Hairdressing Apartheid

frg1978 said :

Bearing in mind we have no way of knowing exactly what phrase she used to turn this man away…

So, your reasoning for why the original post does not describe a racist situation, is that the original post is not genuinely describing what happened? Really?

Lets, for the sake of argument, say that what happened is describe in the original post happened, exactly as described. Do you think what was said constitutes refusal of service on the basis of race?

frg1978 said :

So restaurants that specialise in preparing food from certain countries or parts of the world are also being racist?

It depends entirely on who they are prepared to serve. If I walk into an Ethiopian restuarant, and seated and offered menu, then no problems. But what if I walk into an Italian restuarant and are told “sorry, you aren’t Italian, we won’t serve you”?

frg1978 said :

thebrownstreak69 said :

frg1978 said :

milkman said :

frg1978 said :

It really sounds like Hair in the City were lucky to escape a client like you. What a boring, insular little world you must live in if the experience of being refused a hair cut by a hairdresser who is trained in Affrican hair – something you apparently do not have as a caucasion) – not only upsets you, but qualifies for a public rant on The Riot Act.
Get a life mate.

So racism is ok with you. Got it.

I think you (and all of those who have commented along similar lines) are very likely the racist ones in this and not just really concerned about equality as you pretend to be. How many other hairdressers in Canberra are there who are perfectly happy to cut your “caucasian” hair and are also probably specialists in boring caucasian hair cuts. And yet as an apparent white supremacist, you walk into the one salon who caters to a minority group who has very specialised requirements when it comes to hair cutting, and cry discrimination when they don’t want to lower themselves to a “short back and sides” despite possibly not being trained to do this. But how hard can it be, you cried? mate, If it is so easy to do, why not a. do it yourself; or b. get a completely untrained friend or relative to cut your hair and save yourself some cash which you could then spend on feathers and tar.
Seriously, it is like going into a vegetarian restaurant and demanding they cook you a steak and pleading discrimination against meat eaters if they refuse.

Wow. Defending racism. Stay classy.

Bearing in mind we have no way of knowing exactly what phrase she used to turn this man away (who by his own admission was not after an African look despite that being the name of the shop), should not common sense prevail? After all, this was post was written some time after the occurrence of the actual event. And no doubt our OP was getting himself worked up in the meantime at the whole indignity of being refused service for being a white man, stress of course being linked to changes in memory recall.
Would it be racism if she had said she does not cut Caucasian hair? A difference of merely one word?

Perhaps you need to reread original post. in particular the point where he writes “The lady politely told me, “I don’t cut Caucasian people’s hair, you will have to go across to Hair in the City”.”

So yeah, that’s kind of that, isn’t it?

rosscoact said :

I own a business and if I don’t want to do work for you I won’t.

That’s why I own the business. Heaven help us when a self employed person cannot decide who they want or don’t want to do business with.

Well the law doesn’t allow you that luxury so I guess you had better ask heaven for its help. Imagine, people being forced to not discriminate against customers on the basis of racial background! what *is* australia coming to?

thebrownstreak69 said :

frg1978 said :

thebrownstreak69 said :

frg1978 said :

milkman said :

frg1978 said :

It really sounds like Hair in the City were lucky to escape a client like you. What a boring, insular little world you must live in if the experience of being refused a hair cut by a hairdresser who is trained in Affrican hair – something you apparently do not have as a caucasion) – not only upsets you, but qualifies for a public rant on The Riot Act.
Get a life mate.

So racism is ok with you. Got it.

I think you (and all of those who have commented along similar lines) are very likely the racist ones in this and not just really concerned about equality as you pretend to be. How many other hairdressers in Canberra are there who are perfectly happy to cut your “caucasian” hair and are also probably specialists in boring caucasian hair cuts. And yet as an apparent white supremacist, you walk into the one salon who caters to a minority group who has very specialised requirements when it comes to hair cutting, and cry discrimination when they don’t want to lower themselves to a “short back and sides” despite possibly not being trained to do this. But how hard can it be, you cried? mate, If it is so easy to do, why not a. do it yourself; or b. get a completely untrained friend or relative to cut your hair and save yourself some cash which you could then spend on feathers and tar.
Seriously, it is like going into a vegetarian restaurant and demanding they cook you a steak and pleading discrimination against meat eaters if they refuse.

