Michelle Obama was always seen with straightened hair and slight waves during her time as US First Lady. She now revealed why in an interview.
Like probably every person of colour, the former First Lady of the United States of America has often been confronted with racism. In Washington DC on 15 November, Michelle Obama presented her new book "The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times" together with former talk show host Ellen DeGeneres – and made a surprising confession. During the book launch, Michelle Obama also talked about her hair and the fact that she wore it straightened for years. The reason: Michelle Obama said that during the term of her husband, former President Barack Obama, Americans were "not ready" for her natural hair structure.
This is how Michelle Obama's hair currently looks
Discrimination based on hairstyles or hair texture despite CROWN Act
Her hairstyles and or natural hair texture continues to be another hurdle for many Black women and Women of Colour in the workplace, Obama continued, as they are often criticised for being "unprofessional" – a racist claim. "It's still there all the time today – the question of whether People of Color should show up on the job with their natural hair," Obama said in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres.
Background info: in the US, the so-called CROWN Act (Crown stands for: Create a Respectful and Open Workspace for Natural Hair). Its purpose is to prevent people from being discriminated against on the basis of hairstyle and hair texture.