Something New...Pull Up Your Pants
So...
Its been forever and a day since I've written a blog, and instead of just posting poetry (I deleted it all), I thought that maybe I should use this forum for its original purpose...An online journal. So where do I start? Right now, I am in my sophomore year of college and Notre Dame (it's in Cleveland...Not South Bend). Currently I am taking a newswriting class and its very interesting. I can honestly say that I am learning a lot. This class is what inspired me to actually write a traditional blog, so here we go!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yesterday,
A friend of mines came to my dorm room just to chat while her laundry was drying. As we were chatting, two young freshman came by. One of the boys wanted to "talk" to my friend (as in date). She asked him how old they were, and both of the boys replied 18. My friend and I both laughed hysterically because we are both 22 years old. After my friend left the young men were still hanging around and he wanted to know how he could gain the interest of her.
The first thing I told him to do was to pull up his pants. He asked why, then said he like saggin' his pants. I told him to come over to my computer and spell the word saggin'. Then I told him to write the word saggin' backwards.
S-A-G-G-I-N
N-I-G-G-A-S
I told him the origin of that look was from prison. Men in prison wore their pants low when they were spoken for. The other reason their pants looked like that was because they were not allowed to have belts because prisoners were likely to try to commit suicide.
We as young black people have to be the ones to effect change. We are dying. The media has made a mockery of the Black American. Even our brothers and sisters from Africa don't take us seriously. Something as simple as pulling up your pants and standing with your head high could made the biggest difference in the world's perception of us. It is time to do right by ourselves. We need to love and embrace each other. No one is going to do for us.
It all comes down to perception. What people perceive, is what is reality to them. We have to change not only the media's perception of us, but we need to change the perception of ourselves. Remember all eyes are on you Black Man. All eyes are on you Black Woman. All eyes are on you Black Child. People are waiting for us to mess up. We have let not only the media, but the government and the world taint the pure essence of us. They have stripped our culture down to the point where we only believe we can become rappers and sports athletes. We are so much more.
To all my black men,
Its time to stand up. There are billions of Black Women who want to do nothing more than worship the ground that you walk on. We are so in love with your potential. We want to have your back, we want to love, support and cherish every ounce of your being. But with that you have to show that you are willing to be the head of our house holds. You have to prove yourselves worthy of our submission. We need you to be hard working...Not a hustler. We need you to seek higher education, to seek spirituality. We need you to stand! And trust us, we will have your back. We know that it gets hard, we know you get weary. Trust and believe that there is nothing that a Black Woman and a Black Man can't handle with God on their sides.
To all my Black Women:
It is also time for us to stand up. It is time for us to stop using our bodies as our primary form of communication. It is time to be that virtuous woman that Proverbs spoke of. We can not sit by the way side, while our men our dying by the masses. We are the epitome of Black Love. It starts with in up. We need to speak with conviction to let not only our Black Men know, but the world know that we are the Mother's of this world. We are so powerful. We are so beautiful. We need to love and embrace every blessing God has given us physically emotionally and spiritually.
For all My Black Children:
We need to love them. We need to teach them. We need to stand up for them. We need to protect them. We need to show them that there is not "get rich quick." We need to tell them that they WILL die trying if the submit to a life of crime and deceit. We need to teach our children to that no one will love them the way we can. And being a basket ball player, a rapper, or a drug dealer is not reality, its not realistic and a small percentage of people ever make it that far. We need to teach our children that we can be better than the rappers and athletes. We can be the owners of these sports teams, we can be the CEO's of our fortune 500 companies. We need to believe in literacy. I am almost certain if we were to look back to the 1930s and 40s, the literacy rates for Black American Children are probably still the same.
Ok...I am stepping off of my soap box now. Pull Up Your Pants.