Wow. Defending racism. Stay classy.

Bearing in mind we have no way of knowing exactly what phrase she used to turn this man away (who by his own admission was not after an African look despite that being the name of the shop), should not common sense prevail? After all, this was post was written some time after the occurrence of the actual event. And no doubt our OP was getting himself worked up in the meantime at the whole indignity of being refused service for being a white man, stress of course being linked to changes in memory recall.
Would it be racism if she had said she does not cut Caucasian hair? A difference of merely one word?

Would it be a problem is someone said “I don’t cut African hair”?

Racism is racism – we either challenge it in all forms or we are partly (or fully) complicit.

So restaurants that specialise in preparing food from certain countries or parts of the world are also being racist?
The intention behind legislation and law is often used to aid in it’s interpretation. The intention of anti-discrimination legislation is not to prevent an individual or business from specialising in such a way, and in fact there are exceptions to the law which allow discrimination based on attributes such as sex or race where these are reasonable. Therefore any discrimination against madjimmy in this case was based on the application of a reasonable condition, namely having african hair. In much the same way a gynaecologist would not be discriminating against a man if he refused him as a patient based on sex.
I can now see how we have ended up with warning labels on everything rather than letting people’s common sense prevail.

rosscoact said :

I own a business and if I don’t want to do work for you I won’t.

That’s why I own the business. Heaven help us when a self employed person cannot decide who they want or don’t want to do business with.

Yes, but if you make that decision on the basis of the potential customer’s race, it’s illegal (as well it should be). Otherwise, we may as well all jump back about 60 years.

FioBla said :

I’m not racist, but if someone said that I would have gone all ? Kung fu fighting. Fast as lightning?.

Sounds a little bit frightening.

I own a business and if I don’t want to do work for you I won’t.

That’s why I own the business. Heaven help us when a self employed person cannot decide who they want or don’t want to do business with.

I would’ve thought as part of a hairdresser’s training, they’d be trained in cutting different types of hair from different ethnicities. Maybe not, I guess.

FioBla said :

I’m not racist, but if someone said that I would have gone all ? Kung fu fighting. Fast as lightning?.

You may not be racist, but are you currently drunk?

I’m not racist, but if someone said that I would have gone all ? Kung fu fighting. Fast as lightning?.

frg1978 said :

thebrownstreak69 said :

frg1978 said :

milkman said :

frg1978 said :

It really sounds like Hair in the City were lucky to escape a client like you. What a boring, insular little world you must live in if the experience of being refused a hair cut by a hairdresser who is trained in Affrican hair – something you apparently do not have as a caucasion) – not only upsets you, but qualifies for a public rant on The Riot Act.
Get a life mate.

So racism is ok with you. Got it.

I think you (and all of those who have commented along similar lines) are very likely the racist ones in this and not just really concerned about equality as you pretend to be. How many other hairdressers in Canberra are there who are perfectly happy to cut your “caucasian” hair and are also probably specialists in boring caucasian hair cuts. And yet as an apparent white supremacist, you walk into the one salon who caters to a minority group who has very specialised requirements when it comes to hair cutting, and cry discrimination when they don’t want to lower themselves to a “short back and sides” despite possibly not being trained to do this. But how hard can it be, you cried? mate, If it is so easy to do, why not a. do it yourself; or b. get a completely untrained friend or relative to cut your hair and save yourself some cash which you could then spend on feathers and tar.
Seriously, it is like going into a vegetarian restaurant and demanding they cook you a steak and pleading discrimination against meat eaters if they refuse.

Wow. Defending racism. Stay classy.

