to evolve to a level where Black people "were proud of black skin and kinky or nappy hair. As a result, natural hair became a symbol of that pride." Negative perceptions of afro-textured hair and beauty had been passed down through the generations, so they had become ingrained in Black mentality to the point where they had been accepted as simple truths. Wearing natural hair was seen as a progressive statement, and for all the support that the movement gathered, there were many who opposed natural hair both for its aesthetics and the ideology that it promoted. It caused tensions between the Black and White communities, as well as discomfort amongst more conservative African-Americans. The style of kinky hair continues to be politicized in contemporary American society. "These issues of style are highly charged as sensitive questions about [an individual's] very 'identity'." Whether an individual decides to wear their hair in its natural state or alter it, all Black hairstyles convey a message. In several post-colonial societies, the value system promotes 'white bias', and "ethnicities are valorized according to the tilt of whiteness—[which] functions as the ideological basis for status ascription." In turn, in this value system, "African elements—be they cultural or physical—are devalued as indices of low social status, while European elements are positively valorized as attributes enabling individual upward mobility". This value system is reinforced by the systematic racism that was, and still is, often hidden from the public eye in Western society. Racism 'works' by encouraging the devaluation of self-identity by the victims themselves, and that re-centering of a sense of pride is a prerequisite for a politics of resistance and reconstruction. In this system, "hair functions as a key 'ethnic signifier' because, compared with bodily shape or facial features, it can be changed more easily by cultural practices such as straightening." Racism originally "'politicized' [kinky] hair by burdening it with a range of negative social and psychological 'meanings'"—categorizing it as a problem. Ethnic difference that could be easily manipulated, like hair, was altered in order for ethnic minorities to assimilate into a dominant, Eurocentric society. Natural hairstyles, such as the Afro and dreadlocks, "counter-politicized the signifier of ethnic DE valorization, redefining Blackness as a positive attribute". By wearing their hair as it naturally grows, individuals with kinky hair were taking back agency in deciding the value and politics of their own hair. Wearing one's hair naturally