Hair Messages: A Context for Exploring Racial Socialization Among African American Males

Racial socialization is a multidimensional process that is critical to the social development of African American boys and men. Examining messages that may promote Black male racial socialization can provide insight into how race and gender identity development occur. This study explored how racial socialization is illustrated through recollected hair stories of African American men. A qualitative thematic analysis was utilized to examine the narrative data from 29 self-identified Black men. Three themes of racial socialization emerged: cultural socialization, negative messages, and self-worth messages, which were associated with experiences of barbershop traditions, “good hair” comments, and stories of hair autonomies, respectively. The findings support existing literature on gendered racial socialization and aim to identify hair messages as necessary variables in examining race and gender identity development in African American boys and men.