Latest revision-November 3, 2019
This pancocojams post provides information about and a video of the portion of the October 30, 2019 Survivor television show episode that referred to "durags".
The Addendum to this pancocojams post presents a contemporary definition for "do-rag" ("durag") as well as excerpts of articles about how Black males/females wearing this type of head scarf have been stigmatized.
Online comments that I read about that episode served as motivation for me to publish this post and this closely related pancocojams post: https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/11/african-american-definitions-of-uses.html
The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural and educational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube.
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From https://meaww.com/survivor-island-of-the-idols-season-39-jamal-jack-durag-nascar-hair-nets-racisim-black-men-accused 'Survivor: Island of the Idols' Season 39: Jamal faces flak from fans who claim a durag is not a black thing but a hair thing
A situation arose between Jack and Jamal where Jack referenced a durag. Jamal explained why he had objections to the word and Jack apologized but fans back home think Jamal has it all wrong.
By Rachel Windsor, Published on : 21:32 PST, Oct 30, 2019
"'Survivor: Island of the Idols' season 39 returned on Wednesday night, and it was a nailbiting episode compared to the previous weeks with the Vokai tribe 2.0 being four Vokai tribe members and four former Lairo tribe members.
Last week we saw Karishma open up about her traditions and the struggle one might face while being in an arranged marriage. This is not something we get to see on a regular basis when it comes to reality TV shows. This week as the series returned we witnessed something along the same lines, but not entirely the same situation.
Things began to go out of hand when Jamal started showing his African drumming skills and was teaching Kellee to dance. While everything looks like rainbows and sunshine for the Vokai tribe at that point of time, matters suddenly went out of hand. Jack asked Jamal to take the pot out of the fire and instead of telling him to take it out using his "buff" he said the word "durag". Jamal got offended by the choice of Jack's words, and said this word has been used by white people to stereotype black men as thugs, murderers, and dead- beat dads. Jamal went on to add that this also leads to them visualizing black men with ample tattoos, wife beaters, and durags.
Jamal doesn't get all hyped up, and even though he is clearly hurt by the word, he calmly not only explains his issue with the word to Jack but also to the audience back home. While one would have assumed that with his explanation fans and viewers back home would have understood his stance about it, but it's sad to see that no one did.
Taking to social media post the episode, fans shared their views stating they don't see why Jamal got offended by that. Some stated that they heard about the word from their black friends, and never knew it was a racist term.
"When did a do rag become a "durag" and then become racist? WTF #Survivor," wrote a fan on Twitter. Adding to that another said, "Honestly, I was surprised as well, but then I just thought, maybe there's a gender difference here. #Durag isn't really a term that's used in reference to us. Maybe black men should weigh in (the few who watch this show? LOL!) #survivor."
"Yes! Durags are very common in Nascar for under helmets and bikers wear them, same reason, and Hulk Hogan called his head-wrap a durag all through the 80s! I have a big surprise for you... white and black folks share some cultural stuff because we are all Americans! #survivor," wrote a fan.
While another shared, "#Survivor jamal I guess you have no clue a durag has been used by hairdressers for decades to protect the hair during chemical process, and after the hair was set to protect the hairdo! A fing scarf is also a durag. It is NOT A BLACK thing, it is a hair thing!"
"That durag conversation was so staged. Durag are worn by all races. Tired of people looking for something to pick about. #Survivor," shared a fan. Adding to that another said, "Really #survivor? Really Jamal? You lower yourselves to turn a statement about a #durag into a micro aggression and lesson in #WhitePrivilege. You should both be ashamed. What lunacy."
