Hair Messages: A Context for Exploring Racial Socialization Among African American Males

African American Racial Socialization

Racial socialization primarily involves the processes in which young people are oriented to realities of race and racism. Throughout the past four decades, scholars have focused majorly on verbal and nonverbal messages about race that Black families impart to their children, operationalizing into areas like racial identity, racial barriers, and racial pride in racialized settings (Anderson & Stevenson, 2019; Boykin & Toms, 1985; Jones & Neblett, 2017; Scott, 2003; Stevenson, 1995). For instance, Boykin and Toms (1985) grouped African American families’ racial messages into three themes: mainstream socialization, minority socialization, and Black cultural socialization. While mainstream socialization teaches Black children to assimilate into society through adopting western values like competition and individualism, Black cultural socialization emphasizes African-centered practices of communalism and interdependence (Boykin & Toms, 1985). Minority socialization is conceptualized as the process in which parents teach their children to adapt, negotiate, and accept realities of racism and its social expectations of minorities (Boykin & Toms, 1985). More recently, scholars have categorized messages of racial socialization into five predominant content areas: cultural socialization, preparation for bias, promotion of mistrust, silence about race, and egalitarianism (Howard et al., 2013; Hughes et al., 2006; Neblett et al., 2008).

Cultural socialization—the term used to describe the practices that reinforce racial pride, cultural heritage, historical traditions, and worldview—may be considered the most reported form of racial socialization (Lesane-Brown, 2006). Parents of African American children who provide their children with Afrocentric books, celebrate holidays like Kwanzaa or Juneteenth, and emphasize positive attributes of Black historical figures are sending salient messages of cultural socialization. Research has associated high reports of cultural socialization to positive youth development, including positive self-esteem, racial identity, and academic achievement (Hughes et al., 2006; Neblett et al., 2009). Preparation for bias—the messages associated with strategies to identify, navigate, and cope with racial discrimination—may be more often directed towards African American male adolescents as compared to their racial and gender counterparts as many families perceive this demographic to face harsher experiences of racism (Hughes et al., 2006). Promotion of mistrust includes messages of caution and alertness about relations with outside racial groups, with emphasis on groups who have historically mistreated and oppressed African Americans. Silence about race refers to messages—usually unconscious, nonverbal, and subtle—that ignore the realities of race and racism. Egalitarianism teaches that all people, regardless of race, are equal and share more commonalities than differences (Hughes et al., 2006). These messages tend to express value for universal qualities—like hard work and skill-building—over pride in one’s racial membership and the role of racism in personal achievement (Aldana & Byrd, 2015). Neblett et al. (2009) also identify negative racial messages, self-worth messages, and racial socialization behaviors as other content areas that have received less attention in empirical studies of African American racial socialization. Negative racial messages emphasize stereotypical ideas about African Americans and reinforce behaviors that are in contradiction with healthy racial and cultural esteem. Whereas messages of self-worth promote a person’s feeling of self-concept and self-esteem as an individual within a racial group (Neblett et al., 2009). Racial socialization behaviors are nonverbal habits and activities that implicitly or explicitly instill racial concepts that communicate the essence of African American culture and lived experiences. Interrogating contexts that promote the breadth and depth of racial socialization is vital in examining the fullness of messages that African American males receive—from early childhood through late adolescence and beyond. As Hughes et al. (2006) outline, racial socialization is associated with academic, psychosocial, behavioral, and racial esteem outcomes among youth. Thus, exploration of such contexts may inform researchers of methods to promote positive youth development.

Socializing Contexts for African American Males

As African American youth transition from childhood into adolescence and adulthood, their out-of-home experiences of racial socialization widen significantly. Utilizing Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory, Lesane-Brown (2006) contends racial socialization is a multidimensional process that youth experience from interactions with their surrounding environments. Similarly, Cunningham and Meunier (2004) note that such environments—and the people within them—contribute to the development of nuanced socializations that equip Black male youth with skills to navigate racialized gender norms, pursue social acceptance, and explore the many meanings of Black masculinity. Further, Gee and colleagues (2008, 2012) also note that generations of youth have unique and nuanced exposures to individual and systemic-level racism based on the era they aged through. These exposures across time can uniquely inform the effects of current and historic racial socialization for Black youth (Galán et al., 2022). Peers, schools, youth programs, churches, and other neighborhood institutions serve as important mesosystems to examine as both positive and negative socializers (Lozada et al., 2017). While many in-school experiences of African American males fall into categories of minority socialization (Boykin & Toms, 1985) and silence about race (Hughes, et al., 2006), school sites have also shown to provide spaces of cultural socialization. Researchers have reported strong positive associations between Black identity processes, historical knowledge, racial group membership, and academic engagement within both White majority schools and majority-minority schools (Carter, 2012; Nasir, 2011).

Youth programs are another racializing context for African Americans. Black mentoring projects and rites of passages utilize programmatic processes and curricular content that contribute to participants’ racial socialization. After examining racial socialization messages that programs promote, Brittian Loyd and Williams (2017) found cultural socialization as the most commonly implemented racial socialization strategy. Such strategies included facilitating culturally grounded curriculums, attending culturally relevant workshops, participating in cultural practices and traditions, and visiting cultural sites (Brittian Loyd & Williams, 2017). Indeed, other direct socialization strategies included group conversations about racial hierarchies, sharing tips to navigate racism, and promoting skills needed to excel as African Americans in society.

Neighborhoods have also been considered as influential factors for the racial and social development of African American males (Brown, 2008; Caughy et al., 2006; Stevenson et al., 2005). As adolescents age out of schools and youth programs, spaces of cultural transmission work as sites of racial socialization, displaying direct and indirect messages of cultural norms, gender expectations, and communal support.

