*John Oliver made it clear that he, as a white man, has no business discussing the topic of Black hair, and that the discussion “doesn’t belong to white people, doesn’t affect white people, and white people don’t really need to have an opinion on it.”
The sentiment came after the host of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” and his Emmy-winning research/writing team (which includes Black scribes) did an extremely informative and enlightening 24-minute deep dive into the politics of Black hair, including all the ways that white people in power have used it as yet another form of racial discrimination – from stores keeping only its Black hair care products locked up, to Black people being made to cut their dreadlocks for school or work.
The Black writers appeared to take the lead on this segment, and gleefully found a way to have Oliver dish on Porsha Williams’ reaction to Kenya Moore’s infamous disruption of Marlo Hampton’s wig launch on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” casually mention the proper procedure for applying a lace-front cornrow wig, and comment on pics of white fashion models committing the most egregious acts of cultural appropriation with their hairstyles.
Still, Oliver maintained that white people are in no position to speak on Black hair, and brought in a trio of Black celebrities – Craig Robinson, Uzo Aduba, and Leslie Jones – to walk Oliver’s viewers through the issue. Their big collective message to white people with questions?
Use Google and leave us alone.
Leslie said of the Internet: “You can learn what the f**k a box braid is, b**ch!”
Watch the entire segment below:
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