What is interesting that those in favour of “natural” hair like Tyra and the other panelist are light-skinned black women whereas those who want good hair (chemically straightened, “white women flow” etc) are darker-skinned black women.
Also that while black women make up 6-7% of the US population they spend something like 80% of all total spending on hair products.
The first point about how lighter-skinned women are more ethnically proud does bring to mind the point that concepts like one drop rule and racially-tinted colonization had profound effects on coloured elite populations weren’t allowed to assimilate into the Euro-mainstream. The British in India would not allow the offspring of Indian Royalty and European women to inherit the title because they feared that within a few generations Indian Royalty would become white. Incidentally the only dispensation was detailed at Freedom at Midnight where a Nawab’s young Australian wife was allowed a title after her escape from the Sikhs of the East Punjab (she was probably the only European who was targeted at Partition because of her Muslim husband) to Pakistan. She only escaped because she had blackened her face with shoe polish and passed off as the Nawab’s Hindu assistant’s wife. There was a harrowing incident where their car had been stopped by Sikhs in the heavy downpour the shoe polish started wearing off and she couldn’t find the polish until in the nick of time.
At any rate race consciousness inhibited the idea of a global elite and forced coloured elites to instead advocated for their people (how much of that was a good thing I don’t know; if Nehru & Gandhi had been co-opted into the ruling structure perhaps we would have never had the sorry excuse for Independence).
Finally I think black Americans are really at the forefront of establishing a more racially balanced world. White racism isn’t so much a factor anymore but rather it is that colored people have yet to move away from Euro-centric ideals of beauty and embrace their more natural aesthetic. These conversations at shows like Tyra Banks are a good thing and perhaps one of their knock on effects will be to reduce eye-shaping surgeries in the far east and skin lightening in desiland. Let’s not forget the Arab & the Persian who pave the way in plastic surgeries as well and the Latin Americans as well.