‘Edgar’ haircuts: Why are they so controversial?

(NEXSTAR) — Whether or not you know the name of this haircut, you’ve definitely seen it before. It’s something like a bowl-cut-meets-a-Caesar-cut and it’s hugely popular among young Latinos, especially in California, Texas and Florida. You guessed it, it’s the Edgar cut.

But as beloved as the hairstyle is, it isn’t without controversy.

Recently, a Texas business owner sparked outrage after an “anti-Edgar” meme was posted to the official Facebook and Instagram pages for his restaurant. The photo featured a big “X” drawn over a boy with the hairstyle and read, “NO EDGARS.” The San Antonio restaurant also captioned the photo: “Should we ban chili bowl/Edgars?”

While some viewed the meme as a harmless joke — including owner Ricky Ortiz, who identifies as Mexican-American — many others took offense, considering the hairstyle is culturally linked with Latinos.

“Imagine discriminating [against] your own customers,” wrote one Instagram user. “LOL you live in an ‘Edgar’ city. This is the new form of racism.”

Another user replied to a comment calling El Camino’s post “racist,” by explaining, “It’s like saying no dreads, no corn rows.”

Despite the negative reaction, El Camino and its owner Ortiz have not backed down from the posts, including several follow-ups.

“Obviously the meme was a joke,” Ortiz told Nexstar this week. “But also, it’s clearly a half joke, too. When you look at what’s shown on the news daily — car theft and violent crime, etc. — it’s a bunch of kids with the Edgar haircut.”

El Camino’s original post drew the attention of a local news outlet the San Antonio Current, who spoke to Ortiz a few weeks ago. Ortiz told the Current reporter Michael Karlis that he himself wore what was the Edgar of the time (a shaved head) when he was young and doing “hood rat s—.” He says his words are drawn from his experience as a kid and based on what he sees from those in similar communities now.

Ortiz echoed these thoughts in his interview with Nexstar earlier this week. The business owner says the way the situation has been portrayed in the media is not wholly reflective of the reality.

“[One news outlet] brought in a Latinx professor to say that I’m doing the work of white supremacy for free,” Ortiz told Nexstar. “Another person said [I was discriminating against] the ‘working man’s haircut’ — I think that’s a reach. I can speak to this. I have my past [of being from the same communities as kids with the Edgar]. I can relate. It’s funny hearing opinions from people who aren’t even of the community saying I shouldn’t say this.”

‘Edgar’ 101

Last year, Texas barber Eybard Hernandez talked to Nexstar’s ValleyCentral to discuss the popularity of the Edgar cut. Hernandez said the haircut accounts for about 75% of his barbering, saying “all the kids” wear the style, from ages 8 to 17.

He told ValleyCentral he believes the haircut’s popularity took off — in the Valley, at least — after the 2020 release of the song “Puro [Expletive] 956 Cuh” by Latin-urban artist Dagobeat. Since then, the haircut has even been lovingly referred to as a “Cuh” and young Latinos with the style “Cuhs.”

But the rise of the haircut goes back even further than 2020, though the hairstyle did become highly fashionable due to the rise of TikTok in recent years.

As reported by Latin media outlet Remezcla, the Edgar is an element of “trokiando” culture, which is similar to Chicano lowrider culture but centered around trucks and a modern “ranchera” vibe. Other signifiers of this subculture include square-toed boots and Jordans, fitted caps and boot-cut jeans embossed with decorative patterns on the back pockets.

There is also some disagreement among scholars over whether the hairstyle has indigenous roots. Per the Texas State Historical Association, the haircut bears some resemblance to a style worn by men of the Jumano tribe, who populated the Valley area between 1500 and 1700. But while the hairstyle may have indigenous origins, its prevalence is relatively recent — and its reputation, even among Latinos, can be controversial.

California State University associate professor of Chicana and Chicano studies Alexandro Gradilla previously told NBC News that the Edgar, while being tied to culture and a kind of “blue-collar culture of [Latino] immigrants” in the U.S., it can also have negative connotations for those who wear it.

Gradilla explained the haircut can cause other people to engage in sorts of classism, assuming that those with the haircut are lower class or poor.

“You don’t see what you would call white-passing Latinos with an Edgar haircut,” Gradilla told NBC News. “It is always very dark-skinned Latinos who have the Edgar haircut.”

All-in-all, while some Latinos find pride and respect in the cut, others think it conjures too many assumptions — and even ridicule — for the people who wear it. Even among predominately Latino populations, the Edgar can prove a hot topic.

Back in 2021, some residents of El Paso (which has 82.8% Hispanic population, as of 2020’s U.S. Census) even attempted to ban the Edgar cut from a local high school, saying the haircut had “detrimental effects” on education and saying it “antagonizes the general student population.”

While the measure did not pass, tension over the Edgar goes on.