African American Definitions For & Uses For Do-Rags (Durags)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post provides definitions for the term "do-rags" ("durags").

This post also provides information about the ways that do-rags (durags) have been used to help maintain African Americans' (and other Black people's) hair and hair styles as well as the way that do-rags (durags) help create certain hairstyles, particularly "waves" for Black males.

The content of this post is presented for cultural and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to all the publishers of videos that are embedded in this post.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/11/information-about-reactions-to.html for a closely related pancocojams post entitled "Information About & Reactions To The Survivor's Television Show Incident About Durags (with video & comments)"

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WHAT IS A "DO-RAG"?
Since the 1960s or 1970s, "do-rag/s" (also given as "durag/s") refer to a certain type of head scarf that is mostly worn by some African American males.

From https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/do-rag
"do-rag noun
\ ˈdü-ˌrag \
variants: or less commonly durag or du-rag
Definition of do-rag
informal
: a close-fitting, typically stretchable piece of cloth that is worn on the head (as to hold a hairstyle in place) and that usually has long ends which are tied in the back"
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The second line in this quote refers to how the word "do-rag" is pronounced - "doo" (rhymes with the word "to" and the word "new") + the word "rag"
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"Durag" is a much later [after 2015?] spelling of the term "do-rag". My guess is that the spelling "durag" was created for branding/marketing purposes (i.e. to sell a company's manufactured "do-rags").

Read more in this post's comment section about how "do-rag" ("durag) is spelled.
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Here's information about the hair maintenance function of "do-rags" which serves as a correction or expansion on the statement in that definition:

From https://www.highsnobiety.com/2017/08/18/why-do-people-wear-durags/##targetText=For%20men%20of%20color%2C%20durags,radial%20effect%20from%20the%20crown. What Does the Durag Actually Signify in 2017? By Staff in ClothingAug 18, 2017
..."First things first, a durag serves a function. For men of color, durags are a preservation tool. To put it simply: after you brush your hair you can mess it up as it rubs on your pillowcase when you sleep.

A durag not only preserves the brushing but through consistent wearing, gives the effect of “waves” wherein your hair creates a radial effect from the crown. Durags can be worn with cornrows too, keeping them friction and frizz free for at least a while. So at its core, a durag is a hair maintenance device that had early beginnings in women’s hair wraps. But somewhere along the way it became known as a hell of a lot more. Durags can be worn with cornrows too, keeping them friction and frizz free for at least a while. So at its core, a durag is a hair maintenance device that had early beginnings in women’s hair wraps. But somewhere along the way it became known as a hell of a lot more."...
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More of that excerpt is found in the closely related pancocojams post "Information About & Reactions To The Survivor's Television Show Incident About Durags (with video & comments)" whose link is given above.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: How to Tie a Durag, According to A$AP Ferg | GQ



GQ, Apr 6, 2018
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In that video, Hip Hop artist A$AP Ferg mentions how "durags" help create "waves". "Waves" and do-rags/durags are discussed later on in this post.

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HOW THE TERM "DO-RAGS" GOT ITS NAME
The "do" in the word "do-rags" refers to "hair-dos".

From https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hairdo#learn-more
"Definition of hairdo
: a way of wearing the hair : COIFFURE

Synonyms for hairdo
Synonyms
coiffure, cut, do, haircut, hairstyle

[...]

First Known Use of hairdo
1932, in the meaning defined above"
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"Getting [your] hair done" is a term that is related to "hair-do". That term refers to how the hair is prepared and styled to make [result in] the hair-do. For African Americans, "getting your hair done" used to refer to (and to a lesser number of African American people) still refers to the use of chemicals, or heat on your hair. For African Americans (and other Black people) "getting your hair done" can [also] refer to getting your hair cut, trimmed, shaved, braided, colored, styled with extensions or weaves (hair pieces) etc.

Prior to "do-rags" being manufactured for sale, people used clean, but old or inexpensive piece of usually cloth material (referred to as "rags") to cover their "hair-dos". According to Sandra E. Garcia (14 May 2018). "The Durag, Explained" in a New York Times article that is cited on the Wikipedia page about do-rags (The link for that page is given below) "Merriam-Webster places the earliest usage of do-rag in 1968".

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HISTORY OF DO-RAGS (DURAGS) AND AFRICAN AMERICANS
These excerpts are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.