Bearing in mind we have no way of knowing exactly what phrase she used to turn this man away (who by his own admission was not after an African look despite that being the name of the shop), should not common sense prevail? After all, this was post was written some time after the occurrence of the actual event. And no doubt our OP was getting himself worked up in the meantime at the whole indignity of being refused service for being a white man, stress of course being linked to changes in memory recall.
Would it be racism if she had said she does not cut Caucasian hair? A difference of merely one word?

Would it be a problem is someone said “I don’t cut African hair”?

Racism is racism – we either challenge it in all forms or we are partly (or fully) complicit.

thebrownstreak69 said :

frg1978 said :

milkman said :

frg1978 said :

It really sounds like Hair in the City were lucky to escape a client like you. What a boring, insular little world you must live in if the experience of being refused a hair cut by a hairdresser who is trained in Affrican hair – something you apparently do not have as a caucasion) – not only upsets you, but qualifies for a public rant on The Riot Act.
Get a life mate.

So racism is ok with you. Got it.

I think you (and all of those who have commented along similar lines) are very likely the racist ones in this and not just really concerned about equality as you pretend to be. How many other hairdressers in Canberra are there who are perfectly happy to cut your “caucasian” hair and are also probably specialists in boring caucasian hair cuts. And yet as an apparent white supremacist, you walk into the one salon who caters to a minority group who has very specialised requirements when it comes to hair cutting, and cry discrimination when they don’t want to lower themselves to a “short back and sides” despite possibly not being trained to do this. But how hard can it be, you cried? mate, If it is so easy to do, why not a. do it yourself; or b. get a completely untrained friend or relative to cut your hair and save yourself some cash which you could then spend on feathers and tar.
Seriously, it is like going into a vegetarian restaurant and demanding they cook you a steak and pleading discrimination against meat eaters if they refuse.

Wow. Defending racism. Stay classy.

Bearing in mind we have no way of knowing exactly what phrase she used to turn this man away (who by his own admission was not after an African look despite that being the name of the shop), should not common sense prevail? After all, this was post was written some time after the occurrence of the actual event. And no doubt our OP was getting himself worked up in the meantime at the whole indignity of being refused service for being a white man, stress of course being linked to changes in memory recall.
Would it be racism if she had said she does not cut Caucasian hair? A difference of merely one word?

frg1978 said :

milkman said :

frg1978 said :

It really sounds like Hair in the City were lucky to escape a client like you. What a boring, insular little world you must live in if the experience of being refused a hair cut by a hairdresser who is trained in Affrican hair – something you apparently do not have as a caucasion) – not only upsets you, but qualifies for a public rant on The Riot Act.
Get a life mate.

So racism is ok with you. Got it.

I think you (and all of those who have commented along similar lines) are very likely the racist ones in this and not just really concerned about equality as you pretend to be. How many other hairdressers in Canberra are there who are perfectly happy to cut your “caucasian” hair and are also probably specialists in boring caucasian hair cuts. And yet as an apparent white supremacist, you walk into the one salon who caters to a minority group who has very specialised requirements when it comes to hair cutting, and cry discrimination when they don’t want to lower themselves to a “short back and sides” despite possibly not being trained to do this. But how hard can it be, you cried? mate, If it is so easy to do, why not a. do it yourself; or b. get a completely untrained friend or relative to cut your hair and save yourself some cash which you could then spend on feathers and tar.
Seriously, it is like going into a vegetarian restaurant and demanding they cook you a steak and pleading discrimination against meat eaters if they refuse.

Wow. Defending racism. Stay classy.

frg1978 said :

milkman said :

frg1978 said :

It really sounds like Hair in the City were lucky to escape a client like you. What a boring, insular little world you must live in if the experience of being refused a hair cut by a hairdresser who is trained in Affrican hair – something you apparently do not have as a caucasion) – not only upsets you, but qualifies for a public rant on The Riot Act.
Get a life mate.

So racism is ok with you. Got it.

