All Of This Because Of An Afro?!: Meteorologist Fired After Defending Her Hair On Facebook

December 12th, 2012 - By Veronica Wells

Source: wcpo.com

Apparently, it’s pretty hard out here for a black woman trying to make it in this world as a meteorologist. Rhonda Lee has learned this lesson over and over again in her career as a journalist. Most recently she learned that in addition to her race, her hair was another point of contention from a Facebook user. Her response to the racially offensive statement eventually led to Lee being fired from KTBS, the ABC affiliate station in Shreveport, Louisiana.

It all started on October 1, when Emmit Vascocu commented on KTBS’ Facebook page, questioning the station’s choice to let Lee report the weather with a short afro. Here’s what he had to say:

“the black lady that does the news is a very nice lady.the only thing is she needs to wear a wig or grow some more hair. im not sure if she is a cancer patient. but still its not something myself that i think looks good on tv. what about letting someone a male have waist long hair do the news. what about that (cq).”

As someone who works for a black women’s website, I can say that these comments are not uncommon. When people are afforded anonymity through the internet, some very hateful, often racist things are stated. But just because you work for the media, doesn’t mean you have to just shut up and take the abuse. So in defense of herself and her hair, Rhonda Lee responded to Vascocu, very politely if you ask me.

“Hello Emmitt–I am the ‘black lady’ to which you are referring. I’m sorry you don’t like my ethnic hair. And no I don’t have cancer. I’m a non-smoking, 5’3, 121 lbs, 25 mile a week running, 37.5 year old woman, and I’m in perfectly healthy physical condition. “I am very proud of my African-American ancestry which includes my hair. For your edification: traditionally our hair doesn’t grow downward. It grows upward. Many Black women use strong straightening agents in order to achieve a more European grade of hair and that is their choice. However in my case I don’t find it necessary. I’m very proud of who I am and the standard of beauty I display. Women come in all shapes, sizes, nationalities, and levels of beauty. Showing little girls that being comfortable in the skin and HAIR God gave me is my contribution to society. Little girls (and boys for that matter) need to see that what you look like isn’t a reason to not achieve their goals. Conforming to one standard isn’t what being American is about and I hope you can embrace that. Thank you for your comment and have a great weekend and thank for watching.”

The conversation should have ended there; but Vascocu responded with this:

“. . . this world has . . . certain standerd (cq). if you’ve come from a world of being poor are you going to dress in rags?. . .”

Do I really have to break down everything that’s wrong with the logic above? Is accepting a classist, societal station the same as accepting and embracing the natural, genetic combinations that make us appear the way we do? I think not. Moving on. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the last time, a viewer used the station’s Facebook page to address what they felt was a racial “issue.”

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  • AB

    I thought she was fired for responding “inappropriately” to a Facebook post.
    If what she says is true unwritten policy is no policy at all and she should take them to task for their actions.
    But I admit to missing the hair commentary and how it pertains to her poor (possibly illegal) treatment.

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  • olivia

    She should have taken a cue from the overweight anchor, gone to her producers and addressed the viewer’s comments on the air.

    In her position she had an opportunity to open a constructive dialogue about her hair. Instead she let her ego get the best of her and felt that she had to “educate” this old fool.

    Also, we should note that this was the SECOND TIME that she had done this. She had been previously warned about addressing viewers on FB. She chose to ignore the memo and it cost her a job.

    That simple…

    • Eggy

      Let me get this straight. The policy states (and let’s ignore the fact that there really is NO stated policy….just that it was mentioned at a meeting that she was not in attendance to a month prior..) that the employee cannot respond at all to any comment made on the company’s website. Yet the company doesn’t have any contingency planning on how to limit idiotic responses on the website? How does that make sense? The company should have some kind of policy or some person in charge to moderate their forum. I can’t come here and start inflammatory comments toward the staff of MN and not think I’m going to get banned eventually. Her commentary was as constructive as I can think of for someone who is obviously limited in his exposure to the african american community.

      • olivia

        She and the rest of the staff were given advice in the form of a memorandum in August a full two months prior to her first FB response.

        Organizational directives do not need to be explicitly stated in a policy manual. In this case, the memo was verbal warning she received was sufficient.

        The company does have someone on staff to address viewer complaints and concerns. She chose to handle the matter on her own and was thusly terminated.

        • olivia

          *the memo AND verbal warning*

          CORRECTION

  • get real

    Wow. When it comes to white folks u blk women sure do know your place. White folks slamming this blk womans hair and you idiots say she was wrong for not only defending herself but every blk woman in America. “She shouldn’t have responded on the news website”. Well have a moderator to overview the comment page and delete garbage like that. You fire her because of some “don’t respond policy” yet you don’t have the policy” for white folks posting racist comments. The majority of u blk women on this site are pathetic, ignorant souls.

  • FromUR2UB

    Sounds like they were just waiting to get her for something. A policy that a company expects its employees to adhere to is 1) put in writing, and 2) posted where employees can see it, or on their intranet where employees can access it. They should have been able to furnish a copy of it upon request, along with her signature acknowledging that she had been previously made aware of it. Furthermore, if they believe folks should accept abuse from the public, then they should step up and defend their people against attacks. This is a load of BS, especially since she was very respectful in her response. She should hire herself a lawyer.

  • http://www.facebook.com/cynthia.m.smith.71 Cynthia Marie Smith

    IT IS SAD THAT WE AS BLACK WOMEN IN AMERICA HAVE TO ALTER OURSELVES STILL, TO E ACCEPTED. I STILL GET RACIST STARES AND COMMENTS ABOUT MY HAIR AND WHAT IS MOST DISHEARTNINING IS MY OWN PEOPLE SAY SOME OF THE DUMBEST MESS I EVER HEARD. BECAUSE THEY STILL HATE THEMSELVES……. FOR BEING BLACK WITH KINKY HAIR

  • Ann

    I dont think they should have not fired her. She is a beautiful black woman who was professional in her response. She did not cuss or use deragatory language.

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