Black students at BYU are sharing the struggle of finding sustainable hair care in a predominantly white area.
With tighter curl patterns and thicker textures, maintaining and styling Black hair often takes hours to complete and requires specific products.
Students expressed how it is easier to manage when living in areas with a higher Black population. This means living in Utah — with a Black population of 1.6% according to the Utah Census Bureau — comes with a challenge to take care of Black hair.
“This is a big struggle because Utah is a majority white state, so it doesn't necessarily take into consideration the black residents that are here,” Safiya Pinnock, member of the Black community at BYU, said.
Pinnock also said that because of the scarcity of hair braiders in Utah, braiders charge more than those in Black communities. Braiders realize they have little competition and can charge whatever they want, she said.
Other Black students explained the depth of the Black hair care problem. They mentioned that their hair plays a role in how others perceive them and how, in the workforce, there is a certain look one must have in order to be seen as professional. Natural Black hairstyles often do not fit into this expectation, students said.
“I think for us, it's really easy for others to perceive our hair as messy or unprofessional. There are some styles where it's more palatable to people who are not familiar with our hair,” Henrietta Gabriel, a member of the Black community at BYU, said. “When we leave our natural hair out, it has to be nicely combed and soft. That's not really its natural state. So we have to make it kind of palatable for others, which can be hard,” she said.
Gabriel wears box braids — a style that can be held for long periods of time and protect hair from damage — often as a protective style, she said.
“I have this friend who does hair. It's just at her house, so it's a bit cheaper, I guess. Normally I pay between $100 or $150,” Gabriel said.
Hair care problems don't just affect women. Male members of the Black community in Utah also reported to have a struggle with hair care.
“It's kind of tough to find a place who knows how to cut your hair,” Kevin Guerrero Campaz, a member of the Black community at BYU, said. “Even if somebody from a different culture gives me advice on how to take care of my hair, it's really hard to trust that advice, because, you know, they don't have the same kind of hair you do,” he said.
Guerrero also reported to having experiences with barbers in the Provo area and on-campus salons who did not know how to appropriately care for his hair.
A solution for many Black students is the possibility of Black hair care products being made available in campus stores, or for on-campus salons to hire a hair braider and barber who specializes in Black hair.
Black students like Gabriel, Pinnock and other members of the black community at BYU gave specific examples of how stores in Utah and on campus could make them feel seen.
Gabriel said that the salon in the Wilkenson Student Center on campus could use a Black hair care specialist to help Black students with their hair. Small things like this would show the effort the university puts into tending to the students' needs, she said.