I think you (and all of those who have commented along similar lines) are very likely the racist ones in this and not just really concerned about equality as you pretend to be. How many other hairdressers in Canberra are there who are perfectly happy to cut your “caucasian” hair and are also probably specialists in boring caucasian hair cuts. And yet as an apparent white supremacist, you walk into the one salon who caters to a minority group who has very specialised requirements when it comes to hair cutting, and cry discrimination when they don’t want to lower themselves to a “short back and sides” despite possibly not being trained to do this. But how hard can it be, you cried? mate, If it is so easy to do, why not a. do it yourself; or b. get a completely untrained friend or relative to cut your hair and save yourself some cash which you could then spend on feathers and tar.
Seriously, it is like going into a vegetarian restaurant and demanding they cook you a steak and pleading discrimination against meat eaters if they refuse.

A person walks into a shop. Shopkeeper refuses to serve them because of their racial background.

Seems simple to me.

Umm… no, it’s not at all like going into a vegetarian restaurant and asking for a steak, but nice try.

You may believe it is not discrimination but fortunately the law is has a somewhat clearer basis for deciding what constitutes racial discrimination. Refusal to serve someone on the basis of race is quite clearly prohibited by the law. To wit:

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION ACT 1975
– SECT 13
Provision of goods and services

It is unlawful for a person who supplies goods or services to the public or to any section of the public:
(a)
to refuse or fail on demand to supply those goods or services to another person; or
(b)
to refuse or fail on demand to supply those goods or services to another person except on less favourable terms or conditions than those upon or subject to which he or she would otherwise supply those goods or services;
by reason of the race, colour or national or ethnic origin of that other person or of any relative or associate of that other person.

(you will note that there is no clause that says “unless the victim is white in which case they should suck it up because that’s the good kind of racism”)

But go ahead and defend this kind of behaviour because it will no doubt make your critique of far more serious and substantial forms of racism somehow more compelling?

milkman said :

frg1978 said :

It really sounds like Hair in the City were lucky to escape a client like you. What a boring, insular little world you must live in if the experience of being refused a hair cut by a hairdresser who is trained in Affrican hair – something you apparently do not have as a caucasion) – not only upsets you, but qualifies for a public rant on The Riot Act.
Get a life mate.

So racism is ok with you. Got it.

I think you (and all of those who have commented along similar lines) are very likely the racist ones in this and not just really concerned about equality as you pretend to be. How many other hairdressers in Canberra are there who are perfectly happy to cut your “caucasian” hair and are also probably specialists in boring caucasian hair cuts. And yet as an apparent white supremacist, you walk into the one salon who caters to a minority group who has very specialised requirements when it comes to hair cutting, and cry discrimination when they don’t want to lower themselves to a “short back and sides” despite possibly not being trained to do this. But how hard can it be, you cried? mate, If it is so easy to do, why not a. do it yourself; or b. get a completely untrained friend or relative to cut your hair and save yourself some cash which you could then spend on feathers and tar.
Seriously, it is like going into a vegetarian restaurant and demanding they cook you a steak and pleading discrimination against meat eaters if they refuse.

Kudos to Christies- have been going there since I was a wee lad..

frg1978 said :

It really sounds like Hair in the City were lucky to escape a client like you. What a boring, insular little world you must live in if the experience of being refused a hair cut by a hairdresser who is trained in Affrican hair – something you apparently do not have as a caucasion) – not only upsets you, but qualifies for a public rant on The Riot Act.
Get a life mate.

So racism is ok with you. Got it.

slashdot said :

If the hairdresser had said she did not have experience doing hair styles like his and didn’t want to do a substandard job, that would be a different matter entirely. That is not what she said, she said she didn’t do white peoples hair.

I think perhaps she just worded it wrong. I thought that was fairly obvious and not really something for all the people crying racism to grab onto and run with.

I would assume if a white person with an intense thick affro did exist (and I’m sure there are some out there!) she would cut their hair quite happily.

It really sounds like Hair in the City were lucky to escape a client like you. What a boring, insular little world you must live in if the experience of being refused a hair cut by a hairdresser who is trained in Affrican hair – something you apparently do not have as a caucasion) – not only upsets you, but qualifies for a public rant on The Riot Act.
Get a life mate.