Black Barbershops as Sites of Racial Socialization

Researchers of various disciplines, from public health and psychology to history and education, have examined the significance of Black hair spaces for African American adolescents and adults (Cowart et al., 2004; Majors, 2003; Mbilishaka, 2018; Wilson et al., 2019). As Mills (2013) informs, the history of Black barbershops is one that has centralized the expertise and employment of African American men since the early 1900s. From then until current times, Black barbershops continue to congregate African American men akin to faith institutions and fraternity organizations. Indeed, Black barbershops are sites where clients and barbers frequently share the same race, gender, neighborhood affiliations, and social experiences—making these spaces suitable for African American male racial socialization to be examined (Mbilishaka et al., 2021). Several studies have attempted to measure the cultural significance of barbershops to African American men utilizing narrative and ethnographic methods.

Shabazz (2016) employed the communication theory of identity to explore how messages shape the racial and gender identities of African American men in barbershops. In coding verbal and nonverbal conversations within a U. S. Midwestern Black barbershop, Shabazz (2016) found messages that represent Boykin’s (1994) Afrocentric cultural styles: verbal harmony, movement, verve, communalism, expressive individualism and the oral tradition. For example, one regular customer stated:

In Mac’s barbershop they keep it real, for sure. I learned how to rap in the barbershop because you got to be sharp or they will take your head off, man. The young people don’t have no other spot where they can be themselves. Men look out for men and we teach each other what’s real. I used to take my son with me all the time so he could soak up the knowledge. You can’t get that kind of love anywhere else. (Shabazz, 201, p. 306)

Sixty percent of the clients interviewed reported that they felt comfortable in barbershops, and that messages shared were socially valuable (Shabazz, 2016). As one African American adolescent shared, “...they’re good at cutting hair and (maintain) a good environment; I get to learn about life” (Shabazz, 2016, p. 309). Nevertheless, men who do not experience comfortability in the shop, or feel that advice given among barbers and clients has much value, are still engaged in a process of socialization that informs ideologies surrounding masculinity standards, race relations, and cultural norms. Mbilishaka and colleagues (2020) explored the stories that African American men told of their experiences with barbers and barbershops, and found that “Black community belongingness” and “paternal rituals” emerged as central themes in the narratives of 19 participants. Participants recalled the socialization in which their parents introduced them to this space as children, and defined this process as enjoyable and inviting. Similarly, Alexander (2003) described the Black barbershop as a “cultural site” maintaining “ritualized activity” and “exchange(s) of cultural currency” (p. 105); one that allows African American men to achieve inclusion through cultural performance and kinship through these “imagined communities” (p. 107). Alexander (2003) illustrates the following in autoethnographic reflection:

Over the years, in moving from state to state, seeking employment or education, the test of establishing community for me has often been grounded in locating a barbershop—a place where I could not only get my hair cut or cared for but also achieve affinity in the assumption and desire that the hair care professional and his community of clients were Black. I thumbed through the yellow pages looking for the racial signifiers of those who do Black hair—the literal words or African/Afrocentric symbols and images that signified Blackness. And I asked the Black men that I came into contact with for direction and counsel. In these acts, I sought the services of and communion with the cultural familiar, in a geographical site that was unfamiliar. (p. 107)

Indeed, Black barbershops are one of few cultural institutions that can create familiarity for African American men, even in regions, cities, and neighborhoods that are unfamiliar. In examining social exchanges of elder men within a southern California Black barbershop, Alexander (2003) states the following in his analysis:

The nature of talk by the old men in the barbershop served both as a functional component of social exchange as well as perpetuating culture and community. In the process of their talk, I came to understand that they were not spinning their wheels but promoting the cultural community in ways that were based in talk. Hence, the barbershop becomes framed as an occasion for developing and maintaining culture. (p. 112)

Researchers have suggested that many barbershops create spaces that illuminate alternative masculinities and invoke reimaginations of manhood identities (Alexander, 2003; Shabazz, 2016). In a collection of hair narratives elicited from customers and barbers across the United States, Marberry (2005) found that this merge of various personalities of Black men is both unique and defining. One barber shared:

No matter your walk of life, you're gonna come to the barbershop. The cop’s gonna come. The preacher’s gonna come. The gangsta’s gonna come. The barbershop is the one place that you can put all the wrong people (in the same place) at the same time. It’s the final black frontier. It’s the last public place Black men can go to be seperate. (p. 121)

From citizens informally meeting local politicians—to officers sitting with former convicts—and entrepreneurs, consumers, students, teachers, fathers and sons all in community, the Black barbershop is experienced as a consistent context for male closeness—both physically and emotionally—instigating a socialization space suitable for African American adolescents and emerging adults.

Black Male Hair and Racial Messaging

The messages that people and institutions communicate about Black men’s hair textures and styles should be examined through a lens of racial socialization. As Mbilishaka et al. (2021) inform, racialized policies and procedures surrounding hair have marginalized Black male’s participation in school functions, professional opportunities, and even sporting competitions. For instance, in 2018, Andrew Johnson, a former New Jersey high school wrestler, was pressured by a referee to cut his locs hairstyle before a match in order to compete (Johnson, 2018). The state’s interscholastic athletic rulebook required wrestlers to wear head coverings if hair was longer than collar length. Johnson was without a covering and was left with an ultimatum: forfeit the match or cut his hair. He chose the latter, beat his opponent, and experienced verbal praise from White teammates and parents alike cheering in support of his efforts to make that decision (Johnson, 2018). Another example is in the 2020 case of DeAndre Arnold, a boy from Texas who was suspended from school and was denied attending his graduation for refusing to cut his locs due to a hair length policy at this high school. According to Asmelash (2020), Arnold’s decision to keep his locs was rooted firmly in his familial heritage and cultural identity. This case drew national attention and sparked social conversations regarding hair, appropriateness, and racism. Arnold’s hair choice decision is an example of both racial pride and cultural socialization. Even, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), an organization known for supporting students from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) through scholarships and professional opportunities, has been criticized for its hair politics against African American men. Tamon George, an African American graduate student from the University of the District of Columbia, allegedly had his invitation to the TMCF’s 2014 Leadership Institute revoked because of his choice to keep his natural hairstyle (Black Youth Project, 2014). Each of the aforementioned examples illuminate complex messages regarding the intersection of race, racial socialization, and hair that African American men experience. Themes of minority socialization—one’s acceptance and navigation of oppressive systems and ideas—and silence about race can be shown through African American men complying with racialized hair policies in school and professional settings. Other messages of racial pride and cultural socialization can be examined through African American men’s decisions to make hair choices that reinforce heritage, culture, and identity. As Byrd and Tharps (2002) inform, group membership and hair socialization have influenced the identities of African American men throughout history. Decades removed from the Black Power Movement when male activists regularly sported Afros (or naturals), African American men today continue to represent their religions, regions, and communities by wearing particular hair styles (Mbilishaka et al., 2021). Mills (2004) informs in an analysis of Black barbershop talk across the United States with the following:

