The Struggle for Hairstylists Competent in Styling Black Hair is Real

VIDEO DISCUSSION: The Hollywood Black Hairstyling Dilemma

The lack of black hairstylists and those competent in styling black hair in Hollywood has been an ongoing struggle for some of Hollywood’s biggest names gracing the big and small screen.

Actress Viola Davis recently told Ebony magazine: “That has not been my narrative lately of hair because I refuse it. I reject it … I don’t think that people understand our hair … they don’t understand that we’re different, and yet, the same. What I find is, hair is something that a lot of people don’t honor when you do film.”

In rejecting the notion of not having a competent hairstylist on set, Academy Award-winning actress, Viola Davis, says she refuses to work with hairstylists who can’t do black hair.

Black hairstylists are competent in doing all types of hair, so why can’t other hairstylists be as competent?

Is it too much to ask that non-Black hairstylists be competent in styling black hair?