Its been forever and a day since I've written a blog, and instead of just posting poetry (I deleted it all), I thought that maybe I should use this forum for its original purpose...An online journal. So where do I start? Right now, I am in my sophomore year of college and Notre Dame (it's in Cleveland...Not South Bend). Currently I am taking a newswriting class and its very interesting. I can honestly say that I am learning a lot. This class is what inspired me to actually write a traditional blog, so here we go!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yesterday,
A friend of mines came to my dorm room just to chat while her laundry was drying. As we were chatting, two young freshman came by. One of the boys wanted to "talk" to my friend (as in date). She asked him how old they were, and both of the boys replied 18. My friend and I both laughed hysterically because we are both 22 years old. After my friend left the young men were still hanging around and he wanted to know how he could gain the interest of her.
The first thing I told him to do was to pull up his pants. He asked why, then said he like saggin' his pants. I told him to come over to my computer and spell the word saggin'. Then I told him to write the word saggin' backwards.
S-A-G-G-I-N
N-I-G-G-A-S
I told him the origin of that look was from prison. Men in prison wore their pants low when they were spoken for. The other reason their pants looked like that was because they were not allowed to have belts because prisoners were likely to try to commit suicide.
We as young black people have to be the ones to effect change. We are dying. The media has made a mockery of the Black American. Even our brothers and sisters from Africa don't take us seriously. Something as simple as pulling up your pants and standing with your head high could made the biggest difference in the world's perception of us. It is time to do right by ourselves. We need to love and embrace each other. No one is going to do for us.
It all comes down to perception. What people perceive, is what is reality to them. We have to change not only the media's perception of us, but we need to change the perception of ourselves. Remember all eyes are on you Black Man. All eyes are on you Black Woman. All eyes are on you Black Child. People are waiting for us to mess up. We have let not only the media, but the government and the world taint the pure essence of us. They have stripped our culture down to the point where we only believe we can become rappers and sports athletes. We are so much more.
To all my black men,
Its time to stand up. There are billions of Black Women who want to do nothing more than worship the ground that you walk on. We are so in love with your potential. We want to have your back, we want to love, support and cherish every ounce of your being. But with that you have to show that you are willing to be the head of our house holds. You have to prove yourselves worthy of our submission. We need you to be hard working...Not a hustler. We need you to seek higher education, to seek spirituality. We need you to stand! And trust us, we will have your back. We know that it gets hard, we know you get weary. Trust and believe that there is nothing that a Black Woman and a Black Man can't handle with God on their sides.
To all my Black Women:
It is also time for us to stand up. It is time for us to stop using our bodies as our primary form of communication. It is time to be that virtuous woman that Proverbs spoke of. We can not sit by the way side, while our men our dying by the masses. We are the epitome of Black Love. It starts with in up. We need to speak with conviction to let not only our Black Men know, but the world know that we are the Mother's of this world. We are so powerful. We are so beautiful. We need to love and embrace every blessing God has given us physically emotionally and spiritually.
For all My Black Children:
We need to love them. We need to teach them. We need to stand up for them. We need to protect them. We need to show them that there is not "get rich quick." We need to tell them that they WILL die trying if the submit to a life of crime and deceit. We need to teach our children to that no one will love them the way we can. And being a basket ball player, a rapper, or a drug dealer is not reality, its not realistic and a small percentage of people ever make it that far. We need to teach our children that we can be better than the rappers and athletes. We can be the owners of these sports teams, we can be the CEO's of our fortune 500 companies. We need to believe in literacy. I am almost certain if we were to look back to the 1930s and 40s, the literacy rates for Black American Children are probably still the same.
Ok...I am stepping off of my soap box now. Pull Up Your Pants.
posted by eZvenia ~Eris Zion Venia Dyson @ 6:56 AM
38 Comments:
Wow, young sister that was profound. It pleases me to know that in our institutions of higher learning their are still those who are willing to speak the sometimes hurtful truth. I've been out of college nearly 10 years. The way that you write reminds me of my younger self. I work with youth in various capacities and would like your permission to use "Pull Up YOur Pants" to ignite dialogue with the kids and their parents.
Very interesting entry Zion. I have two sons so I want to thank you for puttin' it out there like dat! Have a good week!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
An insightful read. Thank you on behalf of an old school brother who never leaves the house without wearing a belt.
