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

[onyxhawke at onyxhawke.com]

I live north of Boston and its a reasonably common useage here.


The world always makes the assumption that the exposure of an error is identical with the discovery of truth--that the error and truth are simply opposite. They are nothing of the sort. What the world turns to, when it is cured of one error, is usually simply another error, and maybe one worse than the first one. H. L. Mencken  

-----Original Message-----
From: "Paula Lieberman" <paal at gis.net>
Date: Mon, 05 Feb 2007 23:44:00 
To:"Discussion of the works of Lois McMaster Bujold." <lois-bujold at lists.herald.co.uk>
Subject: Re: [LMB] OT: nappy hair (was Very small child book recommendations)


----- 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 :-)

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