Hair Story: Why Black Women Don't Swim
"Oh no, Black women don't swim," declares Michael Hawkins, an instructor at the Hair Design Institute in Manhattan. Hawkins goes on to tell New York radio station WNYC about a familiar refrain he hears from stylists talking about clients. "She's not getting her hair wet. No, that's not gonna happen." In a radio report titled "Chlorine and Curls: Why Many Black Women
Won't Go Swimming" WNYC's Jenna Flanagan goes to great lengths to
examine why Black women aren't exactly enthusiastic about getting more
than their feet wet in swimming pools... Here's what you had to say:
Deedee commented: "I think this is a bad case of generalization. I swim often and so do my sisters who are also AA's. We take more precaution because of the texture of our hair and use great products to maintain it."
LaToya wrote: "I don't think we, Black women, have a problem with 'swimming'. I think the problem lies with swimming pools and the chemicals that are used to keep the pools clean."