Some are shocked about the news that a white barber declined to service a black patron in a small-town East Coast barbershop last month. Others are not.
The controversy over Dr. Darryl Fisher’s inability to get his haircut while visiting Bellows Falls, Vermont (population 3,500) started with a letter to the editor of a local newspaper.
In the letter, Fisher explains that Mike Aldrich, a white man, lied about being the barber so he wouldn’t have to cut Fisher’s hair. Aldrich has since apologized and says he turned Dr. Fisher away because he wasn’t sure he’d do the best job cutting a black man’s hair.
Joe Gurevich, the enrollment and marketing manager at the American Barber Institute finds the explanation believable and says he understands why the barber chose not to serve the client.
WATCH VIDEO ON THE VERMONT BARBER INCIDENT
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“Some people only know how to cut with scissors, and only know how to cut certain styles,” he said.
Bo Butter, who is African-American and a barber at Diamond Cuts in Midtown Manhattan, says people shouldn’t underplay the knowledge and skill required to give a customer the haircut that they want.
“It doesn’t surprise me because of the simple fact that Afro-American hair is more difficult to cut than Caucasian hair. Straight hair is easier to cut; it’s just the scissors to cut and the comb, which is really based on precision,” he noted. “With the Afro-American hair it’s more curly, where you have to be concerned about the grain of the hair and which way the hair is going, and how the person combs and styles their hair from day to day,” he said.
Roman Kuperschmidz, who is white, owns Roma’s Barbershop in Manhattan and says he services any and every client who walks through the door.
He says that he hasn’t had a problem with serving an African-American clientele and that those who enter his shop don’t have a problem with non African-American barbers.
“It doesn’t matter — anybody, any style, we’ll cut their hair here,” he said.
But Lawrence Dunlap, a black man, says he wouldn’t run into the problem that Fisher faced because he will only visit a black barber.
His reasoning: “Because of our culture, based on experience, it’s based on the fact that a black barbershop, is a place where people go to let down their hair. Men go there to network, talk about community issues.”
Dunlap says with his barber, he knows what he’s getting.
“Within the black community, men choose the barbers, and they’re very loyal to them,” he added.
Instructors at the American Barber Institute say their students who are of different backgrounds, learn to service clients of different backgrounds. They’re expected to offer a quality, professional haircut to anyone who sits in their chair.
He says none of his students have ever turned away a customer, but they have certainly been the targets of so-called reverse discrimination.
“I’ve had people who have come into the shop for a free haircut that we’re giving away, and said ‘I don’t want a Hispanic barber or a woman barber, I want a black barber.’ And I said have a nice day,” Gurevich said.
Anton Lyons, another African-American, says he isn’t afraid to use a white barber.
“I don’t care which barber it is, as long as they do a good job with my hair, that’s all I care about,” he said. “Most white barbers do a good job anyway.”
In a competitive industry, Joe Gurevich sees the proper training as a business imperative. He think it’s not just about barbers being open minded and prepared, but customers being open minded to barbers who don’t necessarily look like them.