It may not be conscious on the part of the white woman in this example, but this type of compliment is doubling as a way for her to give herself a healthy lib pat on the back compliment for being an ally or whatever

Crackers attempting to say anything normal about black people challenge

I learned to do this while studying a second language. I had to rely on simple words and I've grown fond of them even in my mother tongue (USSR Russian).

Counterpoint to option 2: complimenting people is actually cool and good, so long as you're normal. Caveat: if you're cis-het-male presenting, maybe it won't be as well received. But above all, just be normal.

It's common for black women to wear wigs to have long, straight hair even if their natural hair is very curly and poofy, like an afro. This is the result of western beauty standards imposing themselves on people who aren't white.

The black woman is complimented by a white woman for daring to defy western beauty standards to wear her natural hair. The black woman then responds that it must take confidence for the white woman to wear her natural hair as well. Basically saying, "I'm not wearing a wig, but you should be." It's a good clap back.

It's an extremely weird thing to say to a person.

I've been telling everyone their hair looks bad.