19d • Bipoc Identity
Deeper than Bonnets
Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but I don’t think Tuskegee banning bonnets and durags creates the kind of environment an HBCU is supposed to have.
I understand the argument about professionalism. I really do. But Black students spend most of their lives navigating spaces where they’re told to shrink parts of themselves to fit someone else’s definition of “professional.”
An HBCU has always meant something different to me. It’s supposed to be one of the few places where Black students don’t have to constantly code-switch or worry that every part of their culture is being judged. It’s supposed to feel like a safe space.
What bothers me isn’t that Tuskegee has a dress code. It’s that the policy feels like it’s asking students to move one step closer to whiteness in the name of professionalism.
We have over a century of history showing that respectability has never been a guarantee of dignity. Black people wore three-piece suits during segregation. Black women dressed impeccably during the Civil Rights Movement. They were still denied jobs, denied service, and denied basic human rights.
So when people say, “This is about self-respect,” I hear that. But I also hear the old message that if we just present ourselves the “right” way, we’ll be taken seriously.
I don’t believe a satin bonnet or a durag determines someone’s character, intelligence, or future. I believe how you treat people, how you show up, and what you contribute says a whole lot more.
That’s why this conversation is bigger than bonnets. It’s about what kind of Black spaces we’re trying to build and whether those spaces should ask us to become more like everyone else just to be considered respectable.
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Deeper than Bonnets
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