First, hair and hair care is a racial marker that identified blackness and distinguishes black life experience. Black hair has its own vocabulary and rituals that are integral to everyday black talk. Second, black hair rituals contribute to the notion of a common African American experience. (p. 167)

More so than the diversity of facial features and skin complexions, Black hair signifies group membership into African American racial identity, initiating life experiences of race-hair messages related to one’s racial background and status. By carefully examining the processes and content in which African American boys and men are racially socialized through hair messages, researchers can better understand the importance of hair agency, determination, and group identity. There seems to exist a reciprocal dynamic between the environments that facilitate racialized hair messages to African American males, and the nature in which African American men respond to such environments. The frequency of racialized hair messages may be far greater for African American men than their racial counterparts, and this frequency occurs in and out of Black barbershops—from barbers, parents, and peers alike.

Current Study

Racial socialization serves as a useful framework in understanding how African American males are socialized and enculturated within their communities (DeGruy et al., 2012). However, much of the literature exploring the relationships between African American males and domains of racial socialization focuses on the verbal and nonverbal messages African American parents transmit to their male children within the context of home child rearing practices (Allen, 2015; Cooper et al., 2015; Howard et al., 2013). Though school environments and youth programs have contributed to our understanding of how African American male racial socialization practices are facilitated in out-of-home environments, the need to interrogate organic spaces of cultural transmission is vital as researchers continue to interpret the diversity of African American male racialization experiences. In addition, centralizing the experiences of African American adolescents and adults as opposed to reports of only children and parents provides researchers with a dynamic lens of how racial socialization is received and comprehended throughout one’s lifespan. The purpose of this current study is to explore how racial socialization and related messages are promoted within the context of Black barbershops as well as through hair experiences of African American male adolescents and adults. The following research question was explored in this study: How do African American men’s hair experiences fit within the current content areas of racial socialization? Our study builds upon the existing study of Mbilishaka et al. (2021).

Method

The data used for the current study were drawn from a larger study that was conducted to examine racial identity, mental health, and hair stories. The Hair, Health, and Heritage (HHH) study was a mixed-method research study that analyzed hair experiences of 223 participants of various racial backgrounds, ages, and socioeconomic statuses. The first author of the current study utilized the demographic and qualitative data acquired from the HHH study and did not participate in the data collection procedures of the initial study. Institutional review board approval was obtained from the HHH principal investigator’s university for the initial study. The current study’s aims and procedures to utilize archival data were approved by the Institutional Review Board of the first author’s university.

The Hair, Health, and Heritage Study

The Hair, Health, and Heritage project was designed in 2017 to elicit and examine hair narratives of participants. Utilizing both survey reports and written narratives of participants, the project aimed to gain a greater understanding of the associations between self-reported racial identity, mental health, and hair memories. The project’s research team recruited participants in Black-owned hair salons and barbershops within the mid-eastern region of the United States, in addition to advertising on social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook through the research team member’s personal media accounts. The survey was facilitated with SurveyMonkey.

Sample

The current study included African American male participants from the Hair, Heritage, and Health study. All participants in the current study had to fit the following criteria: (a) identified as African American or Black; (b) identified as male; and (c) were 18 years old or older. Twenty-nine of the original 233 participants fit this criteria and were included in the current study. Participants’ ages range from 18–68 with an average age of 32 years old and median age of 24 years old. All participants identified as heterosexual and cisgender. Participants varied in education completion background (61% of participants had post-high school education) and most resided in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.

Procedures

The Hair, Heritage, and Health research team sought out Black-owned barbershops and hair salons within a Mid-Atlantic metropolitan area to recruit potential participants. Through business directories, word of mouth, and social media findings, the research team located 92 hair salons and barbershops before beginning the processes of interacting with clients and shop owners. The research team utilized various social media platforms (e.g., Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) as a virtual method of marketing to interested participants. Links were shared on team members’ personal pages and informed survey respondents to complete the survey in one sitting to avoid lost responses. Following a culturally appropriate, standardized data collection training that provided scripted procedures for members of the research team to use during participant interactions, the team began individual recruitment within the hair care institutions. This training supported research members with specific skills and strategies to successfully interact with individuals of various gender, race, age, ability, and socioeconomic backgrounds. After participants were informed of the project’s goal and clinical implications, the research team distributed survey links to individuals and assisted with technical questions. Researcher-provided iPads were distributed to participants for convenience and survey completion efficiency. On average, surveys took approximately 40 minutes to complete. In addition, each participant who completed the survey was entered into a raffle to win a $20 Amazon gift card.

Measures

Along with a demographic questionnaire, this research study included an instrument called the Guided Hair Autobiography (GHA, Mbilishaka, 2014)—an adaptation of the Guided Autobiography measure that unveils memories of one’s life experiences (McAdams, 1997). The GHA does not have a word limit to open-ended responses. The GHA is used to making meaning of participants’ autobiographical accounts of hair themes throughout one’s life span, beginning with an “earliest memory,” transitioning through a “low point,” and concluding with a “turning point.” For instance, participants read the following to answer a prompt regarding a “turning point” in their hair journey:

In looking back on one’s life, there is often a key turning point or episodes through which a person undergoes substantial changes with their hair. Please identify a particular episode in your life when you underwent an important transition with respect to your understanding of yourself and your hair.