What do you think?-snip-
Here's one comment that I believe is typical of a number of White responses:
Kenny O'Connell, October 31, 2019
"While watching the show last night, I had to back it up to see what the big deal was. I'm a 56 year old white male that is bald and have been wearing bandana's and calling them durags for the past 15 years. I used to associate durags with bikers, not black people. I was like, when did this become a racists issue?!?!?! So I google it this morning to see what the big deal was. No where can I find how anyone considers a durag as "black men being thugs, wife beaters and murders". Except this post. People of all races wear durags all the time, and I love mine and will continue to wear mine and call them durags. I love wearing them during the summer, because if I don't, sweat just drips down my face. More over, I don't really care what anyone thinks about me wearing them either as I've gotten over my insecurities of being bald. Which by the way, being a white bald man has it's own issues of discrimination that I ignore. I actually thought it was more racists for Jamal to label Jack as a young white male as not understanding and calling it out as racist. That's the problem right there. Jack didn't care because it wasn't a race issue at all, until Jamal made it one. People need to get over their own insecurities and leave the past in the past. Until we move forward and start living together as one people in this great country or ours, and loving our neighbors regardless of race, gender, religion and whatever else, and quit calling out everything and anything as racist or discriminatory, we'll never get past the bull crap!"
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SHOWCASE VIDEO: 'Survivor' contestant's racial comment leads to touching moment
Celebs Today, Oct 30, 2019
On Survivor Wednesday night, a small, yet heavy, comment made by one contestant to another sparked an even bigger conversation, when Jack Nichting referred to Jamal Shipman's buff, a headpiece every contestant wears on the show, as a "durag."
"You should move it to the heat. Can you push it, Jamal, with your durag?" Nichting asked Shipman, who immediately questioned the reference. "Deep-seated. That was subconscious," stated Shipman. He added, "White people, I'm always, like, do you welcome the, like, race conversation?" The conversation could have gotten worse, had it not been for the fact that Nichting immediately felt remorse and embarrassment over the comment he had made.
"I made a joke. That sucked. I immediately knew that I had said something wrong, and I was very embarrassed to have said it. I just was, like, thinking about it makes me sweaty. I just felt really bad, because I felt like I compromised – I felt like Jamal views me in this mature way, and I feel like I just took steps backward," explained Nichting. Meanwhile, Shipman handled the moment with grace, agreeing to move forward with Nichting after a little bit of time.
"It's a little complicated about why this is insulting," Shipman explained to the audience. He continued, "I can understand why someone might think, what's the big deal? Don't black men wear durags? The problem with it is the image that probably a lot of white America has about black men is the thug, the deadbeat father, the leech on social services, which is often, unfortunately, people wearing durags, tattoos, wife beaters, right? So this whole caricature is so ingrained in our culture, and so comfortable for mainstream white America to digest about the black male body, that for a sweet, well-intentioned boy like Jack, it flows off the tongue."
Once some time had passed, the two had a heart-to-heart over the stigma related to durags, what the comment meant to Shipman, and how important it is to have self-awareness in regards to privilege.
"Jamal has a way of helping me understand that privileges do exist. You know, I don't think of myself as the most privileged person, but the fact of the matter is I am very privileged. I am. And it's really cool to share a very human moment with my strongest ally, because it brought us together more as friends, even though I made this very stupid comment," Nichting shared with viewers.
Viewers at home praised the moment and thanked CBS for showing some realness.
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/r...
-snip-
Selected comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers added for referencing purposes only). All of these comments are from October 31, 2019
1. JYTRO TULL
"Big strong man feelings hurt over the name of a scarf used to wrap around someone's head... Boy Bye!!"
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2. HVYContent
"I think he's upset because everybody on the show is wearing one...and yet, it wasn't called a Durag (or however the hell it's spelled) until the dude saw Jamal wearing one (which again, they all are wearing).
To Jamal, it's like attaching a negative stereotype of guys sporting these items in the hood, an image of a stereotypical thug-like character he probably is far from being himself.
Anyways, he's right, but this is Survivor, so sticks and stones :)"
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3. KryptKicker5
"If you watch the "apology" they're hiding Jamal's face as he is smiling. I thought it was a joke... When did durag become "black only" ??? Then they are being all serious about it. Being offended by multicultural headgear... that's just about as ignorant as you can get."
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REPLY
4. Myles Yamada
"KryptKicker5 dumbass durags are for blacks because we have a hairstyle called waves we use them for . So you sound mad and stupid"
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5. Travis Hayes
"This is so sad that the word durag is considered racist and we had to have a whole conversation about it. Unbelievable this is where we are at."
