The new generation of black women rocking their natural hair seem to be coming up against corporate bodies who are becoming anti-natural hair. Does your boss or the company you work dislike recruiting women who rock their natural hair?
Recently, a viewer of Shreveport, Louisiana television station KTBS took on the station’s meteorologist-Rhonda A. Lee and wrote an absurd message on facebook about her having short hair, rather than for any job-related issues.
Rhonda A. Lee saw the message and defended herself. But instead of KTBS supporting Rhonda A. Lee or even deleting the offensive Facebook post, the company fired her, saying she had violated the company’s unofficial social media policy.
REALLY?
This is what Emmitt Vascou, the viewer wrote on facebook…
the black lady that does the news is a very nice lady.the only thing is she needs to wear a wig or grow some more hair. im not sure if she is a cancer patient. but still its not something myself that i think looks good on tv. what about letting someone a male have waist long hair do the news.what about that (cq).
And this is the reply Rhonda A. Lee gave….
Hello Emmitt–I am the ‘black lady’ to which you are referring. I’m sorry you don’t like my ethnic hair. And no I don’t have cancer. I’m a non-smoking, 5’3, 121 lbs, 25 mile a week running, 37.5 year old woman, and I’m in perfectly healthy physical condition.
I am very proud of my African-American ancestry which includes my hair. For your edification: traditionally our hair doesn’t grow downward. It grows upward. Many Black women use strong straightening agents in order to achieve a more European grade of hair and that is their choice. However in my case I don’t find it necessary. I’m very proud of who I am and the standard of beauty I display. Women come in all shapes, sizes, nationalities, and levels of beauty. Showing little girls that being comfortable in the skin and HAIR God gave me is my contribution to society. Little girls (and boys for that matter) need to see that what you look like isn’t a reason to not achieve their goals.
Conforming to one standard isn’t what being American is about and I hope you can embrace that.
Thank you for your comment and have a great weekend and thank for watching.
Do you think it was fair that the Black Meteorologist was fired for defending herself and her own identity (hair)? Are corporate bodies becoming more and more anti-black natural hair or what?
Have you ever been treated less favorably because of your natural hair?
HMMMMMMM, THIS IS JUST NOT FAIR! HOW CAN SOMEONE BE FIRED ON GROUNDS OF KEEPING THE NATURAL HAIR??? THESE ARE SOME OF THE REASONS WHY SOME BLACKS AREN’T PROUD OF THIER HERITAGE. ITS EITHER U FOLLOW THE CROWD TO BELONG OR CHOOSE THE NARROW PATH TO BE DISCRIMINATED. EVEN THOUGH AM NOT THE TYPE THAT KEEPS THE NATURAL HAIR, I THINK ITS SOO WRONG TO AND TOO EXTREME TOO MAKE SOMEONE LOOSE THIER JOB ON THIS GROUND. AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
I feel for this woman and also am horrified at how “acceptable” racism has become. I think her response to that comment was very professional and was not out of line so why was she fired? Because She had absolutely no reason to reply to that comment. Arguing with trolls on the internet is a sure way to get yourself fired. Her job is not to argue with viewers. If someone posted some inappropriate or offensive comments about her, she should have reported it to the PR department, and not take it upon herself to respond to him as someone who represents the station/network. This is the Facebook page of her employer, not her own personal page on which she can comment anyhow she wants. As a public figure, she needs to have a thicker skin so that she can resist the urge to reply to these kinds of posts. It is unfortunate that this policy wasn’t put in writing and explicitly explained to her though. Common sense should have told her to not reply, but it is a sticky situation to fire someone for breaking an unwritten rule.
@Dr. Miyagi, I could not agree with you more on this post. She should not have replied no matter how much she wanted to because she is in the public eye. It is very unfortunate but we suffer everyday in the states for being black. That is why I say people in Africa do not know how much they should appreciate their land and their heritage. If i could get a good job in Africa I would leave America in a jiffy.
she was fired because she responded to the viewer’s comment. she should have ignored him, this can be compared to a customer insulting you in your office, if u retaliate and course a scene, mgt may decide to discipline you by firing u.
I see nothing wrong with her responding to the viewer’s comments, if its degrading to her gender or race. Her response to the viewer was very well done and shd be applauded for efforts to build an education based rapport with a viewer who had complained. Everyone shd have the right stand up for themselves.
I don’t see the point of ignoring whoever asked about her hair. Obviously, the guy who asked was ignorant and I dont see anything wrong of her educating him about ethnic hair and I don’t see anything wrong of him asking. My problem is with her employer who fired her. And guys this is not racism.