Martlark said :

I’m not a racist, but: when I was getting my hair cut in Harlem during a holiday, my stylist seemed to have little idea about how to handle wispy, thin straight red hair. I ended up just getting a number one level clipping. Perhaps is just is an issue of familiarity?

Wispy, thin straight red hair eh?

Sounds like the zero clippers are in order.

That hairdresser needs to publicise themselves a bit more. I’ve known African women who didn’t know there was an African Hair dresser in the ACT region… they’d resorted to Plan B for black women, which is to shear their hair all off, and wear wigs. African hairdressers specialise in turning african “wool” hair into straighter stylable hair, it’s pretty tricky apparently.

Postalgeek said :

astrojax said :

moral to the story: if you plan on a holday or long-term work stay in africa, have a haircul before you go.

A haircul(l) is more permanent than a haircut, I take it?

Perhaps he meant haircurl, in the mistaken belief that everyone in Africa has an afro, and that one will ‘fit in’ with such a do?

astrojax said :

moral to the story: if you plan on a holday or long-term work stay in africa, have a haircul before you go.

That and, for a short back and sides in the city, you should go to Christi’s anyway.

Jeepers, I wonder what will happen when they find out there is a hairdresser which ‘caters exclusively to men’ in civic. I for one will be boycotting The African Look.

astrojax said :

moral to the story: if you plan on a holday or long-term work stay in africa, have a haircul before you go.

A haircul(l) is more permanent than a haircut, I take it?

moral to the story: if you plan on a holday or long-term work stay in africa, have a haircul before you go.

urchin said :

I’m confused as to why people would be defending and attempting to justify what appears to be a straightforward case of racism. Would people feel the same way if the OP had been asian and the proprietor said that she doesn’t cut asian hair? Where do we draw the line that recognises racism as “legitimate”?

Because they’re of the opinion that whitey/crackers/honkeys can’t possibly be discriminated against. Its not racism if they’re white. White guys are just all rich and privileged, refusing them service or slanting them is fair game.

The law has to apply to everyone equally or it is a farce. The hairdresser explicitly said that she would not cut a caucasian person’s hair. You cannot legally deny someone service because of their race. There is no exemption in the law for cases where the person being discriminated against is white.

I’m confused as to why people would be defending and attempting to justify what appears to be a straightforward case of racism. Would people feel the same way if the OP had been asian and the proprietor said that she doesn’t cut asian hair? Where do we draw the line that recognises racism as “legitimate”?

Racism doesn’t have to be malicious in intent to be racist. I doubt that the proprietor meant to be racist and she simply feels more comfortable and more experienced cutting certain kinds of hair. However, if someone wants to get their hair cut at your shop despite knowing your specialisation lies with other kinds of hair, you don’t have the right to refuse them service on the basis of their race.

As for the hairdresser being incapable of cutting straight hair:
1. she did not say she was incapable of cutting straight hair, she said she didn’t cut caucasian’s hair
2. aren’t people required to be certified to cut hair professionally in the ACT? Surely cutting straight hair constitutes part of the training or certification process? A basic, minimum competency should ensure that people are able to cut the whole range of hair from straight to curly to permed to… well I can’t think of anything else.

slashdot said :

I can’t believe some of the comments in this thread. Discrimination is discrimination, it doesn’t matter if its white on black, black on white, it is unacceptable. If the hairdresser had said she did not have experience doing hair styles like his and didn’t want to do a substandard job, that would be a different matter entirely. That is not what she said, she said she didn’t do white peoples hair.

All you who mock and make light of this would be up in arms if I said I’m not hiring a black person. Screw you and your hypocrisy. If I were you I would complain to the discrimination commissioner on principle. We only have rights if you fight to uphold them, and we should all be free from discrimination, regardless of skin colour, gender, age or creed.

You haven’t even seen some of the comments that the moderator hasn’t posted.