Excerpt #1
From https://boomphilly.com/2692892/the-history-of-the-do-rag/ [No date is given, but the article refers to 2001.]
"The History Of The Do-Rag
...The do-rag is simply a scarf worn on your head to protect your hairstyle or is used for fashion. Guys often wear do-rags to keep their cuts fresh and braids in place, while others sport them as a part of their outfit. While do-rags may have been worn by some of your favorite artists, the trend is certainly nothing new.

The do-rag’s origin dates back to the 19th century when poor laborers and slaves needed something to tie their hair back with. Fast forwarding to the times of the Harlem Renaissance and Great Depression, in the 1930s, do-rag then evolved into a hairstyle preserver. Then shortly after the Black Power Movement in the late 1960s and into the 1970s and up until the 2000s, the do-rag became a fashion statement. Rappers, athletes, and the rest of American youth began, particularly young African American men, began wearing them around the clock and not just overnight as they slept. It was common for young men to wear do-rags out in public. The do-rag became available in different colors, and was a staple for the typical dressed down outfit. Do-rags became so popular and common in mainstream America, the National Football League placed a ban on any do-rag, scarf, or bandana on the football field. Former Minnesota Vikings coach, Dennis Green, believed the ban targeted Black players even though the NFL’s reasoning was to avoid any player mistakenly associated with a gang.

There are even universities that ban do-rags on campus like esteemed HBCU, Hampton University, where males (or females) cannot wear any type of head coverings including bandanas, hats, or stocking caps. They are only permitted in their residence.

Currently, there has been a dip in popularity in wearing them publicly and many rappers have left the do-rags in 2001. But, despite its diminishing presence in the latest videos and the “no do-rag” policies, its existence will remain as one of the most popular male fashion statements of our time. Just as leggings came back for the ladies, the do-rag may reign once again in twenty years.
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With regard to the sentence "The do-rag’s origin dates back to the 19th century when poor laborers and slaves needed something to tie their hair back", my assumption is that this writer is referring to poor Black (and White?) laborers in the United States and to enslaved Black people in that same nation. Regardless of this interpretation, while it can be documented that some people in these populations wore head scarfs long before the 19th century. Furthermore, it's highly unlikely that head scarfs prior to the mid or late 20th century were called "do-rags", although they may have served some of the same functions as the late 20th century head scarfs with that name.
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HBCU = historically Black college and university

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Excerpt #2
From https://www.allure.com/story/durag-fashion-history-black-people-reclaiming-the-narrative The Renaissance of the Durag
What happens when black people take control of their own narratives.

BY ALISHA ACQUAYE
December 26, 2018
..."People of color are leading the charge to reclaim the durag, and redefine it in their own terms.

Images of black people, particularly black men, wearing durags have been part of our cultural consciousness for some time. Like many other styles and traditions chosen by black people, mainstream society predictably labeled the durag as something criminal and crude. But now people of color are leading the charge to reclaim the durag, and redefine it in their own terms. In art, music, and fashion, durags are being embraced as a symbol of divinity and diaspora, a marker of identity and existence, and a tribute to a black tradition that should no longer be ridiculed but revered.

Although there is no one origin of the durag, according to The New York Times, William J. Dowdy is known for popularizing it with So Many Waves, a brand that started in 1979. Darren Dowdy, William’s son and current president of the company, told The New York Times earlier this year that durags were first called “tie downs.” They were, and still are, used to keep curls and coils from springing back up after they were brushed down. The end result? A head of hair that resembles a sea of uniform waves. Durags can also prevent cornrows and braids from frizzing and keep locs neat. In the aughts* [Pancocojams Editor: "aughts" = 2000s] some of our favorite rappers brought visibility to durags in the mainstream media: Nelly, 50 Cent, Cam'Ron, and Ja Rule are a mere few who proudly wore theirs as a fashion statement. They rocked durags with suits, jeans, and jerseys, and underneath fitted caps. The varied ways they wore durags were a testament to their versatility, their fashionable functionality.

In spite of the obvious practical uses for durags, black men were, and still are, often labeled as thuggish and low-class when they wear them. In a 2017 GQ article, writer Brian Josephs explained that durags share a similarity with the head wrap, which many black women wear to protect their hair, for aesthetic appeal, or to cover their hair for religious reasons. In late-1700s New Orleans, the Tignon Laws required women of African descent to wear head wraps, according to Broadly. This was intended to suppress their beauty and physically distinguish their slave status. Similarly, in 2001, the NFL banned players from wearing durags and bandanas, but permitted skullcaps (if they showed team colors and logos). The NFL claimed the intention was to enforce a more uniform dress code, but the decision seemed rather, well, racist, as black players primarily wear durags. The NBA followed suit in 2005, around the time Allen Iverson became popular for wearing durags on the court, according to GQ.

