls were bigger than Beyonce’s.

Green suggested, that just this once, the intern go along to get along and straighten her hair. Green posted the exchange to her station's Facebook page. It has since gone viral.

Click on the attached photo gallery to see a few professional African-American women who have worn their hair natural while climbing the ladder to success in their chosen fields. What do you think? Perm or not?

About the Author

Rosalind Bentley is an award-winning feature writer focusing on culture, arts and sometimes food, as they are expressed and experienced in Atlanta. She is a two-time James Beard Award finalist and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

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