# Did Condoleeza Rice ever have a "natural" black, unstraightened hairdo? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 18, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722 "2005-02-18T15:26:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2005, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722/61 "2005-02-20T06:19:34Z")
Based on my experience of teaching in Compton, there’s an exellent chance Dr. Rice had little-girl-twisty-braids of some sort until grade 4/5/6, at which point many parents are likely to admit that their little girl is growing up a bit, and pay for professional braiding or even allow her to straighten it. As for the Cisco-argument thing, as a kid I didn’t get the relaxing hair thing. I had to ask my black friend in 4th grade if his hair was that way naturally. I think so many black women relaxing their hair helped confuse me. ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722/62 "2005-02-20T15:04:01Z")
I am +60% sure that the Washington Post Magazine article _Lessons of Might and Right. How Segregation and an Indomitable Family Shaped National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice._ included a picture of Condi in Birmingham as a kid – I remember because I was surprised how much she looked like the girls who died in the church bombing and the girl in the famous Norman Rockwell painting going to school … if you can recall what I am referring to. If not, what \*\*Cardinal \*\* said. The resason I don’t have a link with this is that I can’t get it on [washingtonpost.com](http://washingtonpost.com) which is undergoing an “upgrade” at this time, thought it might be up this AM but no luck. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2005, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722/63 "2005-02-20T15:18:43Z")
> [@jimmmy](#): > > I am +60% sure that the Washington Post Magazine article _Lessons of Might and Right. How Segregation and an Indomitable Family Shaped National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice._ included a picture of Condi in Birmingham as a kid – I remember because I was surprised how much she looked like the girls who died in the church bombing and the girl in the famous Norman Rockwell painting going to school … if you can recall what I am referring to. If not, what \*\*Cardinal \*\* said. > > The resason I don’t have a link with this is that I can’t get it on [washingtonpost.com](http://washingtonpost.com) which is undergoing an “upgrade” at this time, thought it might be up this AM but no luck. Thanks for heads up. [I checked the story.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54664-2001Sep6.html) They’ve apparently blown out any add. photos when they archived it. It only has one pic of her in a business suit accompanying the article. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2005, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722/64 "2005-02-20T15:58:22Z")
This [url="[http://64.236.24.4/CNN/Programs/people/shows/rice/profile.html](http://64.236.24.4/CNN/Programs/people/shows/rice/profile.html)"article contains a photo of Condi from when she was a young teenager. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722/65 "2005-02-20T15:59:59Z")
[This [article](http://64.236.24.4/CNN/Programs/people/shows/rice/profile.html) contains a photo of Condi from when she was a young teenager ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2005, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722/66 "2005-02-20T16:15:58Z")
I try really hard not to hijack GQ threads, but this is going to have to be an exception. monstro, you and your sister are _beautiful_. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722/67 "2005-02-20T16:46:31Z")
> [@jimmmy](#): > > I remember because I was surprised how much she looked like the girls who died in the church bombing According to that CNN article, “A kindergarten classmate of Rice’s was one of the four little girls killed in the bombing of the city’s 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963.” ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722/68 "2005-02-20T17:04:43Z")
> [@UrbanChic](#): > > I try really hard not to hijack GQ threads, but this is going to have to be an exception. monstro, you and your sister are _beautiful_. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722/69 "2005-02-20T18:53:57Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I don’t think your ignorance on the subject (and I don’t mean ignorance in a bad way …just that you don’t know about it) means you are necessarily the whitest white person in the world. It’s just that it’s easy for me, a black person, to take for granted that everyone understands the lives of black people. Yeah, I may be white, but the town where I grew up and the public schools I attended were as black as they were white, and I had no clue about chemical hair relaxing. I had a vague idea that black girls and women frequently did stuff to their hair that I didn’t do (though my own hair is pretty darn dry and wavy), but no idea about the particulars. I was really confused when I got a job in high school at a beauty supply store, and black women would come in asking where the perm section was. Why would they want their hair to be curlier? How was that even possible? But apparently “perm” also means “relaxer.” ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722/70 "2005-02-21T01:03:04Z")
As I mentioned in post #2 way up there: For a damn fine bit of introspection regarding black hair, the impact and effects of having, and the absolute torture that used to go into changing it, I recommend the early chapters of ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X’. There’s a whole section about him straightening his hair to ‘fit in’ before he found Islam. Really, the book is worth the read. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722/71 "2005-02-21T01:39:46Z")
[“Conked” hair](http://www.curtinfm.com/originals/nat_king_cole.jpg) in the 50s. The term is now “process” for women. [“Jheri curls”](http://www.mjjnet.com/badtour.jpg) were the last popular processed hairstyle for black men. ---
**Author:** ![Rillian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rillian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rillian)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722/72 "2005-02-21T01:53:10Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > [This [article](http://64.236.24.4/CNN/Programs/people/shows/rice/profile.html) contains a photo of Condi from when she was a young teenager Is it just me, or does she not have a gap in her fronth teeth in this picture? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722/73 "2005-02-21T04:09:33Z")
The caption for that photo does not say that she was a young teenager when the photo was taken. It just says she entered college at 15. For all we know, that could be her graduation photo when she got her master’s. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722/74 "2005-02-21T05:34:43Z")
**Walloon.** Point taken, but judging by that round baby face and less-than-cynical smile, I’d say that’s not a grad student we’re looking at. ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722/75 "2005-02-21T06:06:57Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > **Walloon.** Point taken, but judging by that round baby face and less-than-cynical smile, I’d say that’s not a grad student we’re looking at. She looks like a young adult in that picture to me. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722/76 "2005-02-21T11:06:29Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Her skin is light enough, though, that it seems unlikely to me that she could ever grow an afro. My quite white grandmother has an afro if she doesn’t have her hair done. Most of her ancestors were from England. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722/77 "2005-02-21T11:23:48Z")
> [@rfgdxm](#): > > She looks like a young adult in that picture to me. She looks between 11 and 15 in that picture to me. And **Rillian** , I did notice the lack of a gap. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722/78 "2005-02-21T23:55:24Z")
In that picture she looks innocent and comfortable, like the girls I went to catholic school with. And she looks teenager to me. Man, what politics can do to a person. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722/79 "2005-02-22T03:38:19Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > She looks between 11 and 15 in that picture to me. And **Rillian** , I did notice the lack of a gap. School pix headshots like that are often routinely airbrushed cosmetically to enhance the chances of parents buying picture sets. Maybe her teeth really widened after that, but IMO that would be sort of unlikely ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722/80 "2005-02-22T03:49:20Z")
> [@astro](#): > > School pix headshots like that are often routinely airbrushed cosmetically to enhance the chances of parents buying picture sets. Maybe her teeth really widened after that, but IMO that would be sort of unlikely There’s a gap there, it’s just not very noticeable. And I think people’s teeth do spread somewhat as they age. Are your teeth any easier to floss than they were when you were a kid? You’re correct though about photo shops doctoring prints so the parents will buy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-condoleeza-rice-ever-have-a-natural-black-unstraightened-hairdo/290722.md?page=5)