Ponytail isn’t part of black culture

As an African American male who has been getting hair cuts since the 1950s, I am puzzled by the ponytail and African-American culture connection.

I have seen hairstyles come and go like most fashions: covadis and flattop in the 1950s and ’60s, big Afros of the ’70s, Jheri curls in the ’80s and early ’90s, fades in the 2000s. Never have I seen the ponytail as being a significant hairstyle in the African-American community.

In this case, race is being used as an excuse not a reason (big difference) to not follow a rule. He is obviously not being singled out because the blue-eyed, blond guys cannot wear ponytails or have hair hanging over their collars and ears.

This is not a racial issue and to make it one simply detracts from those things that are.

This story was originally published February 14, 2016 at 6:19 AM with the headline "Ponytail isn’t part of black culture."