To other readers of this post; I ask that you not focus so much on the point about the saggin' pants, but more so on the pleas and statements to the black men, women and children.
Also, while I'm an advocate of www.snopes.com; I question, who made them the authority?
WELL SAID!!! I never knew the meaning behind that. Wow is the best word to describe the wealth of information.
Christy J.
i agree with this sister. back in the day when baggies came out it was kinda an imitation of earlier style in the 40s&50s. It was stylish and favored among us black folk. But now we have warped an otherwise favorable concept to just plain sloppy dress. We are looking worse than ever and this 'thug mentality' is killing the the growth process of all Black Men. Coupled with the ragged and sloppy look of saggy clothes creates and image of 'clown like'attitude of the wearer i.e. subject to less then educated behavior
That was awesome. Had to share with others. AJ
SPEAK IT AND RECEIVE IT! As the mother of a teenage girl, I could not have said it better. She hasn't read this yet, but I sent it to all of my email buddies, male and female and I'm going to ask/almost insist she post it on her "My Space" as a statement for her genre to see.
All the way from CA
I wish that all our young people could see or hear this and really digest it. I resently watched a piece on good morning america where a young lady surveyed black boys and girls. She gave thems dolls one black and one white and she asked which one is the good one and which is the bad one. She also asked which one did they rather play with and they picked the white dolls in both instances.
She asked the question to one little girl which one do she look like and the little girl hesitated as if she wanted to pick the white doll but reluctantly picked the black doll. Our children believe the subliminal messages in the movies, songs and just day to day associations. The bad man wears black, the devils dresses is black. The heroes wear white, the angels wear white. It is not just our children. The adults tear down themselves by the choices they make and the things that they do to each other. There is a tendency to treat our black sisters and brother badly if we think we have arrived. Or is a black person has a prosition the black people working under him/her will undermine their authority. They would rather have someone white telling them what to do. We can truly be our own worst enemies. Any other nationality can come to this country and make it because they stick together. We are divided and so conquered. If the change don't start at home we are doomed. If our men don't stand up, protect and provide, teach and love the family, the way it was designed in the beginning and our women don't stop lending themselves to whoredom, killing our babies, adultery then the waste will be too enormous to do anything that would make a difference. .
Well said my Sistah!!!!!!!!!!
Now if they would only take the advice ! and come to know just how valueable they truly are -
Stay Possitive !!!!!!!!!
Black Mother of 2
SAY SO SISTER!! IT'S TIME WE ARE DOWN WITH THE TRUTH AND NOT ON THE DOWN-LOW..IT'S TIME WE SPEAK INTO THE LIVES OF OUR PEOPLE AND NOT ABOUT THEIR LIVES. IT'S TIME WE LET THEM SEE THE FULLNESS OF THE GLORY OF GOD IN US, AND NOT THE EMPTINESS OF DRUGS AND CRIME. IT'S TIME WE LIVE LIKE WE HAVE PURPOSE AND DESTINY AND NOT LIKE WE CAN'T SPELL EITHER. IT'S TIME WE STAND FOR SOMETHING BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY TOO MANY ARE FALLING FOR ANYTHING. IT'S TIME TO TELL IT LIKE IT REALLY IS AND NOT LIKE "UH,UH, YA KNOW"!!
SAY SO SISTER, SAY SO.
Zion, good work girl...I sent your blog to all my friends and my son who is 16 and loves to "sag" at times. I commend you for putting it down!
This is very empowering!! We as a people should read this and be encouraged. Teach our children to think like this, and a change will defitnitely come. Start with our children, THEY ARE our future as a race.
I was just talking to my son about this very thing, this was right on time, he's a fresmen at Purdue Univ and is strugging to find himself as MTV keeps telling him to sag. thanks
Hello, I received this link after speaking to a brother one about the same thing. He sent your article to me and it is now hanging on the bulletin board at our church.
It pains me to see that even in some churches we have visited this type of wearing of clothing is being permitted. We are standing against it, we are maintaining a standrad while at the same time attempting to draw more brothers to Christ. I just wanted to say THANK YOU for your article. I pray that it helps keep on keeping and stay strong in the Lord.
