Page 5 - Florida Sentinel 8-14-20

The Florida Sentinel Editorial Board Endorses:
Representative in Congress District 15
Jesse Philippe
State Representative District 70
Atty. Michele Rayner
Clerk of Court
Kevin Beckner
Tax Collector
Nancy Millan
Board of County Commissioners District 1
Harry Cohen
Board of County Commissioners District 3
Thomas Scott
Circuit Court Judge Group 9
John Schifino
Circuit Court Judge Group 19
Michael Scionti
Circuit Court Judge Group 30
Helene Daniel
Circuit Court Judge Group 31
Greg Green
Circuit Court Judge Group 39
Wendy DePaul
County Court Judge Group 7
Bill Yanger
School Board District 1
Steve Cona
School Board District 3
Alexandra Gilmore
School Board District 5
Henry ‘Shake’ Washington
School Board District 7
Jeffrey Johnson
Answer ‘No’ to any Tax increases
Dreadlocks Or Not
A PARIIOFII
n Orlando father ar-
rived at his six-year-old son’s private school on the first day of school, only to be met at the door and told that his neatly uniform dressed son with neat dreadlocks could not come in the school because the school had a ban on dreadlocks.
The father was admon- ished to get his son’s hair cut. For some strange reason, many employers, employees, and others feel uncomfort- able with Black people who wear cornrows, braids, dread- locks, plaits and other natural hairstyles. Some of them con- sider the hairstyles downright
unprofessional.
Since I have worn an Afro-
Natural hairstyle for the past sixty years, I thought I would write about this issue. An African cultural tradition, the Supreme Court recently ruled that we can be denied employ- ment when we wear them for a job interview.
This ruling falls in line with the subconscious white supremacy idea (and some Black folks, too), that Blacks are more acceptable if they meet the European standards of beauty and hairstyles. When I think about the times I suffered a burned scalp from hot straightening combs, I began to “burn” again. .
I can remember the first
time I saw someone wearing dreadlocks and the faint sweet fragrance from their hair.
Variations of deadlocks range from neatly plaited long hair to frizzy long twists. Dreadlocks originated in India with the Thede Deity, Shiva and his followers, and is likely the origin of the spir- ituality of dreadlocks in In- dian culture.
The first archeological proof of people wearing dreadlocks was found in mummies recovered from Egypt where the hairstyle was intact. They were worn by early cultures among the
Celts, Vikings, monks.
Germanic tribes, and Ethiopian
Today, ‘dreadlocks can be considered unprofessional and an extreme or abnormal style of hair, like Mohawks, dyed hair or men with abnor- mally long hair. How you wear your hair is a personal choice that has nothing to do with how professional you are.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2020 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY PAGE 5-A