Making the Cut

Abstract

<p>Her face said it all. Every stylist in the beauty school salon knew she wasn’t happy with her cut. She wa nted French braids or twists in the front. Instead, the white woman who had cut her hair stayed on the side of the chair and watched the 10-year-old AfricanAmerican girl’s face go from a vacant stare to a disappointing gaze. Her step-grandmother regretfully lurked in the back, as the only African-American beautician in the shop, and offered to fix the young girl’s unfortunate mane in a separate salon she owned.</p>