Data Analysis

The authors followed Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase model for thematic analysis to ultimately search for, review, and define racial socialization themes generated from the data. The authors also utilized Bree and Gallagher’s (2016) organizational recommendations for thematic analysis using features of Microsoft Excel to functionally structure the data. Braun and Clarke’s (2006) model was selected for its readability and accessibility for lay educators, barbers, and parents alike. It was also utilized for its social and educational interpretations of the findings, particularly pedagogical approaches to educating African American males.

First, the first author read the 24 reported hair narratives in its entirety to gain an initial understanding and familiarity of the central experiences shared by the participants. In the second full read, the author typed general notes regarding initial thoughts of the data and highlighted every text unit (word, phrase, or complete sentence) that included barbershops, barber interactions, or received hair messages. Second, the author organized all data into meaningful codes with systematized memos reminding the author of each code’s significance (Lempert, 2007). Using selective coding to address the research questions, the author only focused on texts that related to components of racial socialization (e.g., cultural socialization, preparation for bias, silence about race, etc.). Third, the author organized codes into preliminary themes with broad definitions to how barbershops and hair messages created contexts for racialization socialization in African American men. Fourth, the author reviewed each theme in relation to each code. A thematic map was created during this process to more efficiently identify themes through extracted codes (see Braun & Clarke, 2006). Themes were named and defined to best illustrate the ways in which racial socialization is illuminated through barbershops, barber relationships, and conversations surrounding hair. Last, the author reported a finalized analysis that included rich, vivid examples related to the racial socialization literature and the primary research questions. Pseudonyms were used to protect the identities of each participant.

Positionalities of Researchers

All four authors identify as African American or Black and share meaningful hair experiences throughout their childhood, adolescent, and adult journeys. Author A is an African American man with multiracial ancestry and has positive childhood memories of getting his haircut from Black barbershops in the Western region of the United States. These interactions encouraged his adult interests in examining the male relationships that are fostered in barbershops. He is a graduate student studying racial socialization and continues to visit Black barbershops regularly.

Author B is an African American woman from the Midwestern region of the United States. As a trained clinical psychologist and university professor, her expertise focuses on the social and emotional competencies of African American children. She has always received hair services from Black-owned establishments and recalls early memories of her mother stressing the importance of hair care and hair image. Since entering adulthood, Author B wears her hair in natural styles.

Author C is an African American woman, academic, clinical psychologist, and leading theoretician on the intersections of hair, race, and health. She was born and raised in the Northeastern region of the United States and has received extensive training in hair care. She services clients in a Black-owned hair salon and predominantly cares for an African American customer base. Throughout childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, Researcher C received positive hair affirmations and has established a research analysis that examines early experiences and current hair emotions.

Author D is a biethnic Haitian American and African American man from the Northeast of the United States. He is employed as an assistant professor of clinical psychology. Author D received negative hair messages from peers throughout childhood and often had his hair completely shaven through childhood. He began to grow his hair in college as a method of exploration and acceptance.

Results

Cultural socialization in barbershop traditions, negative messages in “good hair” comments, and self-worth messages in hair autonomies were central themes that emerged during the qualitative analysis of the hair narratives. Using the content areas of racial socialization as a selective coding framework for the narratives (Hughes et al., 2006; Neblett et al., 2009), we define and describe these three themes with rich examples that illustrate how hair messages and hair experiences racially socialized African American males within and outside of Black barbershops.

Cultural Socialization in Barbershop Traditions

Stories of barbershop traditions described moments when African American males visited Black barbershops and illustrated the cultural, social, and communal processes that occur within these spaces. Barbershop traditions aligned primarily with the content area of cultural socialization (Hughes et al., 2006; Neblett et al., 2009). These narratives included stories of racial pride, cultural values, and familial traditions shared within the contexts of barbershops and barber interactions. David, a 22 year-old college student from the Midwest region of the United States, described his first experience being enculturated within the shop:

My earliest memory involving hair came around the age of 4 or 5 (1999/2000) when my dad took me to the barbershop to get a haircut. This memory sticks out to me because it was my first trip to a black barbershop as my dad had previously cut my hair at home…

Time context and age were recalled, imbuing a keen sensual memory that started from the journey to the shop and continued through the shop. David continued:

Walking into the barbershop was an extremely intense experience as it engaged all of my senses at once, something which I was not used to at that young age. I can remember seeing black men of all ages, shapes and sizes sitting and standing around the shop, talking, debating and laughing as they got a cut or waited their turn for one. I can remember the soft sound of smooth jazz playing from the radio and the constant hum of clippers as they shaved, snipped and faded fresh tapers and line-ups. After sitting in the hard plastic lawn chair awaiting my turn, I finally stepped up into the barber’s chair (using a booster seat, of course) for my cut. The vibrations of the clippers stills sticks with me as does the cool breeze of the single oscillating fan in the corner that was our only form of relief from the sweltering summer heat.

This episode exemplified a significant side of racial socialization—and specifically cultural socialization—as messages that reinforced cultural norms in barbershops were both verbally and nonverbally communicated. In this case, David experienced an ambiance of debate, laughter, music, and haircare as central to how “black men of all ages, shapes, and sizes” found their identity and community. While these messages were implicitly stated, he soon received direct messages of cultural socialization as his barber initiated dialogue with him. David remembered the following:

As he cut my hair the barber, nicknamed Woody, engaged me in simple conversation about sports, school and my love for dinosaurs.

During the haircut ritual, David’s barber expressed interest in David’s passion for dinosaurs and also emphasized some common African American male values of athletics and academics. Overall, David’s first memory of a Black barbershop was a transformative moment in his racial socialization. David explained the following:

This experience was significant to me because it was my first experience being around a large group of black males in the social gathering place that is the barbershop. Whether they were all positive role models is another debate, but they all looked like me and had similar hair to mine, something that fascinated me at the time. Even though I was just a young kid, I felt like I belonged there and that my hair cuts would become a way of bonding with other members of my community.

