Okay let me answer that in more nuanced way. Michael's hair was super important to showing us as an audience her character journey.
Before she was adopted by Sarek, her hair was natural and out.
Then she arrived on Vulcan. Sarek most likely didn't say anything, it would be illogical to treat Michael differently compared to the other children.
But she was taken in by two white people. Neither of them had her hair texture. So not only was she probably going to school with her hair undone, but compared to her peers they would all have very sleek uniform haircuts.
Tuvok though is a great example, but if you look at that man's hairline, I'm not fully convinced of Black Vulcan haircare.
Anyway, Black hair is a very political thing though we would rather not have it be that way. Our hair can determine if we get jobs or not. A young boy in Texas recently got suspended from school for having a certain hairstyle that the school claimed was "distracting."
While we can assume racism on Vulcan isn't exactly the same, there were Vulcans who felt Michael was so 'other' they tried to kill her. So while she wasn't necessarily being targeted because of her hair, she was probably ostracized further by her classmates and Vulcans around town.
Not only was she being judged for how she spoke, talked, dressed, but also her curly, frizzy, human, Black hair.
Canon-wise we can guess Michael's hair was done in a particular way to reflect her environment and exert control over her life. In the first two episodes ever of the series, she has this very cute pixie that begins to curl up over time. The next time we see her in episode 3, her hair no longer has future relaxer. It is completely reverted, but not styled. During her time in prison, she's given up on it. Even exerting energy over her hair in prison wasn't worth it because Michael had lost all ability to find control of her life. ((Still cute though))
We also see texturism show up in episode 3 right away with the introduction of Tilly. It is continuously brought up that Tilly's mom hated her hair, tried to control her hair, straighten it. Why? Because texturism is still a societal issue in Star Trek.
Later when Michael arrives in the future, as time goes on and she changes so does her hair. She explores new styles and gets comfortable with doing her natural hair.
Eventually she sticks with braids which fit with her current lifestyle and all the running around she does, but braids also show a level of control. It takes a lot of time and patience to braid your own hair.
((omg did Book braid it for her??? I'm writing that drabble right noooow.))
Anyway, a lot of great story telling was done utilizing Michael's hair. But unless you've experienced racism and/or texturism it's harder to notice it.
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