Bringing the World Together One Question at a Time

Ron Tinsley (2007)

I recently moved back to Philadelphia from Delaware and I am glad to be back. I moved to an area called Frankford in the lower Northeast of Philadelphia. The Northeast will always be remembered as the area of Philly that tried to secede 20 years ago. Back then, it was a very white section of town. As an African American, I was told to avoid this area.

Today, the lower Northeast is teeming with multi-ethnic vibrancy. From Latinos to African Americans and other groups, it is culturally diverse. There are at least 40 houses on my street with Black, Latino, Caucasian residents…and some with foreign accents. Even though my wife and I grew up in North Philadelphia, she is Caucasian hailing from Swiss-German Amish roots in Ohio. How she ended up growing up in a 99.9% African American community is another story that needs to be told. Because of this, we have always looked to live in multiethnic communities. We like where we live.

One of the first things I needed to find was a barber. Even though my wife is a hairstylist and knows how to cut different types of hair, she wanted to retire. Right now, we have four children and two are boys. Including myself, she was cutting/managing five heads including her own. On top of that, female haircare takes more time than that of male. So I need a barber for my two boys and myself. So I talked to a few people I know in the community but all of their barbers were not in the community. It seems like my hair was growing by the minute! So I went on a business strip near my home and just drove around. Nothing! Finally my neighbor told me that her son goes to an Asian barbershop.

I looked at her puzzled. An Asian barbershop? I was confused because I obviously do not look Asian. She stated that they cut Black hair for $5. I was trying to be polite but not telling her what I obviously thought. Since when do Asians cut Black hair? It sounded comical to me. I started flashing back to my childhood when Asian corner stores started popping up everywhere in my community. The language and cultural barriers caused considerable tension. At one time, there were rumors floating around that the Federal government was giving them money to set up businesses in our communities. This, we saw as another form of marginalization. So, my gut feelings were coming to the surface even though I am a college educated man.

So I go to the Asian barbershop anyway because my hair was starting to feeling like a hat. Since my boys’ are being homeschooled this year, I sacrificed them first to the barber chair. I reasoned that if the Asian barber messed them up, they could just stay in the house. Me? I still have to go to work!

We walked in the story and there was a miniature Buddhist temple near the front door with incense burning. In the back was a flat screen TV playing a bootleg version of ‘The Simpsons Movie.’ There were 3 male barbers and one female. I instinctively avoided the female barber because as a kid, the female barbers never cut my hair right. I sat there very uneasy looking at the barber chart that showed the different styles of haircuts. Not one picture was an Asian guy.

I also started to feel somewhat guilty. The African American barbershop is an important place for the community. It is the Black man’s country club. It is where ideas are exchanged, connections are made and friends are forged. It is the one place you will find young and old men. It is a safe place for us. It is a amazing that the church could not even foster this kind of brotherhood. I started thinking, am I being true to my culture? I cannot even communicate with my barbers! They do speak English but it is not very good and they choose to speak Chinese. I feel like they are sending my a message. Even beyond this, how do I communicate what kind of hair cut I want for me and my boys? The only thing I could do was point at a picture or two.

The verdict? I was amazed that they cut pretty good, but it was also very fast. For $5, many of the grooming aspects that come with many barbers just aren’t there. I concede that I think it is a good deal considering how cheap the price is. I told myself to go only if I needed a haircut or simply just take my boys. It has been 2 months and I am still going. I am getting better at communicating with them and I know whose barber chair I want to sit in. I must admit I have not been to an African American barbershop in a long time. Truth be told, I do not miss it. Many of the ones I went to were staffed by young men who had no business sense and did not know how to cater to their customers. As I got older, this began to turn me off. I wanted a place where I knew my boys would not hear profanity and lewd conversations.

So here I am going to Asian barbers who barely talk and are very polite.

But I still cannot avoid some of the nagging cultural and economic questions that come with this experience. Do the Asians realize the cultural significance of the African American barbershop? Do they even care? Why does this model of ‘cheap services offered by foreigners’ seem to be so easily replicated in African American communities? Why do I keep going back?

Can I really cross this cultural divide?