David’s vivid depiction of the barbershop illustrated keen elements of cultural socialization through his initial sensory experience. Though he articled the nuances of Black masculinities represented in his particular barbershop, he valued the community belonging and cultural norms in which he found in this space. Recalling images of African American men engaging in the Black oral tradition, citing the harmonies between background Jazz music and noises of haircutting tools, and describing the feeling of communalism within the shop portray components of Afrocentric cultural qualities (Boykin, 1994). David’s memory also portrayed what Shabazz (2016) described as identity formation through barbershop communication. The “rites” of entering the shop facilitates organic interactions among men, messages of masculinity ideas, and dialogues centering Black history and Black culture, shaping a gendered race identity unique to African American men (Mbilishaka et al., 2021; Shabazz, 2016). Similarly, Tre—a 26 year old professional from the Southern region of the United States—recounted his first experience within a barbershop:

I was a child, about 6 years old, when my dad took me to the “barbershop.” This was actually some guy's house in the hood set up to accommodate about 20 to 30 “clients.” I still remember, the house was packed, as all Haitian parents take their kids out for a CLEAN CUT the day before the 1st day of school.

Here, Tre detailed the time and space context in which his father initiated him into the ritual of visiting the community barbershop. As Tre added, this is a cultural practice that parents and children took seriously in preparation for looking presentable at school. He continued to share:

The barber, Saint Jeus, was popular and everyone on the block knew him, your friendly neighborhood “Zoe” barber.

Tre’s description depicted his barber as a powerful and popular figure; one who was friendly yet respected within this Haitian community. Nevertheless, even the collective admiration for Tre’s barber could not alleviate the fear that Tre had of participating in this haircut practice. Tre continued:

… when it was my turn to go up, I was obviously terrified, every child that was forced into that single chair he had, left crying as if the greatest offense had been committed against them. I had to sit, watch, and wait my turn at the “gilloteen.” So, I was placed into the seat by my father, he reassured me that all was ok, the executioner strapped me in, and proceeded to commit the greatest offense. In the end though, it wasn't all that bad looking back, but as a child, since that first Barbershop experience, getting a haircut was equivalent to facing your greatest fear each time, until you learned that it was a part of the “culture” and you had to stop crying, deal with it, and eventually learn to enjoy it.

Comparable to David, Tre was a young boy whose father introduced him to the Black barbershop. Unlike David, however, Tre initially felt afraid visiting the shop for the first time, likening the experience to a public execution. Nevertheless, he soon was socialized to enjoy both haircuts and trips to the shop, as he “learned that it was a part of the culture.” Alexander (2003) provided insight into this culture that African American boys and male youth are introduced to a culture that allowed boys to enjoy the ritualized act of self-care via adult male grooming: one in which older men in the shop made community through debate, fun making, and lecture. (Alexander, 2003). Cornell, a man in his mid-sixties from the Southern region, spoke to this concept in his early recollection:

My earliest memories is of my grandfather cutting my hair. Later on beyond the age of 6 it was a weekend ritual with the barbers who told many interesting stories.

As Cornell recalled and researchers emphasized, barbers employ a Black oral tradition that implicitly and explicitly express narratives of cultural pride, heritage, and paternal values (Marberry, 2005; Mbilishaka et al., 2021; Mills, 2004). In parallel, Michael—a man in his mid-thirties from the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States—shared the following:

My earliest hair memory is when I was about 6 years old and my father took me to the barbershop in New York where he used to get his haircut. I can remember my hair coming out exactly as my father's did.

Here, Michael drew parallels between getting a haircut at the shop and favoring his father’s haircut afterwards. This sequence aligned with traditional components of rites of passages in two culturally significant ways: (a) a haircut symbolizing a process of transformation and growth and (b) the practice of physically resembling paternal figures to show honor and respect. Overall, the participants were introduced to barbershops at early childhood ages and were often in the presence of their fathers and grandfathers. These narratives noted transformative experiences connecting to the shops’ atmospheres, barber’s conversations, and ritualized activities within the space.

Negative Messages in “Good Hair” Comments

“Good hair” comments detailed communication African American males received from their parents and barbers that reinforced racialized and texturist notions of Black hair. The term “good hair,” as some have noted, fundamentally weaponized Black physical characteristics while reinforcing notions of hair, race, and beauty politics—drawing back from the eras of enslavement and Jim Crow (Bellinger, 2007; Randle, 2015). Moreover, the term has survived epochs and has continued to describe African descendants who possess straighter, curlier, and softer hair in appearance (Robinson, 2011). While “good hair” messages may typically be associated with hair experiences of African American girls and women, these types of comments have impacted the racial schemas of Black male identified populations similarly. The narratives presented below associated the participants' experiences of “good hair” messages primarily with negative racial messages (Neblett et al., 2009). In one story, Brandon—a 25 year-old college graduate from the Mid-Atlantic region—gave an account of a paternal figure who introduced him and his cousins to an embarrassing African American hair texture lesson:

My cousins and myself had a barber come over and cut all of our hair. My uncle thought it would be a good idea to ask the barber to classify our hair textures from nicest to worst.

In this experience, Brandon learned that “good hair” and “bad hair” was distinguished by hair texture characteristics, and that both his uncle and barber subscribed to this language of Black texturism. This language would soon be a social literacy that Brandon would understand. Brandon continued:

I was second to last. I only felt somewhat okay because I wasn't last, but it was degrading and shameful for all of us to some degree.

While this early experience belittled the self-esteem of Brandon, he recognized a feeling of content knowing that his barber did not rank him last among the group. He did not possess the “worst” hair texture in the eyes of his barber. In a similar case, Andrew, a 33 year-old man from the Mid-Atlantic, shared his early haircut memory:

I remember my uncle cutting my hair as a child...maybe 4 or 5 and commenting that I have a good grain of hair.

Like many implicit messages of racial socialization, Andrew’s uncle’s comment was subtle and seemingly harmless. However, this comment on Andrew’s hair could have served as an entry point for Andrew’s “minority socialization,” a learned process that prepared African Americans to accept the inevitability of racist ideologies and social practices (Boykin, 1985). When recalling later experiences with hair, Andrew shared a memory of his family members reinforcing “good hair” rhetoric:

I wear my hair natural and long and have had people that I love, my grandmother and mother specifically, inquire why I won’t get a haircut and that I am wasting my good hair by not taking care of it.

