GreekChat.com Forums - Susan L. Taylor Protests Hampton's Policy

GreekChat.com Forums (https://greekchat.com/gcforums/index.php)

- Delta Sigma Theta (https://greekchat.com/gcforums/forumdisplay.php?f=76)

- - Susan L. Taylor Protests Hampton's Policy (https://greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=24250)

I seems you feel strongly about your conformist ideology. Feel free to conform to the societial norms that have been dictated by Anglo-America and I will continue to make my "socio-political statement". I'm glad that I'm the one responsible for recruiting and selection for a fortune 500 company, because based on some of your sentiments I'd be out of luck. Fortunately for people I interview (while rocking my well-coifed afro) I did not attend an institution that forced these types of policies and ideas onto me.

Clearly your training has worked for you and I am happy to see a brother prospering. I feel blessed that I too have prospered in Corporate America with my non-conformist attitude.

Quote:

Originally posted by DoggyStyle82
You've made my very point. To you, your hair is a socio-political statement. What the school is trying to inculcate in their students is to BE ABOUT BUSINESS. That is their concentration and focus. To train professionals. Corporate America doesn't care where you think you get your strength from. If I believed that my strength emanated from my branded Omega arms, would I be justified in exposing them on every sales call? Would a proud Son of the Confederacy be justified by wearing a confederate flag lapel pin on his suits?.

There are accepted norms for every profession. Flamboyant defense attorneys can wear ponytails and cowboy suits. District attorneys don't. One of my white collegeaues wanted to wear a Dale Earnhart mustache in honor of his hero. Boss said no, shave it.

My response was directed at men wearing braids and dreadlocks. Its fine for a woman to wear her hair in a natural state. I never said that women should be forced to wear perms Braided hair is a woman's hairstyle and a man should not be wearing such to work .

Biblically, I know of no passages that mention dreads. Samson was a Nazerite, a priestly order that was forbidden to cut their hair. If you assume that he was African, that could connote dreads, but if he were a typical Semite, then it would just be long hair.

John the Bapist by the Bibles own description, was an unkempt wild man. If his hair was anything like dreads, it would be because it was never combed and matted from living like a vagrant.

Using Wikpedias description of "dreadlocks", is that what a company wants representing to the face of the public?

Do you know any Ethiopians or Somalis that wear dreads. None of the thousands that I see runnig the parking lots in Atlanta seem to wear them. But being that we are derived from West Africans, I still don't see the cultral connection to "dreads". Senegalese, Gambian, Akan, Yoruba, Ibo, Angolan. Never seen a depiction of a man of these cultures with braids or dreads.

For me, Hampton's b-school has a more serious issue to worry about like getting accredited. Howard's b school (and other HBCUs) are and FAMU's is well on its way--having gotten initial approval.

So tell me some placement statistics. Has it been proven that placements don't happen because of hair style? My daughter's b-school (University of Texas) disproved that. Her whole cohert class ( of Blacks) was placed in well-paying corporate jobs and many of them wore locs, braids, twists and cornrows.

Now I will admit that the women mostly wore these hair styles, but only a few of the men did. So is it more a matter of gender acceptance? Another issue to ponder of discrimination against our Black men?

Doggy, good point about the moustache thing.

<----- a happily loced sista running an organization of White folx. :D

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajan_Delta
I seems you feel strongly about your conformist ideology. Feel free to conform to the societial norms that have been dictated by Anglo-America and I will continue to make my "socio-political statement". I'm glad that I'm the one responsible for recruiting and selection for a fortune 500 company, because based on some of your sentiments I'd be out of luck. Fortunately for people I interview (while rocking my well-coifed afro) I did not attend an institution that forced these types of policies and ideas onto me.

Clearly your training has worked for you and I am happy to see a brother prospering. I feel blessed that I too have prospered in Corporate America with my non-conformist attitude.

Why the sensitivity? I never said a sister couldn't rock a 'fro. Because I agree with a set of standards & principles Im a conformist. The danger in politicizing any argument is that it narrows one's prism of viewpoint. You hacve ascribed things to me that would not be present if it weren't for your mindset already poised to take the debate negative.

White America doesn't dictate my hairstyle nor my style of dress or speech. Its conservative by nature because I feel no need to attract attention to myself through those means. And because I can articulate an argument, there is no need for my Afrocentristic politics to be broadcast via my hairstyle or choice of clothing.

The root argument is and should be, "How does the School of Business at a private school such as Hampton, best prepare its students for life in Corp[orate America"? It would seem to me that one should use the best practices of the companies in which you hope these students will be employed by.

Because someone disagrees with or challenges your theses doesn't mean you have to take it personal. Your hairstyle says less about your character than how you respond when your principles are challenged

^^^^Be nice DG. My soror doesn't know you, yet. ;)

But to me a b-school best prepares its students for corporate America thrrugh its course offerings and internship connections. FAMU has this on lock, as does the real HU :D and others. Hampton is still trying to get there. The media focus on this hairstyle rule, imo, will only cause those corporations to think about the superficiality of the program.

What got me, and maybe I read this wrong, is that it would be grandfathered to existing students who either have to change their hair or leave the school. To me that really isn't very realistic or fair to those students. It's changing the rules midstream.

And again are there stats to show those African American hairstyles affect placements? I'm not even talking cultural aspects, because I agree with you on that. It just seemed to me that Hampton is reaching to get it's program credibility rather than going through the strenuous, multi-year task of accreditation.

But, of course, I could be wrong. :D Now I will say this, a protest from Susan taylor mean nothing to me, but that is a whole 'nother issue.

My dear, I am in no way being sensitive or have taken anything personal. Quite frankly I don't know you and you don't know me so there would be no reason for me to take anything you say personal. All I am saying is that you have chosen your way, and I have chosen mine. I won't change your mind and you won't change mine.

Quote:

Originally posted by DoggyStyle82
Why the sensitivity? I never said a sister couldn't rock a 'fro. Because I agree with a set of standards & principles Im a conformist. The danger in politicizing any argument is that it narrows one's prism of viewpoint. You hacve ascribed things to me that would not be present if it weren't for your mindset already poised to take the debate negative.

White America doesn't dictate my hairstyle nor my style of dress or speech. Its conservative by nature because I feel no need to attract attention to myself through those means. And because I can articulate an argument, there is no need for my Afrocentristic politics to be broadcast via my hairstyle or choice of clothing.

The root argument is and should be, "How does the School of Business at a private school such as Hampton, best prepare its students for life in Corp[orate America"? It would seem to me that one should use the best practices of the companies in which you hope these students will be employed by.

Because someone disagrees with or challenges your theses doesn't mean you have to take it personal. Your hairstyle says less about your character than how you respond when your principles are challenged

I don't understand all the fuss if Hampton's policy isn't for those who feel that they need to express themselves by their hair style...they could just go to another B. school.

While in undergrad (we) members of the track team were not allowed to have facial hair...we had two choices shave our facial hair or not run track.