WE “ONLY cut European hair” says Skinny Sam, a hair dresser on Walmgate, who has been criticised for re-directing Asian customers elsewhere.
Adrian Lee, a second year sociology student, was told to go to Skinny Sams’ sister salon, Lawton Henry.
“I was offended, honestly” said Lee. “Sam explained the situation quite well, but the whole thing seems nonsensical. What’s wrong with my hair?”
Skinny Sams faced complaints back in 2007 when the York Press revealed a Thai student was turned away on the grounds that the barber had ‘insufficient training.’
On speaking to the owner, Vision was told, “If it’s just a buzz-cut it’s no problem. Afro-Caribbean hair is different from European because it’s a different texture. Chinese hair is so straight and thin that it needs different training.”
When asked whether or not he could rise to the challenge of such straight hair, the owner said, “I just send them to Lawton Henry, where staff are trained to cut that type of hair.”
A spokesperson for Toni and Guy, of Blake Street, denied the claim. “Oriental hair is no different – the only issue we sometimes have is communication.”
On the issue of Afro-Caribbean hair the stylist did concede however the need for ‘different chemicals,’ said “there aren’t many hair salons trained in this in York as it’s simply not cosmopolitan enough.”
Student Welfare Officer Robert Hughes said, “given the large number of non-European students in York, I hope it is a genuine case of lack of training.”
Skinny Sam’s owner told Vision, “if you’re a mechanic and someone brings you an F1 car, you’re not trained to do it. You’ll get different opinions, but ultimately, it does require different training, and we’re just not trained to do it here.”