Here, Andrew’s maternal figures suggested that Andrew was denying his “good hair” privileges by wearing his hair in a longer, natural, and freeform state. Though healthy hair care practices are associated with healthy psycho-emotional outcomes (Mbilishaka, 2018), the comments made by Andrew’s maternal relatives insinuated a more complex dynamic of race, hair, and social status. Several participants in this study noted how parents and barbers suggested—and at times, enforced—that they not wear ethnocentric hair styles, like Afros or freeform locs. The multidimensional nature of these messages seemed to be twofold: one on end, negative messages (Neblett et al., 2009) reinforced stereotypes of Black hair textures and Black aesthetics; on another end, messages of minority socialization (Boykin, 1985) provided insight on how African Americans socialized others to exist—aesthetically and phenotypically—in a racialized society. In one example, Evan—a 24 year-old man from the Mid-Atlantic—shared how his mother prepared him to navigate in non-black spaces:

I was in middle school in a rural town in central PA. The kids around me weren't too familiar with Black people outside of what they saw in the media, so they'd always ask me to grow an Afro.

Evan provided keen insight into how news, social, and commercial media can shape particular ideas and images of Blackness for non-Black people. Aware of this dynamic, Evan’s mother denied his request to grow an Afro in an attempt to by stating the following limit discriminatory experiences and give her son the best opportunities to succeed as an African American. Evan continued on his early hair memory:

I was about 10 years old at the time, and my mother would cut my hair in the bathroom. I'd ask her if I could try an afro and she'd tell me that I don't have the kind of hair that would allow that style to flourish.

Evan provided keen insight into how news, social, and commercial media can shape particular ideas and images of Blackness for non-Black people. Aware of this dynamic, Evan’s mother denied his request to grow an Afro in an attempt to limit discriminatory experiences and give her son the best opportunities to succeed as an African American. The understanding that Afros and other ethnocultural hairstyles can bring about racial problems for African American boys was shared in several significant examples that participants in the study noted in their hair stories. One participant revealed the following:

Starting at a new elementary school in a new country I was subject to racialized taunts about my hair.

As researchers have noted, studies examining racial socialization messages primarily focused on how family members socialized their children around race (Hughes et al., 2006). As individuals entered adolescence, outside influences—like teachers and classmates—tended to have a more meaningful role in the racial socialization of African American youth. Maxwell, a 21 year-old high school graduate from the Mid-Atlantic, described his experiences learning racial dynamics through the words of his high school teacher:

A White woman substitute teacher in high school once asked me if it was “difficult to keep my hair clean” and if I “washed it regularly” in front of the entire class when it was at a very long length. I was more angry than anything else, especially considering I was one of a handful of Black kids in my school. The event was the first major time that I felt negatively towards the way in which White people either fetishized or made degrading comments about my hair.

Maxwell’s experience showcased how racial microaggressions—like misplaced hair comments—can incite feelings of unsafety and “othering” within multiracial school settings. Furthermore, he inquired how Whiteness can inherently move individuals to degrade or fetishize African American hair. In response to traumatic racial experiences disguised as “good hair” messages, Maxwell took a step of racial determination:

I cut my hair from being about 22 inches long to maybe 3–4 inches over the thanksgiving break of my freshman year of college as I was tired of people making comments about it all the time. Since then, I've unlearned a lot of the negative associations I had with Black hair, especially the way in which people of all races would use my hair as an example of “Good” Black hair due to its variety of curl types/patterns.

While “good hair” messages have been negative in nature and have often been used in an attempt to reinforce stereotypical standards of beauty in African Americans, these racialized messages can influence the ways in which African Americans interrogate race, power, and appearance. This type of interrogation has informed the choices that African American men have made regarding hair and have contributed to a more defined sense of self. A participant named Omari shared the following:

I grew up getting a haircut every two weeks religiously. We were taught that men didn't wear long hair and to keep your hair cut close and brush as to not look beady and ensure employment.

As Omari informed, he was socialized to believe that Black hair—and its various textures and styles—is associated with life outcomes, particularly finding jobs. Haircuts were regular customs that maintained professional and personal security for African American males. Building upon a critical social analysis of hair weaponization and African American males, Omari shared the following:

After the murder of Michael Brown and all of the comments that surrounding his appearance. I wondered what it would look like for me as a professional Black man with “good hair” to face similar judgments based on my appearance. So for the last 4 years I embraced my hair for what it is and I have grown to love it in all it's kinky, nappy glory. For years these words were terms of derision and shame when used to describe hair and now I am proud of my wool, I welcome the conversation about my hair. I am not ashamed to sit in business meetings sometimes as the only Person of Color in the room with my natural hair. It has become part of my identity.

These stories signified that messages of texture bias—whether damning or complimentary—often leave African American men critical of their own position in racial ideology. The data also indicated how the hair texture comments fit within the broad range of racial socialization, and this socialization is perpetuated from family members, barbers, teachers, classmates, and social media at large.

Self-Worth Messages in Hair Autonomies

Stories of hair autonomies were illuminated in narratives of African American men who found agency and autonomy in the midst of stressful, harmful, and traumatic hair experiences. This theme is aligned with the racial socialization content area of self-worth messages, which signified one learning self-value and agency within the broader context of one’s racial group (Neblett et al., 2009). The embodied experiences and learned messages that participants shared illustrated significant examples of African American males reclaiming confidence through hair and hair care in response to negative—and often, racialized—experiences. For example, Ray—a 22 year-old man from the South—told how his early experiences of being teased as a youth influenced a secure competency in adulthood:

In elementary and middle school I was teased for having a bald head. I had a bald head because my mother was my barber. My mother was my barber because she couldn’t afford biweekly haircuts. I hated the feeling of being teased and my mom wouldn’t even let me grow my hair to get waves so I was stuck with being teased until high school. I bought my first set of Andis Outliners and began to practice on myself the hairstyle I wanted for so long. Now I am a barber on my college campus and have the power to empower others.

