Yeah I know my hair, I know there’s a big difference with my hair and lots of POC’s hair… that’s what I said in my comment 
My mom is uneducated about hair textures, and that’s why she (like many other people) define frizzy or just curly hair like mine to be ‘afro’ lol.
My hair can shrink, can get big, and other stuff, but not to the same extent type 4 hair does, and in terms of texture they’re not even comparable. That’s why I personally follow some of the haircare tips that black women give on the internet, but will always have to adjust them to my own pattern, otherwise I might get the opposite effect 
Anyways, to my understanding, what people mean by defining non-type 4 hair ‘afro’ is whatever hair that is curly, frizzy, and/or looks ‘messy’ to them (
). As in “it looks so unmanageable that it’s gotta be an afro”. Racist? Probably. And in fact guess what, my mom had zero idea of how to take care of my curls when I was younger. I had to learn everything by myself.