while black-face is an insideous form of mockery and opression of the spirit... I see you point that the prejudice against natural hair is an OVERT opression of the spirit. In the end it is all opression.
IMHO...

is still a pretty big issue (perhaps changing in the bigger cities - or 'north').

Not much in the south.

I have a friend who is raising bi-racial children (she is white, her husband African). He was not raised in a culture that had the same feelings about girls/women and hair (this seems to be true especially in our country). So, he doesn't care - nor does his family.

But she got all kinds of complaints from well meaning (but intrusive) african american women in the market. Some told her flat out that she should be ashamed for not braiding or styling her daughters hair. Others just made remarks audible (so she could overhear). Her daughter's pre-school actually took matters 'into their own hands' and braided/styled her daughter's hair.

It took hours and it was unwanted.

She was very conflicted.

None of us (the caucasian mothers) had much to say except - her daughter's hair was lovely. I LOVED it. Her son, too. But especially her daughter's hair.

Anyway, it's a complicated issue - I have another friend whose son let his hair grow into a big Afro and he got lots of teasing in his school, by other african american kids (he was old enough - and said he didn't care .

They are both wrong, but in different ways. One is outright mockery, while the other attempts to stifle cultural expression.

For everyone, hair is a personal matter, I think. Long hair, short hair, natural hair, very unnatural hair. The only approach to it that I see as sensible is to let people do whatever they want with their hair. Why should anyone be concerned with that in the first place?

If control over anyone's hair is done for racial reasons, then it is racist. In every case, though, it is none of the business of anyone except the person who is growing that hair.

I guess my opinion is that people in blackface are expressing their racism in a particularly disgusting way. It is mockery of a characteristic over which people do not have control.