As Ray noted, financial limitations restricted him from experiencing barbershops and receiving stylish haircuts. In response to feeling insecure about his hair, Ray found value in learning how to cut his own hair, and utilized his new-found expertise to make other men feel good about themselves later in life. This theme was noted among several participants who struggled with particular hairstyles in early childhood but later found meaning in styling their own hair. Others found value in rejecting haircuts altogether after early experiences of social struggle. Jamal, a 24 year-old man from the Mid-Atlantic, recalled the following:

I tried to cut my own hair once and it turned out terribly. I was mocked and ridiculed and never again attempted to do so…After two years of always cutting my hair to look clean and fit into society, one day I just decided to just let it grow and do as it pleased. It was freeing. I no longer felt the urge to get it cut every two weeks.

Jamal’s story of struggle with fitting in aesthetically fit with Boykin’s (1985) description of minority socialization. Nevertheless, Jamal’s determination to reject respectability standards of Black male hair provided him with a freedom that affirmed his self-identity and esteem. Indeed, this freedom to wear a particular hairstyle was an intergenerational commonality among participants in search of self-validation. Leonard, a 57 year-old professional from the Midwest, recounted a similar adolescent experience:

(In) 1967, everyone was wearing the natural. My father would not let me grow one. I was embarrassed to go to school after haircuts...As I matured, at age 15, I was able to grow a nice looking Afro. I learned to braid it myself. This increased my confidence.

Leonard’s hair story seemed to associates self-efficacy to self-confidence as his ability to grow an Afro and to braid his hair increased his perception of self. This relation was also evident in participants that expressed an increase in self-image as a result of more attentive hair care practices. David, the 22 year-old college student, expressed the following:

Building on my low point, a turning point came when I had a discussion with one of my friends (a natural/curly hair enthusiast) in the summer of 2016 about proper hair care and treatment. She convinced me to start taking better care of my hair and showed me ways to incorporate haircare into my everyday routine to make it easy to manage. After that conversation and after taking substantial steps toward more healthy hair and scalp, I saw my hair and self-image improve.

David’s account demonstrated how African American men’s hair routines fit into daily self-care rituals and positively increased men’s self-image. Similarly, Dwayne, a 20 year-old student from the Midwest, described how his feelings of physical insecurity were improved once he began caring for his hair:

Growing up in the U.S., I had really low self-esteem. I portrayed myself as unattractive due to myself being obese during my elementary-highschool years. Thankfully, I began to exercise and really focus on my self-image and loving myself more and more towards my junior and senior year of high school. One key component in creating this change was working on my hair. Turns out that I had hair that girls were fascinated about. It gave me a morale boost and really changed my perception of self. On top of that, I began to physically improve my body as well by working out and eating healthy which became a major turning point in my life.

Greater attention to haircare played a meaningful role in Dwayne’s heightened sense of security after. This was consistent with several participants in this study who shared that their indicators of personal, physical, and emotional development were often initiated through greater “hair” esteem. The data in this section aligned with a general assumption of racial socialization literature; a positive relationship has been found between racial socialization and developmental outcomes for African Americans (Hughes et al., 2006). More specifically, studies have supported the positive associations between culture socialization, racial identity, self-esteem, and psychosocial outcomes (Bañales et al., 2021; Brittian Loyd, & Williams, 2017). The data for this theme has supported the argument that hair autonomy—for African American males—may be a meaningful pathway into discovering one’s personal agency and self-worth.

Discussion

Building upon the existing study and qualitative data of Mbilishaka et al. (2021), the purpose of this study was to explore how Black hair messages served as racial socialization practices. By employing a thematic analysis to participants’ narrative data, three central themes emerged in relation to barbershops, hair stories, and racial socialization. Cultural socialization in barbershop traditions illuminated African American males’ passages into Black manhood that instilled feelings of pride, heritage, belongingness, and norms within barbershops—a process similar to rites of passages. In traditional African communities, rites of passages remained instrumental markers of a male’s life cycle—symbolizing the transition from one life stage to the next. African American rites of passage practices have modified indigenous traditions to fit the current experiences of African American male adolescents, with cultural socialization outcomes ranging from increased Africentric values to heightened identification with their racial group (Alford, 2003; Brookins, 1996). As Mbilishaka et al. (2021) informs, Black barbershops organically infuse elements of traditional rites of passages with contemporary experiences of African American youth—like the paternalistic rituals of biweekly haircuts to the early recognition of Black community belongingness. Contrary to the often empowering enculturation experiences of finding community within barbershops, negative messages in “good hair” comments described feelings of racial alienation and hierarchy based on African American males’ hair textures. While some participants were affirmed for having hair that appeared straighter and more loosely curled, others depicted stories of deep shame, embarrassment, and trauma for their African-featured textures. Nevertheless, self-worth messages in hair autonomies drew upon stories of African American males who found self-confidence and self-concept in their respective styles, textures, and choices.

Coard and Sellers (2005) note racial socialization is a multidimensional, developmental process that has been dominantly examined through self-reported, explicit messages that African American parents transmit to their children surrounding race. Less research has investigated how African American male racialization is facilitated and received outside of the home. Furthermore, few studies have interrogated how sites of organic socialization, like Black barbershops, contribute to the racial socialization of African American boys and men through verbal and nonverbal hair messages. This current study is unique in that it used content areas of the racial socialization (i.e., cultural socialization; preparation for bias; silence about race; negative messages) as a framework for understanding how racial socialization transpires in Black barbershops and through messages of hair. Additionally, this study adds to the literature on African American male racial socialization by examining narratives of current adults to reflect upon their earlier childhood and adolescent hair experiences. By analyzing the participants’ unique hair experiences, scholars can identify the power that social agents have—namely, barbers and parents—in the racial development of African American males. Wood and Brunson (2011) describe the following:

Barbers emphasized their informal roles as father figures for young males in the community—especially those who did not have relationships with their own fathers…The majority of barbers noted that the Black barbershop has always been a place where young men gather and learn about life from elders in the community, and several added that quite a few of their current customers had “grown-up” in the shop and were therefore considered part of their extended families. (p. 240)

Numerous studies have emphasized the importance that father figures have on the racial and gender developmental processes of African American males (Allen, 2015; Cooper et al., 2015; McHale et al., 2006; Scott et al., 2020). While Black barbershop contexts are just one of many nonfamilial spaces for African American male youth to engage with African American male adult figures, their accessibility and cultural significance may be particularly significant for those who live in home environments that lack many African American male adult figures. As Marberry (2005) describes, adults within barbershops often contribute to conversations of gendered racial socialization—dialogues surrounding the nuances of cultural norms, Black experiences, racism, and masculinity.

