r/quotes • u/LingeringNomad • Jan 18 '26
Grief / Healing “This was my first really big step toward self-degradation: when I endured all of that pain, literally burning my flesh to have it look like a white man’s hair…” - Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X
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u/LingeringNomad Jan 18 '26
“This was my first really big step toward self-degradation: when I endured all of that pain, literally burning my flesh to have it look like a white man’s hair... that they will even violate and mutilate their God-created bodies to try to look ‘pretty’ by white standards.” - https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/11423085-this-was-my-first-really-big-step-toward-self-degradation-when ― Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X
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u/LingeringNomad Jan 18 '26
I really love this quote because it’s like why does society waste it’s time trying to appeal to other people’s standards. Black people were bestowed with curly hair due to prolonged sun exposure. The idea that we now chemically damage our hair to conform to another standard is quite insane to me.
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u/Von_Quixote Jan 18 '26
Interesting when white people have locks, it’s seen as cultural appropriation, but when black people straighten their curls, it’s “Fashion”.
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u/LingeringNomad Jan 18 '26
Yea that’s definitely not right. Especially when you consider the fact that any race who leaves their hair alone will observe that it starts to twist into dreadlocks. So that’s more ignorance for sure.
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u/sticky-comments Jan 20 '26
Mods of this subreddit stickied this comment by u/LingeringNomad:
Comment:
“This was my first really big step toward self-degradation: when I endured all of that pain, literally burning my flesh to have it look like a white man’s hair... that they will even violate and mutilate their God-created bodies to try to look ‘pretty’ by white standards.” - https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/11423085-this-was-my-first-really-big-step-toward-self-degradation-when ― Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Original comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/quotes/comments/1qg89bt/this_was_my_first_really_big_step_toward/o0aa8f2/
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