On race and hairdos

My bridesmaids accompanied me to a random strip mall in the middle of Indianapolis to get our hair done on the day of the wedding. I hadn't done a trial run, didn't have firm ideas on what kind of style I wanted, and didn't do any research on the beauty school other than to call and confirm prices, hours, and availability.

When we got inside, I kind of panicked.

There was loud rap music playing, not as many stylists as we needed on duty, and I realized I had no idea what I wanted my hair to look like. Plus, the place was sandwiched between a Big Lots and a taqueria. I worried what my friends would think about the beauty school not having the glamorous, luxurious feel that Pinterest suggests all brides and bridesmaids should experience on wedding days.

Also, to be excruciatingly honest, I was worried because all the stylists were black, the two other clients were black, and the pictures on the wall featured black hairstyle models. The salon's website said they serve all hair types, but was I supposed to have picked up on some sort of unwritten clue? Had it been a mistake to bring five heads of white-person hair to a beauty school that apparently focuses on a different demographic? Had I committed some sort of social stumble? Would our hair even curl the same?

On my wedding day, I thought these thoughts. Sitting in a spinning chair smelling hair chemicals, I wondered why, despite having plenty of black female friends and acquaintances, I still couldn't say what was fact and what was fiction about our different hair types. And I wondered if wondering all this made me racist.

As the stylists began to transform mine and my bridesmaids' hair, I saw the good work they did and relaxed. It apparently didn't matter that our hair was a different texture than theirs. Of course it didn't.

But, why, then, weren't there more white - or, for that matter, Asian or Hispanic - clients visiting this beauty school?

And, so, on my wedding day, I thought about organic segregation. About how I see places clearly marketed toward different demographics, think, "that's not for me," and move on. Everyone does it. That's why companies make concerted efforts to include models of all races and ages in their ads when they're targeting their products toward the largest market possible. People gravitate toward places we already think we belong. I don't know how much of a beauty school's clientele comes from referrals vs. walk-ins, but I could see a lot of non-black walk-ins talking themselves out of visiting this salon.

Which is sad. Because the stylists did a wonderful job.