They Stole It — Part 3: The Hair - Teacher Resource

They Stole It Part 3

The Hair — Teacher Resources

A Black Woman Can Still Lose Her Job For This Hairstyle. A White Celebrity Gets A Magazine Cover For The Exact Same One.

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Quiz — They Stole It Part 3 — The Hair

PART A — MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. African rock art evidence of braided hairstyles dates back to:

C) 3500 BC.

Students should be able to identify the specific date cited in the lesson. Rock art found at the Tassili n'Ajjer plateau in the Sahara — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — depicts women with intricate cornrow patterns and is dated to 3500 BC. This is the foundational date that establishes African braiding as one of the oldest documented hairstyling traditions in human history. Students who answer A, B, or D are misplacing the date either too recently or in an incorrect era entirely.

2. What was the public reaction when Cicely Tyson wore her natural hair on national television in 1963?

C) She faced backlash from hairdressers and Black women who accused her of embarrassing the race.

Students should understand that Tyson's decision was not celebrated — it was punished. Hairdressers wrote her letters blaming her for ruining their business by modeling a hairstyle that required no chemical treatment. Black women accused her of embarrassing the race by appearing ungroomed in public. The backlash came from multiple directions simultaneously and nearly ended her career. Students who answer A, B, or D are selecting responses that contradict the documented historical record.

3. What role did Cicely Tyson play in the 1972 film Sounder, in which she wore cornrows?

B) Rebecca Morgan, a Louisiana sharecropper.

Students should be able to identify the specific character and setting. Tyson played Rebecca Morgan, a Black woman living in rural Louisiana during the Great Depression whose husband is arrested for stealing food for their family. The role earned Tyson an Academy Award nomination. The fact that the same cornrows she was penalized for in 1963 became part of her most celebrated role nine years later is central to the lesson's argument about contradiction and double standards. Students who answer A, C, or D are placing the character in the wrong context.

4. What did Marc Jacobs call Bantu knots when he sent white models down the runway wearing them?

B) Mini buns.

Students should recognize this specific renaming as a documented act of cultural erasure. Bantu knots originate from the Bantu peoples of sub-Saharan Africa and have been worn for generations as a marker of cultural identity. When Marc Jacobs presented them on white models in his Spring 2017 collection, they were labeled "mini buns" — stripping the style of its name, its origin, and its cultural context. Students who answer A, C, or D are selecting invented names that do not match the documented historical record.

5. What name did the internet give cornrows after Kim Kardashian wore them?

B) KKW Signature Braids and boxer braids.

Students should be able to identify both renamed versions. After Kim Kardashian was photographed in cornrows, social media and celebrity press began referring to the style as "KKW Signature Braids" and "boxer braids" — both names that credited a white celebrity with a style Black women had worn for thousands of years and continued to be penalized for wearing. Students who answer A, C, or D are selecting invented names that do not match what was actually documented.

6. What does the CROWN Act protect?

B) Black people from discrimination based on natural hair textures and protective hairstyles.

Students should understand both what the CROWN Act is and why its existence matters as evidence. The CROWN Act — Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair — is legislation passed in multiple U.S. states that prohibits discrimination based on hair texture and protective styles including braids, locs, twists, and knots. The existence of this law is itself evidence that hair discrimination against Black people is real, ongoing, and serious enough to require legal protection. Students who answer A, C, or D are misidentifying what the law protects or who it protects.

7. What pattern does this lesson argue the cases of Bo Derek, Marc Jacobs, Valentino, and Kim Kardashian collectively represent?

C) A systemic pattern of taking Black hairstyles, renaming them, and profiting while Black people are punished for the same styles.

Students should be able to identify the central argument of the lesson as a whole. Each case documented in this lesson follows the same structure: a Black hairstyle with deep cultural roots is adopted by a white celebrity or fashion brand, given a new name that removes its cultural origin, and celebrated as innovative or fashionable — while Black people wearing the same style continue to face discrimination, termination, and school suspensions. Students who answer A, B, or D are selecting responses that minimize, mischaracterize, or contradict the documented pattern.

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PART B — SHORT ANSWER KEY POINTS

Question 8. Cicely Tyson was criticized in 1963 for wearing her natural hair — and then nominated for an Academy Award in 1972 for a role in which she wore cornrows. Using specific details from the lesson, explain what this contradiction reveals about how Black women's hair has been treated in America.

A strong answer should include:

• At least two specific details: Tyson was attacked by hairdressers and accused of embarrassing the race in 1963 for wearing her natural hair; nine years later she was nominated for an Academy Award for a role in which she wore cornrows — the same type of style she had been penalized for
• What this contradiction reveals: the problem was never the hairstyle itself — it was who was wearing it, in what context, and whether white institutions chose to celebrate or penalize it
• What it challenges: the idea that the objection to natural Black hair was aesthetic — the lesson shows the objection was social and racial, not visual
• Strong answers will connect: Tyson's 1963 experience to the broader pattern of Black women being told their natural appearance is unacceptable in professional spaces, while that same appearance is celebrated when it appears on a white performer or runway model

Question 9. Choose two examples from the lesson where a Black hairstyle was renamed or rebranded by a white celebrity or fashion brand. For each example, identify the original style, what it was renamed, and explain what is lost when a hairstyle is separated from its cultural origin.

A strong answer should include:

• Two specific examples: Bantu knots renamed "mini buns" by Marc Jacobs; cornrows renamed "boxer braids" or "KKW Signature Braids" by Kim Kardashian and internet media
• What the original style is: Bantu knots originate from the Bantu peoples of sub-Saharan Africa; cornrows have been documented in African culture since 3500 BC
• What is lost in renaming: the cultural origin is severed — the style's connection to a specific people, their history, their identity, and their centuries of practice is erased and replaced with a celebrity's name or a generic fashion label
• Strong answers will note: renaming is not neutral — it transfers cultural credit from the originating community to whoever is doing the renaming, allowing a new owner to profit from a culture they did not create and cannot claim

Question 10. The lesson argues that the policing and appropriation of Black hair is a systemic pattern — not a series of coincidences. Using at least two specific examples from the lesson, explain what evidence supports calling this a pattern rather than isolated events.

A strong answer should include:

• At least two specific examples: Bo Derek credited with inventing cornrows in 1979; Marc Jacobs renaming Bantu knots "mini buns" in 2016 and locs credited to punk culture in the same era; Kim Kardashian's cornrows renamed "boxer braids"
• What makes it a pattern rather than isolated events: the same structure repeats across decades, across different brands and celebrities, and always in the same direction — Black styles are penalized on Black heads and celebrated on white ones
• What the CROWN Act adds as evidence: the fact that multiple U.S. states had to pass legislation specifically protecting Black hair confirms the discrimination is not anecdotal — it is documented, widespread, and ongoing
• Strong answers will connect: the pattern in this lesson to the broader "They Stole It" series — the same structure of taking, renaming, profiting, and erasing that operates in fashion and body standards also operates in hair

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