A woman's hair is often referred to as her “crown and glory.” Hair is a salient physical feature of one's self-concept and how others view one's level of attractiveness. One of the biggest prejudices among African Americans is hair texture. This stigma is especially prevalent among African American women. For African American women, hair carries even greater psychological complexity. Since slavery, African Americans have been judged by the texture and curl type of their hair. For example, Blacks with lighter skin color and straight/wavy hair had some advantages over Blacks who possessed more Afro-centric characteristics, such as darker skin and kinky hair (Myrdal, 1962; Neal & Wilson, 1989; Parrish 1944; Poussaint , 1975; Although numerous commentaries have been written about black hair, there are few empirical studies that have examined the reverberating consequences of slavery as it relates to Western indoctrination of hair and its impact on racial identity/self-concept among African American women. of the complexity of hair among black women The origin of the controversy over African American hair dates back to slavery (Guthrie). , 1998). European culture was used as a reference comparison group. Whiteness was identified with everything civilized, virtuous and beautiful, while blackness was considered inferior, rebellious and inadequate. Guthrie (1998) reported that the black man's hair was wool, not hair. Subsequently, this racist ideology was internalized by many African Americans, which led to what Jones and Shorter-G...... middle of paper ......al, political and economic strides that African Americans have done in society, are African American women still psychologically slaves to their hair? The purpose of this study is to examine current perceptions of hair and its importance to racial identity and self-concept among African American female college students. More specifically, this investigation addresses the following research question: Is perception of African American hair related to perceived attractiveness, self-concept, racial identity, and overall happiness? We hypothesize that: 1) African American women are more likely to perceive traditional hair textures, such as straight and permed hair, as more attractive than natural/kinky hair; 2) An interactive effect between skin tone and hair texture is expected on the dependent variables of attractiveness, racial identity, self-concept and happiness.