MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Hair is an early conversation Black parents have with their children by teaching them to embrace their crown, but not every household has this talk.
In the Black community, it's instilled in kids to not let anyone touch or play in their hair and that if their hair is not nappy, it just grows differently and uniquely, but for White families, these talks are not the same.
“Our whole family is very mixed and we have just about the color of the rainbow in my family," Parent Hunter Ingram said.
He and his wife, Heather Ingram said when their 5-year-old daughter first came to them asking for braids to match her friend, they did not think anything of it.
“At first we just really thought it was sweet that she wanted to be like them and that she didn’t see it as like a difference from their hair to her hair or anything like that, she just wanted to be like them," Heather expressed.
It is a very controversial topic that the Ingrams did not take lightly.
“For us, it was just, we also don’t want to do culture appropriation, cause I have a bunch of friends who post about stuff like that," Hunter said.
They reached out to Leshika Taylor, a family friend, and a Black mother who said she believes the Ingrams went about the situation in a pleasant way.
"I think it's cute that they wanted to explain to their child the different hairstyle, that her hair texture vs. our hair texture," Taylor said.
Then after much thought, Heather stated that they did not allow their daughter to get braids and beads because they did not want to offend anyone.
“If you saw a little white girl with braids and beads in her hair, everybody would look at us funny. Why would you allow your child to do that?" Heather said.
It is a tough conversation, but a teaching moment. Heather expressed that this has also been a chance for them to connect more with their daughter and get creative.
"We have looked into other options of doing pigtail braids and adding ribbons and things like that instead, so she can still have decorative braids, but not a protective style braid in a sense,” Heather stated.
Taylor said to each their own, but whatever decision parents make, should be used as a moment to educate both themselves and their children.
“Why not go get a book? Read to your child in that type of way. Or do like, not necessarily a project, but like arts and crafts with something that you are searching," Taylor expressed. "That could be a bonding experience. Take them outside, like go do other things. It doesn’t have to be like research."
Taylor also said parents should not run away from these kinds of conversations.
Instead, she stated that parents should just listen to their kids, regardless of how uncomfortable these conversations may be, and figure out the best way to move forward.