[...]

The durag's rocky introduction to mainstream culture aside, today the durag's legacy is alive and well in the black community...Videos of young black men (and some women, too) doing "wave checks" have gone viral on social media, and are hypnotic to watch. Each participant, sometimes in a large group, sometimes alone, dramatically unties their durag on camera to reveal — with much fanfare and plenty of hype — the waves hiding underneath. At some colleges, wave checks are bona fide social events."...
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Additional information about wave hairstyles and a video about those hairstyles are found below.

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Excerpt #3
From https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5893219718076521675#allposts
"A durag or du-rag is a scarf usually worn on the head after a hair treatment process (hairdo).[1]

History
Durags were originally the headgear of poor African American women laborers and slaves in the 19th century. In the 1930s, during the Harlem Renaissance and Great Depression, the durag evolved into a hairstyle preserver. After the Black Power Movement in the late 1960s, the durag became a fashion statement among African Americans, worn by rappers, athletes, and men of all ages. In the 2000s, wearing durags in public lost popularity in certain areas but maintained its popularity in others.[citation needed] However, because of rappers, such as A$AP Ferg and the return of waves as a hairstyle, they have now regained their status as a fashion among the African American community.

Controversy
In the United States, there have been attempts to ban the wearing of durags[2][3] in high schools as a part of regular school attire. When John Muir High School in Pasadena, California, banned durags as part of a school dress-code policy, students staged a peaceful walk-out in February 2019.[4] The walk-out was staged by the Black Student Union; protesting students contended that school administrators banned the head wear because of its affiliation "with gang culture", although the school's principal claimed that it was banned because "of values we have for how we present ourselves at school".

In 2001, the American National Football League banned its players from wearing durags and bandanas underneath their helmets.[5]

Etymology
Merriam-Webster places the earliest usage of "do-rag" in 1968.[6] The New York Times claims that the true spelling is durag, and its popularity began in the 1970s.[7] There is an alternative etymology in which 'do-rag' is 'dew-rag', and 'dew' is a euphemism for sweat, the current do-rag folk-etymologized from it.[8] In the same source, another author cites a reference from the 1940s, of a do-rag used to keep a hair-do in place."...
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Pancocojams Editor's Note: I'm including this excerpt although I consider its definition of "do-rag" and its etymology from the word "dew" to be inaccurate (I've never seen the spelling "dew-rag", have you?).

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Excerpt #4:
From https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/style/durag-solange-met-gala.html
"AN EXPLAINER
The Durag, Explained
It’s spelled durag. The end.
By Sandra E. Garcia
May 14, 2018
"Solange Knowles ascended the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art wearing a gold halo — the theme of the Met Gala was Catholicism — over a black durag. Ms. Knowles wore the durag with the cape out; it dripped down her back. At the hem, in gold Gothic type, were the words “MY GOD WEARS A DURAG.” Godly, queenly, on theme.

Still, her headwear stood out among the papal hats and crowns, and led to some debates about the spelling (and possible hyphenation) of the word durag. So we figured it was time to clear a few things up.

Who Invented the Durag, and Why?
There is no specific inventor of the durag. That’s like asking who invented the comb. But the use of having a scarf or a rag to keep your hairstyle in place and frizz-free took a great leap forward in the ’70s.

Darren Dowdy, president of So Many Waves, claims his father, William J. Dowdy, invented it as part of a hair grooming kit."

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DO-RAGS (DURAGS) AND WAVE HAIRSTYLES
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waves_(hairstyle)
"Waves are a hairstyle for curly hair in which the curls are brushed and/or combed and flattened out, creating a ripple-like pattern.

The hairstyle begins with a short-cropped haircut and frequent brushing and/or combing of the curls, which trains the curls to flatten out and wearing a do-rag. Wave pomades and moisturizers can help hold the hair in place while preventing the hair from getting too dry.[1][2] A do-rag is worn to preserve moisture while compressing the hair and holding it in place.[3][4][5]

In the early 20th century, as many African-American men sought to style their hair with texture-altering products, "cold soap" waves became a popular hairstyle. Men produced waves by washing their hair with soap but not rinsing all of it out before putting on their do-rags.[6]"
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I believe that the term "curly hair" that is used in that Wikipedia page is a euphemism for what is now commonly [among African Americans and some other Black people] referred to as "type 4 hair texture". Note that some African Americans and other Black people have type 3 hair textures, and other type hair textures, and it is common for some African American individuals and other Black individuals to have a mixture of hair textures.