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REPLY
6. Jay Lyles
"Any discussion of microaggressions would be "unbelievable" if you've never been on the receiving end of a microaggression. But would you consider learning a little more about how these things impact people in the world who are different from you. Having empathy for someone else's experience is not a defect."
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REPLY
7. Travis Hayes
"@Jay Lyles sounds more like someone whos looking to find racism in anything they can. I used to wear them and i everybody i ever knew called them durags. Maybe im just old and the connotation has changed."
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8. Jedidiah Bowman
"It’s about hair , as in hair do. Wtf is racist about that? Everyone from
Bikers to hairstylist use do rags. This is ridiculous. When did it become “durag” anyways?"
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REPLY
9. Myles Yamada
"Jedidiah Bowman [profanity deleted], when has any biker said they wear durags. Stop making up lies and excuses. I would have more respect for people who are racist if they own it and stop making up lies every time they get called out on it."
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REPLY
10. Chris francis
"@Myles Yamada literally on amazon for sale right now "durags or dorags" advertised for white or black people and photos on white people and advertised as biker head gear....."
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ADDENDUM: PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S RESPONSE TO THE QUESTION "WHAT IS A "DO-RAG"/"DURAG"?
Prior to the manufacturing of do-rags (durags) mostly targeted at African American males (which may have first occurred in the late 1970s), it was customary for many African American females and, to a lesser extent, African American males to use clean, inexpensive, old cloth scarves in our homes at bedtime to cover our hair. The word "do-rag" combines "do" = "hair-do" + "rags".
These old scarves and, later, these particular type of scarves that are known as "do-rags" (durags) were/are partly worn as a way of protecting hairstyles and reducing the frizz that was/is likely at night when our hair is uncovered during sleep. The old-school do-rag and the contemporary do-rag (durag) are also used to help create the contemporary Black male hairstyle known as "waves" ("360 waves").
It's important to emphasize that "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 and some other Black males.
Here's https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/do-rag) definition of "do-rag" (durag): "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".
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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ADDENDUM: ARTICLE EXCERPTS ABOUT DO-RAGS/SURAGS (including content about Black males being stigmatized because they have on dorags/durags)
Excerpt #1:
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, 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."...
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Excerpt #2:
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
..."For quite a while, durags weren’t really worn out in public. They were ostensibly the same sort of thing as house slippers; you wore them for a very specific reason within the confines of your own home.
It would have been been unseemly to do otherwise. But after the black liberation movement in the ’60s and ’70s, and as black entertainers rose to prominence in the 90s, that changed.
The heyday of public durags as a “trending” item was in the ’90s and early 2000s. Rappers like Chamillionaire, Cam’ron, 50 Cent and Nelly wore them everywhere.
They wore them under fitted caps as Memphis Black did in the late 90s as well as by themselves. In fact it was because of this outsized wearing of the piece that durags began to be manufactured in a variety of colors, sometimes even printed. Allen Iverson was once spotted in one printed with an American flag while Cam’ron went pink, as was his habit.
At first, the durag became a testament to and marker of blackness. It was simply a symbol of a somewhat shared experience, a mutual understanding.
[...]
the durag was an acknowledgement of our similarity. But as is custom in American culture, that association got durags effectively criminalized.
As GQ points out, in 2001 and 2005, durags were banned from both the NFL and NBA. Journalists from the Washington Post and others began to debate whether or not it was appropriate, respectable even to wear a durag.
Black men wearing them became “those types” and black parents began to forbid their children from wearing them outside of the house to ward off those stereotypes.
The instances emboldened some entertainers, adding to the street credibility of the piece. So much so that the likes of Eminem donned it, hoping to translate not only the blackness but a bit of gritty street mentality through the visual representation.
[...]
But before long, the durag as a public statement fell out of favor for a variety of reasons. Amongst them: long haired styles like fades and locs rose in prominence. In fashion, trends just die out. But recently, in a bit of a slow burn, the durag is coming back, mined for the significance it carries and experience it makes evident.