Save us from white men who think they’re victims of racism. I suppose you’re talking about a form of discrimination, but racism is institutionalised. You belong to the most privileged subset of our society, so forgive me if I don’t get out the violins for this sob story. Why don’t you tell us all the times you’ve been a victim of sexism while you’re at it.

And again, the lady did you a favour. Hairdressing techniques for white vs black hair are vastly different. Say you needed a shampoo and conditioner before the cut – they would use different products than a regular salon. There are hundreds of other salons you could use that do know how to cut your hair the way you want it.

I can’t believe some of the comments in this thread. Discrimination is discrimination, it doesn’t matter if its white on black, black on white, it is unacceptable. If the hairdresser had said she did not have experience doing hair styles like his and didn’t want to do a substandard job, that would be a different matter entirely. That is not what she said, she said she didn’t do white peoples hair.

All you who mock and make light of this would be up in arms if I said I’m not hiring a black person. Screw you and your hypocrisy. If I were you I would complain to the discrimination commissioner on principle. We only have rights if you fight to uphold them, and we should all be free from discrimination, regardless of skin colour, gender, age or creed.

troll-sniffer said :

buzz819 said :

troll-sniffer said :

The salon was well within its rights to tell you what she did. There is no compulsion on any hairdresser to cut anyone’s hair. As others have mentioned, the salon caters for a very specific niche market and you fall outside their area of interest and probably expertise. Do you also ring up electricians and ask them to fix your leaking taps because ‘they’re tradesmen, what’s the difference?’

My suspicion is you need to stop being so self-righteously arrogant and get a semblance of a life.

I say it again, what if Hair City refused to cut the hair of an African person?

What if? If it was because they didn’t feel confident about their ability to manage an unfamiliar hair type then they too would be perfectly within their rights to refuse the task. End of story. Same as if you rang your plumber and said you wanted him to install a solar powered garden irrigation system. If it wasn’t within his area of expertise he would naturally be entitled to decline the work, even though he works all day with pipes and fittings.

Perhaps you need to take a good long hard look at the strength of your arguments here and move on to something you’re more competent in?

As it happens, I have a solar powered irrigation system for sale. Either of you interested?

troll-sniffer said :

buzz819 said :

troll-sniffer said :

The salon was well within its rights to tell you what she did. There is no compulsion on any hairdresser to cut anyone’s hair. As others have mentioned, the salon caters for a very specific niche market and you fall outside their area of interest and probably expertise. Do you also ring up electricians and ask them to fix your leaking taps because ‘they’re tradesmen, what’s the difference?’

My suspicion is you need to stop being so self-righteously arrogant and get a semblance of a life.

I say it again, what if Hair City refused to cut the hair of an African person?

What if? If it was because they didn’t feel confident about their ability to manage an unfamiliar hair type then they too would be perfectly within their rights to refuse the task. End of story. Same as if you rang your plumber and said you wanted him to install a solar powered garden irrigation system. If it wasn’t within his area of expertise he would naturally be entitled to decline the work, even though he works all day with pipes and fittings.

Perhaps you need to take a good long hard look at the strength of your arguments here and move on to something you’re more competent in?

A plumber and an electrician are two totally different things.

When a Police report is released stating that someone is of Aboriginal, African, Lebanese etc ethnicity everyone cries about racial profiling.

When it goes the other way and it is questioned the person is bigoted, or stupid for asking. Tsk tsk tsk…. Great world we live in.

I’m sure if the hair dresser had of said something like “I’m sorry I am not familiar with that style.” Instead of a straight, no we don’t serve whiteys here, this post would not have even come about.

buzz819 said :

troll-sniffer said :

The salon was well within its rights to tell you what she did. There is no compulsion on any hairdresser to cut anyone’s hair. As others have mentioned, the salon caters for a very specific niche market and you fall outside their area of interest and probably expertise. Do you also ring up electricians and ask them to fix your leaking taps because ‘they’re tradesmen, what’s the difference?’

My suspicion is you need to stop being so self-righteously arrogant and get a semblance of a life.

I say it again, what if Hair City refused to cut the hair of an African person?