Limitations and Future Research

The findings of this study should be understood within the context of its design limitations—primarily with consideration to the sample size (29), the predominant region that participants represented (Mid-Atlantic), and the measure that was used to collect narrative data. Foremost, a sample size of 29 provides limited insight into the general experiences of African American males across age, socioeconomic status, familial ties, and educational background. Though a sample of 29 participants is consistent with common qualitative studies, replicating this study with a sample size of 50 or 100 participants may produce richer findings.

In addition, a predominant region representation fundamentally informs racial and cultural experiences (i.e., Southern states like Mississippi vs. Western states like Oregon). Regions with greater percentages of African Americans may differ significantly from regions with lesser percentages of African Americans—particularly in the racial socialization components of cultural socialization, preparation for bias, and promotion of mistrust (Hughes et al., 2006). While the current study did have representation from multiple regions within the United States, future research could have a more even distribution of participants from various regions.

The three themes elicited in this study were—in part—influenced by the nature of questions posed by the Hair, Health, and Heritage Study. Though negative messages and self-worth messages are not widely examined in the racial socialization literature, the current study framed specific questions that may have explained why the selected themes were chosen. For example, one question asked the participants to “try to remember a specific experience in which you felt extremely negative emotions about your hair….” Indeed, the racial socialization content area of negative messages would likely be represented in response to such a closely related prompt. If the survey questions were to be framed differently, the thematic findings may have differed also.

Furthermore, the current study’s methodology utilized an online survey to colect qualitative data, potentially impacting the detail and richness of participants’ responses to the prompts. Building on the study’s methodological limitations, several recommendations are considered for future studies. Employing an alternative qualitative data procedure—such as focus groups, ethnography, or phenomenology—to explore how racial socialization transpires in hair settings for African American males can provide stronger detail through multiple sources of inquiry. For example, a phenomenological researcher aiming to find the socializing “essence” of Black barbershops may emphasize critical observations: analyzing posters and pictures on the walls, background music played, and side conversations shared within the space (Creswell & Poth, 2016). Conversely, a researcher using case study methods may employ in-depth, open-ended interviews with African American males to gather greater narratives and formulate richer findings. Future studies can also include researchers focusing on a particular content area of racial socialization when observing Black barbershops or interviewing African American males. For instance, the content area of cultural socialization may inform a researcher to centralize questions that investigate a participant’s connection to racial heritage, cultural pride, and social commitment to Black people within the context of barbershop settings. This approach is critical as researchers aim to examine the depth of specific racial socialization messages within such spaces. Further, research could benefit from an examination of the Black barbershop as an African diasporic site, in which multilinguistic and multiethnic Black masculinities are cultivated. Last, the development of a standardized scale, or the modification of existing measures like the Cultural Socialization Scale (Wang et al., 2015), can be utilized to quantify the racialized experiences of African American males within barbershop spaces and hair settings.

Implications

The findings from this study can theoretically inform those who contribute to socialization of African American males in various settings. Foremost, the findings can advise barbers of the roles that barbershops often play in the racial socialization of Black children, adolescents, and emerging adults. As Hughes et al. (2006) inform, messages of cultural socialization have been consistently associated with positive aspects of Black youth development (e.g., psychosocial outcomes, racial identity, self-esteem). Thus, researchers working with barbers can offer advice on how explicit and implicit messages are often transmitted within these spaces. While other racial socialization content areas (e.g., preparation for bias, egalitarianism) have shown more inconsistent youth outcomes, barbershops are convenient spaces where African American male youth can learn about intricacies of racism, healthy coping strategies, and individual qualities that promote success. Secondly, the findings from this study can inform parents on positive and negative consequences of hair messages. As some scholars have noted, Black hair textures and styles are inseparably racialized (Bellinger, 2007; Byrd & Tharps, 2002). Thus, educating parents—and particularly non-Black parents of African American children—of ways in which hair messages empower or disempower African American youth can offer greater understanding of how such messages aid positive youth development. Last, this scholarship can inform psychological researchers on the relationships between body image beliefs, racial identity, and mental health outcomes in Black males. Recent studies have found that hair satisfaction was positively associated with wellness reports and self-esteem among African Americans (Awad et al., 2015; Ladd et al., 2022). Thus, infusing body image beliefs within frameworks of racial socialization may heightened racial identity development and promote psychological wellness in Black males.

Conclusion

Although previous research has explored how Black barbershops influence Black male development, this study used racial socialization as a lens to make sense of participants’ hair experiences in and outside of barbershops. Participants’ stories of barbershop traditions, “good hair” comments, and hair autonomies provide rich insights into the racial socialization processes that males experience through hair. This study extends the racial socialization literature by informing barbers, parents, and researchers on how hair messages can impact the social development of African American males. Considering this study’s findings, this work should be extended by examining the spaces that offer significant hair messages to African American males: Black barbershops. First, conducting in-depth interviews with barbers can reveal how barbers view themselves as agents of racial socialization for African American males. Secondly, discourse analyses could be employed to examine organic dialogues of hair and race between clients and barbers. Lastly, ethnographic methods could be utilized to observe how physical spaces of barbershops operate as sites of race and gender development. Such work can add to our analysis of the relations between racial socialization and hair messages for Black males.