[LMB] OT: nappy hair (was Very small child book recommendations)

[Paula Lieberman]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Thomas Vinson" <t.vinson at sbcglobal.net>


> Jacki in Canberra asks
>> What's offensive about a nappy? (presuming it hasn't been used, that 
>> is)
> 
> In US usage "nappy" refers to very tightly curled (aka kinky) hair.
> Since most Americans with this kind of hair have African ancestry[*]
> it is sometimes perceived as a racial slur.

I've never heard that usage.... I wonder how widespread it is/was? 

> See http://www.carolivia.org/nappyhair/ for the book's website,
> including a link to an article about the ruckus (Washington Post --
> the other links seem to be dead).
> 
> Tom
> 
> [*] within the past few hundred years.  For the rest of us such ancestry
> might be a few millenia further removed.  Then again, it might not :-)