So You Want to Talk About Race

What historical context does Oluo consider crucial to any conversation about white people's desires to touch black people's hair?

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Oluo asserts that though it may not seem to white people like there is a lot of baggage wrapped up in the desire to touch a white person's hair, there is historical context that people must take into account. She points out that because white people for centuries objectified, examined, bought, and sold black people's bodies, it is an unwelcome extension of that dynamic for a white person to hone in on the way that a black person's hair is different from their own and ask to touch it.