Editing Durag (section)

== Spelling and etymology ==
Numerous alternative spellings exist for ''durag'', including '''do-rag''', '''dew-rag''', and '''doo-rag''', all of which may be spelled with a space instead of a hyphen, or with neither a hyphen nor a space. The simplest etymology for ''do-rag'' is that it is named as such because it is a ''rag'' worn to protect one's hair''do''. However, one writer in ''[[The New York Times]]'' claims that the correct spelling of the word is ''durag''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Garcia |first=Sandra E. |date=2018-05-14 |title=The Durag, Explained |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/style/durag-solange-met-gala.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404082218/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/style/durag-solange-met-gala.html |archive-date=2023-04-04 |access-date=2021-03-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> An alternative etymology claims that name should be spelled ''dew-rag'', and ''dew'' is a euphemism for sweat.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2005-March/046931.html|title=Do-Rag (1966)|last=Preston|first=Dennis R.|date=23 March 2005|website=Lingualist|access-date=6 May 2019}}</ref>

===Early usage===
The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' dates the first published usage of "do-rag" to the 1964 [[Facing Reality]] pamphlet ''Negro Americans take the Lead'',<ref>{{cite OED|do-rag|9165380679}}</ref> written by [[Martin Glaberman]]. The pamphlet noted that in the wake of the 1963 [[Detroit Walk to Freedom]], "the leading local newspaper announced it would feature a one-a-week column by a prominent local Negro. Trying to be a laborer worthy of his hire, the prominent local figure wrote a column denouncing 'do-rags.' The common habit of wearing a silk stocking over the head, presumably to protect the setting, aroused his ire."<ref>{{cite book |title=Negro Americans take the Lead |chapter=American People and the American Crisis |pages=34–35 |publisher=[[Facing Reality]] |date=September 1964 |location=Highland Park, Michigan |last=Glaberman |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Glaberman |via=[[Adam Matthew Digital]] }}</ref>

Other early published usages include:
* In the August 27, 1965, edition of ''[[Life (magazine)|LIFE]]'' magazine, a page 22 photo caption describes a man wearing a {{"'}}do-rag' on his new hair-do".<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Alexander |first1=Shana |title=Out of the Cauldron of Hate - Arson and Death |magazine=LIFE |date=27 August 1965 |page=22 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WFMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA22 |access-date=13 September 2020}}</ref> 
* On June 4, 1966, the ''[[Akron Beacon Journal]]'' printed "do rag&nbsp;... a cloth band worn around the forehead as a sweatband or to keep hair in place".<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio on June 4, 1966 · Page 37|url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/152630510/|access-date=2021-03-29|website=Newspapers.com|date=4 June 1966 |language=en}}</ref>
* On September 2, 1966, the ''[[Dayton Daily News]]'' printed "the man with the black dew rag... one with the black bandana".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dayton Daily News from Dayton, Ohio on September 2, 1966 · 4|url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/404489403/|access-date=2020-12-26|website=Newspapers.com|date=2 September 1966 |language=en}}</ref>
* In late 1966, "do rag&nbsp;... processed hair done up in black rags" appeared in ''[[Newsweek]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=" the do rag " - Google Search|url=https://www.google.com/search?q=%22+the+do+rag+%22&tbm=bks|access-date=2021-03-29|website=www.google.com}}</ref>

The [[Merriam-Webster]] online dictionary places the earliest usage of ''do-rag'' in 1968.<ref name=Webster>{{Cite web|title=Definition of DO-RAG|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/do-rag|access-date=2021-03-29|website=www.merriam-webster.com|language=en}}</ref>