Actually I wasn't the nappiest in the neighborhood. I suffered from just the opposite. I was the the little girl with the long so-called good hair (my hair is kinky curly I have about 5 textures mixed up in there).

This girl in my neighborhood used to get teased because she had "bad" hair and didn't wear Jordache jeans or Ooh Lala Sasson. Many of the cool kids back then are now cracked out, in prison or have 20 babies and can't find the babies' daddies. It's a shame how cruel children can be.

I understand what he meant by starting this forum but let's just think on the other side for a minute. Do you think it was plain old childhood fun for the little girl or boy who was teased? Some of these people could be carrying around the hurt and lack of acceptance years later. Many times things we experience in our childhood impact how we live in our adulthood. No one is really thinking about that aspect - just the fact they had fun teasing a child (at the expense of his or her feelings) on the way God made them - PERFECTLY IN HIS IMAGE. We AA's really need to check ourselves sometimes because we sho' can show our ignorance at the most inopportune times.

Well actually I was teased as a child on a multitude of things, including, but not limited to: hair (not nappy), my eyes, clothes, looks, my intelligence, etc. so yes I can see that some of that teasing was unnecessary but as my mother taught me: People are going to talk about you no matter what you do.

Anyway, you feel one way and I feel another. This topic was started in fun and I appreciate that because it started a trip down memory lane. Some people tend to get bent out of shape over the little stuff.

Try being a fat kid! Nappy hair can easily be changed, but fat doesn't just go away. I got teased about that in elementary school. Then, when I was a pre-teen, I not only had to contend with the extra meat on my bones, but I also had a bad case of acne AND (get this) a jheri curl!!! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/redface.gif I was the target of much verbal abuse by my peers, so I learned the hard way not to make fun of people. I look much different (i.e. better) now, but I'll never forget where I came from.

And I'm Out!

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Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Pi Kappa, SP97
#3 of QUINTESSENCE

Really-- is there ever an opportune time to show ignorance?



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Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Pi Kappa, SP97
#3 of QUINTESSENCE

At some point or another we are all teased. That nappy-headed child was probably me, and you can add bone-skinny, pigeon-toed, liver-lipped, and fashion victim to that list. I had Pro-wings when they were a no no, and I once wore my Brownie (Girl Scout) Uniform to class (3rd grade) with green socks! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif

But I am so blessed because I learned at a young age how important it is to love myself first! I've never looked back, an I've never been happier.

By the way, those same things I was teased about back then are the same things that make me beautiful today.

God Bless

PS... I do dress a little better today http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif

I gues it would be funny...if our people didn't have a history of being taught to hate themselves for the very things (and hair was a big one) that made them Black. It's one thing to laugh about shoes, or clothes (which is still cruel), but it's a totally different thing to tease someone about something that is an inherent part of who they are, that they've been taught to hate. I teach African Dance to elementary school girls (ages 7-11) and they are already dealing with feeling inferior because of their skin color, the sizes of their noses or lips, and most importantly because of their hair. You can get over getting teased for wearing busted clothes (though it still hurts) but when your made fun of because of your natural hair--and their is an entire culture out there that for hundreds of years has told you straight is beautiful, and nappy is ugly--well, that is just not something that conscious Black people can afford to laugh at. At some point our children MUST be proud of the elements that make them black.
We've allowed jokes like this to become ingrained in our culture, and we still wonder why we deal with the mess that we do. Sorry to take the "fun" out of this, but I work with too many Black children and youths to think that this is just harmless fun. The consequences of ridiculing that which is an essential part of who you are, are severe, especially for Black people.

Again I disagree, yes ridiculing can be harmful. People teased the hell out of me about my lips. I mean teased. I was teased by this guy who had BIGGER lips than me. He used to irk me but years later I saw him and he wanted to take me out. GO FIGURE.

Anyway here is my point, teasing and ridiculing in my eyes are 2 different things. What I believe is important is that kids and adults need to put their pasts, their imperfections, their "oddities" in perspective. We need to stop internalizing what others think of us. If you don't ACCEPT what others say about you, then their perception of you cannot pierce who you are.

I am a teacher and I hear it everyday, I see it everyday as well. I tell my students don't own up to what someone else thinks about you.

To answer your question no. Question - will those of you who revel in teasing nappy headed children condone teasing in your household when or if you have children? Why or why not?

I do not REVEL in teasing anyone!!

Since this thread has veered VERY far from the original post's intent/tone, it is being closed. Feel free to continue the pro/con teasing discussing under a new thread.

All y'all need to let it go. You got teased about your features when you were younger. SO WHAT? I presently get teased about the size of my behind by MY OWN PARENTS on a weekly basis. Mind you there are the folks who's genetics make my butt the size it is. Do you see me getting bent out of shape when someone makes a remark about folks having big butts? NO. Life is too damn short for a bunch of grown azz people to sit here & condemn each other for a trip down memory lane. Take a cue from The Lion King. Yes the past can hurt. You can either run from it or learn from it. But more importantly: IT DOESN'T MATTER. IT'S IN THE PAST. This is not to say that I condine teasing children about their hysical make up. My advice to all of you is take the hurt you expreienced and use that to teach your own children/cousins/neices & nephews the importance on self love and why it's wrong to tease people about their features.