Before becoming an industry, Black hairdressing was a tool for liberation. By serving white clients, enslaved barbers earned enough to buy their freedom and fund foundational Black institutions like Wilberforce University, one of America's first HBCUs.
In the 1970s, the FTC mandated a lye warning on the Black-owned Johnson Products' relaxers but waited two years to enforce the same on its white-owned competitor, Revlon. This regulatory bias gave Revlon a critical market advantage, devastating a Black-owned industry leader.
Inventor Garrett Augustus Morgan was developing a fluid to stop sewing needles from scorching wool. He noticed the substance straightened the wool's fibers, an accidental discovery that led him to test it on hair and subsequently revolutionize the Black hair care industry.
The Afro was a radical symbol of defiance during the Black Power movement. The beauty industry capitalized on its popularity by selling wigs and products, turning a potent political statement into a profitable fashion trend and neutralizing its counter-cultural power.
The resurgence of straight hair in the 80s was less a fashion cycle and more a professional mandate. A 1981 court ruling upheld an airline's right to fire an employee for wearing cornrows, solidifying straight hair as a prerequisite for corporate and military employment for Black women.
Hair relaxer represents a core tension in Black capitalism: it generated immense wealth and funded community institutions by selling a product designed to conform to white beauty standards. This packaged assimilation, while empowering economically, came at a great social and physical cost.