What if? If it was because they didn’t feel confident about their ability to manage an unfamiliar hair type then they too would be perfectly within their rights to refuse the task. End of story. Same as if you rang your plumber and said you wanted him to install a solar powered garden irrigation system. If it wasn’t within his area of expertise he would naturally be entitled to decline the work, even though he works all day with pipes and fittings.

Perhaps you need to take a good long hard look at the strength of your arguments here and move on to something you’re more competent in?

cegee said :

“unfortunately I am a white man”

*snort*

That’s bigoted in itself.

neanderthalsis said :

Erg0 said :

At the risk of being labelled racist*, you may have noticed that there are somewhat different techniques involved in cutting a typical African person’s hair. She might not have the skills to cut your hair, and turned you down rather than give you a bad haircut.

*I’m going to start all of my comments with this phrase from now on.

You may have noticed that the OP wanted a short back and sides. Any hairdresser incapable of running a pair of clippers over a head and tidying up the top bit with scissors should not be cutting hair be it African, Caucasian or french poodle.

There is no defence for blatant racism.

I agree. There are plenty of hairdressers in Canberra incapable of an even short back and sides who will have a go at anything. God forbid if you want your neck shaved to the collar as well

troll-sniffer said :

The salon was well within its rights to tell you what she did. There is no compulsion on any hairdresser to cut anyone’s hair. As others have mentioned, the salon caters for a very specific niche market and you fall outside their area of interest and probably expertise. Do you also ring up electricians and ask them to fix your leaking taps because ‘they’re tradesmen, what’s the difference?’

My suspicion is you need to stop being so self-righteously arrogant and get a semblance of a life.

I say it again, what if Hair City refused to cut the hair of an African person?

The salon was well within its rights to tell you what she did. There is no compulsion on any hairdresser to cut anyone’s hair. As others have mentioned, the salon caters for a very specific niche market and you fall outside their area of interest and probably expertise. Do you also ring up electricians and ask them to fix your leaking taps because ‘they’re tradesmen, what’s the difference?’

My suspicion is you need to stop being so self-righteously arrogant and get a semblance of a life.

Maybe The African Look can actually do something with my afro. If they refuse me service then we’ll know if it’s to do with hair type or skin colour.

I had a similar experience recently. After deciding to get a piercing, I popped into my local chemist who advertised to ability to do such things. There the lady politely told me that they only pierced ears.

Unfortunately I am a white man and if I wanted a Prince Albert I would have to go elsewhere. WTF! if they can stick a stud in anyone’s earlobe surely it can’t be too difficult to poke one through my old todger.

No soup for you !

Do you get righteously indignant every time you are asked to vacate the women’s toilets, being an unfortunate white man and all?

Ummm yeah wtf?

I don’t think anyone can really afford to be so selective about their customers.

Lederhosen said :

I’m not sure that apartheid is an appropriate analogy…..

Apartheid might not be a good, or necessary analogy in this case (as is being debated). It would seem, however, to be a correct literal use of the word.

Erg0 said :

…you may have noticed that there are somewhat different techniques involved in cutting a typical African person’s hair. She might not have the skills to cut your hair, and turned you down rather than give you a bad haircut.

Bollocks. If you’re able to cut steel wool, you can cut caucasian hair.

“unfortunately I am a white man”

*snort*

Lederhosen said :

… have been infringed upon.

We don’t take kindly to puns here. Step away from the keyboard.

MrPC said :

Just take a look at Uhura from the 1960s (natural, chemical-free hair)

I probably should have googled this before I said it. Nichelle Nichols’ hair was also straightened, or at least the visible bits were.

MrPC said :

Cutting African hair is a specialist endeavour. Especially African womens hair. It involves a lot of time and harsh (probably illegal) chemicals. Just take a look at Uhura from the 1960s (natural, chemical-free hair) vs Uhura in the last 2 Star Trek movies (impossibly straight hair for an African woman).
.

