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The last time we saw a Black mother cutting braids out of her child’s hair on camera, it caused quite the uproar on social media. However, when reality TV personality and singer Tammy Rivera Malphurs was captured on a recent episode of Waka & Tammy: What The Flocka cutting teenage daughter Charlie‘s braids in anger, most people seemed to applaud the move.
It’s all about context. Tammy went out of town and had Waka watch Charlie for her. The teen was on punishment, and if you’ve ever been, you know that means you aren’t allowed to do squat. You lose certain privileges because of your bad behavior. But Waka, wanting to hit the streets and do his own thing when he was supposed to be on daddy duty, allowed Charlie to go to a friend’s house, despite her being on punishment, so he could go to a football match. The plan was that they were going to meet up after the fact, and keep their outings a secret. Charlie wasn’t going to keep any secrets for free though. She agreed to keep quiet if Waka bought her an iPhone 11, which he for some reason agreed to do.
The big problem with that already problematic plan, though, was that while she was supposed to just be hanging with friends, Charlie went and go her hair braided. She not only got her hair braided, but she also went for bright blonde faux locks. The teen saw nothing wrong with the choice, telling her stepfather she was still expecting the phone he owes her, and encouraging him to tell Tammy when she came back from her trip that he just took her to get her hair done. But of course, if she was on punishment, she wasn’t supposed to go anywhere or get to do anything. And the fact that they were both so comfortable coming up with a lie to tell Tammy was…interesting. Waka messed up.
So when Tammy came home, she was pissed. Not only did she find out that he went to the football match via Instagram, but when she walked in their home, she saw her daughter wearing the bright braids without a care for the consequences. It didn’t help that when Tammy confronted her daughter about them, the teen was unbothered.
“What type of daughter are you? Just for that you’re on punishment for another week,” she said.
“For why?” Charlie asked dryly.
“First of all that’s not how you ask a question. You’re on punishment for another week since you want to lie for him, and you went out with your friends and got your friend to do your hair.”
“No, we didn’t,” the teen lied.
Frustrated that Charlie would lie to her face, and that her husband had also disrespected her wishes, therefore emboldening Charlie, Tammy grabbed a pair of scissors and proceeded to chase Charlie around the house. Initially, the teen laughed at the situation she found herself in, but that was until Tammy caught up with her and started cutting at some of the braids. The teen began screaming. By the end of the scene, she was told that she needed to take them all out ASAP since she wouldn’t let Tammy cut them all out:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B99TN2FJUdR/?igshid=1by36erlyrvan
Such disciplinary decisions created some drama between Tammy and Waka, and by last week’s episode, Charlie was still upset with her mother.
“You still mad at me?” Tammy asked.
“Yeah,” Charlie replied, dryly once again.
“Can you tell me why you’re mad at me?”
“Because you cut my hair with the scissors.”
“Why was you mad?”
“Because no one told you to do that.”
“And no one told you to get your hair done, though.”
Big facts.
Either way, Tammy and Charlie were able to kiss and make up, while Tammy and Waka continued to handle their issues in therapy (another lie told, since he claimed he was going to therapy for himself but actually signed them up for couple’s therapy). But if you ask people who actually viewed the episode, they saw nothing wrong with Tammy’s decision. Can’t say we do either. Truth be told, that whole scene was a mess, but more so the lies that were being concocted to try and cover for not only Charlie but also Waka. It must be impossible to get a young person to take you seriously when one, you’re as tiny as Tammy, and secondly, and most importantly, your partner doesn’t have your back in the way you discipline said young person. Would we have chased her with scissors and cut Charlie’s hair? Probably not. However, Tammy did try and give her a light penalty of another week of punishment first, but when Charlie lied and took everything that was said lightly, it was time for some drastic measures. Tammy definitely got the teen’s attention…
Check out reactions to Tammy running after Charlie to cut her hair by hitting the flip:
“Ok so Charlie knows exactly what she’s doing, pitting her parents against one another,” someone said. “She is turning exactly into the person Tammy is afraid of. Charlie’s deserves to get those locks cut off. Shes too darn mouthy!”
