A F R O C H I C K M A G A Z I N E | Vol. 1 (December 2013) | Seite 16

A F R O C H I C K | M A G A Z I N E 16

estimated $1.8 billion to $15 billion industry. Market research firm Mintel reports that although
blacks make up 13 percent of the population, they account for 30 percent of hair care
spending. [9] Black hair is such a topic of interest that in 2008, Ebony Magazine [10] ran a
feature story on the topic. The article was not about natural versus altered hair; instead, it was an
attack on Koreans, who have monopolized the distribution and sale of black beauty products,
weaves, and braid extensions, controlling approximately 90% of the US market. Aron Ranen’s
2006 documentary, Black Hair: The Korean Takeover of the Black Hair Care Industry, also
highlights how much of an issue non-black control of the industry is for African Americans.
Abena Holder, a Montreal beauty products distributor, attests to the increasing non-black
ownership and control of Canada’s black hair care market. “A Korean based out of Toronto has
gotten in on [the product that I distribute] and now he’s coming into the Montreal market trying
to get the product into stores,” she says. Whether or not Koreans have a right to monopolize the
black hair care industry is a moot point because the real issue is, as Ruth asserts, hair alteration.
“When you have a Jewish man making a documentary because the black hair care industry is
taken over by Koreans you have to understand that there’s a lot more involved in this....
[Koreans] are simply taking advantage of a business opportunity that exists; they are filling a
need created by [blacks].” In truth, the black hair care industry’s woes lie in what is
underpinning the industry in the first place; that is, a belief that straight, long, flowing hair is a
more “acceptable” choice than one’s natural tress. Just as “hair can be a badge of cultural pride,
as well as simply an indicator of style ...hair can be used as a medium to maintain the status quo”
(Banks, 2000, p. 147).
While black hair care professionals are on the front lines trying to help women save their hair
from years of relaxing, wearing weaves, tight braids, and even improper wear of dreadlocks,
dermatologists see the end result of it all. Yvett