Maybe she bought an Instyler…

Afro hair is quite different to your Caucasian hair and I would suggest she was doing you a favour, even if she did not explain it very well. I don’t think it’s racist to say you don’t cut a certain type of hair. Maybe ‘hairist’?

If, on the other hand you were after an African look with corn rows and beads, then you should have persisted in your enquiry. If I was someone with afro hair, I don’t think I would go to your standard high street hairdresser unless I knew the person had been trained specifically – Is that racist on behalf of the person with the hair that needs cutting?

It’s my understanding that ‘hairdresser school’ does not really even cover cutting curly hair in the main – not good for me, and I can tell you that there are many hairdressers who can’t deal with it.

Many people out there willing to call racism where it doesn’t exist. It might just be how it is and how it should be accepted.

BTW, the place you wanted to go that was booked out is not that great – I’ve tried it. And for the record, I believe the African hairdressers has been there for some years. Just quietly existing in a non-racist kind of way. Get yourself over to London and you’ll find many of these types of businesses.

had a similar problem in a certain quarter of Paris last September when looking for a quick cut, tried a joint but they could only cut African hair, moved and visited Sacre Cour, took a different route back to the station and found a middle eastern barber who had no problems – one of life’s little jewels! Move on, nothing to see

I’m not a racist, but: when I was getting my hair cut in Harlem during a holiday, my stylist seemed to have little idea about how to handle wispy, thin straight red hair. I ended up just getting a number one level clipping. Perhaps is just is an issue of familiarity?

Cutting African hair is a specialist endeavour. Especially African womens hair. It involves a lot of time and harsh (probably illegal) chemicals. Just take a look at Uhura from the 1960s (natural, chemical-free hair) vs Uhura in the last 2 Star Trek movies (impossibly straight hair for an African woman).

Watch the documentary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Hair_(film)

Their target market is probably not comfortable in the presence of outsiders who, if they keep coming back, might notice the sniff of chemicals not intended for human use, or discussions about them.

arescarti42 said :

Probably a pretty good example of justifiable racial discrimination.

Actually thinking about it it isn’t.

It’d be acceptable if she’d declined to cut your hair because she only cuts certain hair types, or certain hair styles, but not because you were white.

Just plain ugly racism in that case.

Lederhosen said :

I’m not sure that apartheid is an appropriate analogy, given that there are hundreds of other hairdressers in Canberra that would be happy to take your money. And you found one within walking distance. But there’s a Human Rights Commissioner available if you do feel that your rights as a minority (white man in Canberra) have been infringed upon.

It doesn’t have to be that your rights as a “minority” have been infringed. But your rights have been infringed due to sex, race, religious beliefs etc. Which it definitely was.

I think your attitude towards it is sickening, all the bleeding hearts worried about racism towards members of communities who migrate to Australia.

I have no qualms about treating everyone equally, but there should be some level of return for that.

Probably a pretty good example of justifiable racial discrimination.

Erg0 said :

At the risk of being labelled racist*, you may have noticed that there are somewhat different techniques involved in cutting a typical African person’s hair. She might not have the skills to cut your hair, and turned you down rather than give you a bad haircut.

*I’m going to start all of my comments with this phrase from now on.

You may have noticed that the OP wanted a short back and sides. Any hairdresser incapable of running a pair of clippers over a head and tidying up the top bit with scissors should not be cutting hair be it African, Caucasian or french poodle.

There is no defence for blatant racism.

I’m not sure that apartheid is an appropriate analogy, given that there are hundreds of other hairdressers in Canberra that would be happy to take your money. And you found one within walking distance. But there’s a Human Rights Commissioner available if you do feel that your rights as a minority (white man in Canberra) have been infringed upon.

At the risk of being labelled racist*, you may have noticed that there are somewhat different techniques involved in cutting a typical African person’s hair. She might not have the skills to cut your hair, and turned you down rather than give you a bad haircut.

*I’m going to start all of my comments with this phrase from now on.

Wooo… Can you imagine the outcry if Hair in the City decided they didn’t cut African peoples hair?

Given their location and very select client group, they will probably be out of business soon.