Most gloriously, Rihanna wore one at the 2016 VMAs channelling a certain type of black cool. The net cap swooped low, instantly recognizable to her fans. It was that same version of cool that Rick Owens and Kylie Jenner tried to cash in on when they utilized the piece."...
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Excerpt #3:
From https://www.gq.com/story/who-criminalized-the-durag
..."Walk through a bodega or hair supply spot in a major American city, and you’ll see them: rectangular packets uniformly covered with an image of a black man donning a durag (or doo-rag or do-rag). He’ll either be stone faced or slyly grinning, eyes glinting with promise. Some wear them to lay down their cornrows. Others, like myself and the young man on the bus, tie them for waves—those linear textures whose suppleness brings the instant satisfaction of a “That’s the Way Love Goes”-era Janet Jackson. The bargain luxury is symbolically significant, too. Seeing the durag as a crown is to take pride in something inextricable from blackness. Wearing it, the practical uses... are connectors amongst young black men...
With hip-hop’s rise as the core of black youth expression, the durag has become a fashion statement and a stand-in for the “black thug.” My mother was aware of that conception, so it’d makes sense that she’d attempt to protect me by demanding I only wear the durag inside our home. But remove the myths and you’ll find that, at the most basic level, it’s a self-maintenance cloth, something we use to keep our hair lain.
The durag’s existence as a utilitarian marker of black cool loosely parallels the head wraps worn by women in slaver-era America. With aesthetic roots in sub-Saharan Africa, head wraps grew to be one of the few means of expressions slaves had in the dehumanizing pre-Civil War America, where the stolen laborers would save what they had to buy headwear fabric. The garments had the practical purpose of absorbing sweat and protecting scalps from scathing daytime sun. Symbolically, the different stylings of the head wrap expressed individuality. “Here was a way for black women to reclaim their own sense of humanity,” says Tanisha C. Ford, associate professor of black American studies and history at the University of Delaware. Black hair care has since evolved into a cultural touchstone even as it’s policed by respectability politics and anti-black policing. You abandon the headwraps and durags in the private space in hopes of succeeding in the white, corporate world.
[...]
It wasn’t long, however, before both the NFL and NBA banned durags, in 2001 and 2005, respectively. Allen Iverson, always one to represent the culture, noted, “They're targeting my generation–the hip-hop generation." NBA journeyman Sam Perkins was also admonished for wearing a durag in a preseason game because, apparently, “the league considers it ‘a safety hazard.’”
What’s more, the league’s biases were compounded by criticism by African-Americans, some of whom were ignited by cultural elitism and respectability politics. In a 2005 Washington Post column titled “The Case Against Do-Rags,” for example, author Jabari Asim wrote: “Maybe you'd rather discuss the late, great Rosa Parks, the ultimate modern symbol of principled individuality. Photos show that she was arrested and fingerprinted in 1955 while wearing a crisply tailored suit and minimal makeup. Dignity in abundance, but no do-rag in sight.”
Intra-cultural and white opposition toward the durag don’t run parallel. Ford argues that parents and guardians feel the anxiety my mother felt when she told me not to wear mine outside of the house. “I think when African-Americans of certain generations reject durags, they’re doing it, in part, out of fear—out of the desire to protect black youth,” Ford says. “They’re unsafe from agents of the state or white vigilantes. What we’ve learned—and what we’ve always known—is that your respectability won’t save you. That not wearing a durag will keep you alive.
[...]
I often do [wear durags outside my home] for two reasons: First, I’m no criminal because I want waves. Secondly, the durag’s stigma isn’t singular; black expression is susceptible to criminalization because it’s attached to a black body. So, greeting the sun and walking to Midtown for work with a durag snugly worn under my beanie is my quotidian existential triumph. One has to be ready to risk it all to be black and wavy."
-snip-
Here's an excerpt of a Wikipedia page on "waves" [hairstyle] for Black males:
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]"
-snip-
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.
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