Wonder what the attitude is about braids.
About 10 years ago I was working at a Tax Shelter department at Citibank and while they allowed me to wear braids, my "melanin-challenged" supervisor from CT made certain I knew she didn't think they looked "professional," and that she thought it "inappropriate" for a bank.
I wasn't even working with the public.
There was nothing wrong with them; just clean, well-kept cherokee braids. Go figure. I think some people are just threatened by our hair for stupid reasons.
On the converse: We had a "melanin-challenged" summer student at our church working with the youth and her dishwater blonde hair was dreaded too. She spearheaded a summer camp between a predominately white church and a predominantly black church. Both groups adored her and she said that was the first time a lot of those white kids ever saw black kids their age, and vice versa.
I wonder if those kids would have gravitated to each other if she wasn't the conduit...and I wonder how much of it had to do with the comfort she felt with herself and her hair. Chelsea (yep that was her name) was very together and very real, and very empassioned about peace and social justice. She's probably the only "melanin-challenged" girl I'd imagine in locs, and pulling it off authentically (not as a fad). She wants to do social work in Brazil I think.