Here's some information about type 4 hair texture:
From https://www.allure.com/gallery/curl-hair-type-guide##targetText=Type%204%20(Coily),are%20prone%20to%20major%20shrinkage.
"Type 4 (Coily)
Coily hair, commonly referred to as Afro-textured or kinky hair, is naturally very dry and spongy in texture and can be soft and fine or coarse and wiry. Strands form very tight, small curls of zig-zags right from the scalp and are prone to major shrinkage."...
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That page includes drawings of type 4 strands (and other hair texture types). That page also includes photographs of females with each of those hair textures, and recommendations for hair care.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: 360 Waves: Why Black People Wear Durags? Du-Rag Etiquette with A$AP Lew



JustinTimeDec 11, 2015

Why Do Black People Wear Durags: As a young and black professional, people of different backgrounds usually do not understand why I choose to wear Du-Rags. In this video, I briefly explain the negative stigma behind wearing Du-Rags, as well as how black people are pressured more to confirm their hairstyles in corporate settings. Some may ask, why wear a durag, what is the purpose of wearing a durag, how do you tie a durag, but I'll just answer why black people wear durags.
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Here are some comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers added for referencing purposes only):
1. Mike Midas, 2017
"Yo... just brush n dawg"

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REPLY
2. JustinTime, 2017
"Bet"
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Mike Midas referred to the vital importance of Black males repeatedly brushing one's coily hair to create "waves" and JustInTime succinctly agreed with that advice.

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3. Izehumah Eyiba, 2019
"What bout cornrows for the durags"

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REPLY
4. JustinTime, 2019
"They help the cornrows last longer by protecting them at night. I use to rock them back in the days"

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5. Wolf In Sheep's Clothing, 2019
"I wear them to get waves and as a badge of honor. They originated in Vietnam. They were know as bandannas back then and helped in camouflaging the head, my dad and my great uncle both wore them when they were infantry, they also said a lot of white men wore them also. Some infantry even wore one around their mouth."

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REPLY
6. JustinTime, 2019
"Thanks for watching and appreciate you dropping some history Stray Dog, salute!"

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REPLY
7. Desslyn Long
"they didn’t originate in vietnam. they originated from slaves."
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The do-rag (durag) design (contemporary meaning: "a close-fitting, typically stretchable piece of cloth that is worn on the head (as to hold a hairstyle in place) and that usually has long ends which are tied in the back") is said to have been created or popularized by African Americans around the late 1960s/1970s. [Read the excerpt given as Excerpt #2 above.]

Customs of wearing any type of head scarf or bandana for fashion, to help maintain a hairstyle, and/or for other reasons are found throughout the world and are definitely far older than the 1960s/1970s contemporary meaning of "do-rag"/"durag".


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8. Dima Lomako, 2019
"I’m white can I wear a durag

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REPLY
9. JustinTime, 2019
"Yes"
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Anyone can wear a durag (do-rag) but the function (reasons) for wearing durags (or another type of head scarf/bandana) differs depending on your hair texture and the hair style you are developing and/or maintaining -i.e. non-Black males are far less likely to be able to get "waves" in their hair as that hairstyle is discussed and shown in this video.

Note that some men wear two do-rags (or more?) to help compress their hair which (along with brushing) helps the hair develop its wave pattern.

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10. TazIsDark, 2019
"Only Sikhs wear that but ok"

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REPLY
11. JustinTime, 2019
"Ok"
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TazIsDark's comment demonstrated the way that some people inaccurately label all head scarfs as "do-rags" (durags).

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JustinTime used the African American Vernacular English term "wolfin" in this video and said that "wolfin" referred to going a long time without a hair cut in order to develop waves. Here's an urban dictionary entry for woofin:

From https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Wolfin%27%2C%20or%20Wolfing
Wolfin', or Wolfing
Someone who is brushing their hair while letting it grow to achieve 360 waves.
Examples of Wolfin', or Wolfing;

Person1; "Yo, let me give you a quick cut..."

Person2; "Nah, I'm Wolfin'."
#360waves#h20method#pomade#brush#du-rag#wave-cap
by Sav-vy-bag November 18, 2009
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The word "wolfin" may have been coined to describe going a long time without a haircut because wolfs are wild, hairy animals.

Notice the tag "du-rag" for this urban dictionary entry and the 2009 date. This is one of the earliest online dictionary examples that I found for that type of head scarf.

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