Larry
You are on POINT....klw!
I am glad somone put it in words...
A true Eye opener and very well written. I don't care where "saggin" was originated, it's still a degrading fad and it's an enslaved attitude that we must eliminate from our thought process!
Ms. Venia,
"Nuff" said. Need you say more? I will truly share this with my young black sisters and brothers.
Keep up the good work and allow Jesus to use this opportunity to use you as a vessel to help detour our young black youth from ignorance and defiance.
Be blessed
I think want you all are doing is educateing.
Good advice, and information. I am passing this on to my grandson who I am pleased to say does not need to pull his pants up. He is in his first year of college away from home. Just in case he decides to try some funny business this will be a good reminder to stay true to his upbringing.
If I were paid a nickel for every student that came and "remained" in school with sagging pants and shuffling flip flops, I would easily be rich (which is only a minute fraction of what it costs to "re-present" this "image"). I never thought I would ever be in favor of school uniforms. This "freedom of expression" often hinders academic concentration. Unfortunately, the "saggin' and shufflin'" has come to a widespread and an all-time "expressive" low (as in "numerically" and "self-esteem" ). They are using these clothes to "improve" their esteem and to gain that of others. For many "teens", it is a sign of neglect from parents who spend little, if any, "true" quality time (for whatever reason) and buy the things that money can buy (out of "guilt" and/or to give them what they think they should have), which leads them into a cycle of thinking where "time is money" and people are objects. Not only is this a problem with a number of black students, it is "all over". Check out the issues surrounding student (including university) homicides and suicides, particularly in the past 10-20 years in North American and Asian countries. Consider the impact of capitalism and the changing nature and dynamics of "family life".
"Different World",
"What is essential is invisible to the eye." St. Exupery
This was e-mailed to me and I was going to post it on my spot. I just came by here to find out who to credit it to. Instead, I'll just have them come here.
EXCELLENT!!! Well said! BRAVO! I did not know any of the history behind the dress but, I just thought that it was the most demeaning, degrading fashion statement that just displays/says "Look at me, I am ignorant"
mcjohnson777
That was amazing! You know how you get so many emails from a person and you just often by pass them? I happened to read it due to the subject. I tell you sis. You PUT IT ON THE LINE!
Truth and Powerful Words...ONE LOVE!
Keep on BLoggin
apen
You are so right! The thing that bothers me the most, is that you have so many fathers (grown men) that wear their pants saggin. How can they teach or tell their sons to pull up thier pants.
Wow that was awesome, I'm always amazed when I hear a young person talking like that, continue putting the truth out there no matter what. I don't know you but I want to say I'm proud of you, hang in there keep sending out messages like this and when I get them I will send to as many brothers & sisters as possible.
Please add me to your mailing list
Jmybabydoll@aol.com
Hello! I am the editor in chief for The Panther student newspaper at Prairie View A&M University. I want to publish your article in our newspaper this week. I am asking for your permission before doing so. I think this commentary would be something great for our student body (an HBCU) to read. My email is: jones_alanna@yahoo.com
Hope to hear from you soon.
WOW, This is wonderful,very profound. I learned something this day. I love the way you exchange a piece of mind. It is wonderful to know we have young people with courage to speak out. This should be stated to all races. We all need this for we are all human beings no matter the color of our skins or our differences in thoughts or beliefs.
Thanks. Denny
Would white people treat black people any differently if they didn't wear baggy clothes? There are plenty of educated black people that dress similarly to educated white people that still have to deal on a regular basis with the effects of racism.
I think your post makes some good points, but is missing the real issue. It's not like if all of a sudden black people "got themselves together" they would be welcomed with open arms by the dominant culture.
Look what happened when they tried to integrate the schools through forced busing in the 70's--it's not like the white parents said, "Wow these black families really care about getting their children an education. Let's do whatever we can to support them and make them feel comfortable." They fought it to the end and many schools are just as segregated now as they were before.
This society is set up to allow a few black people to be successful to support the idea of the American Dream. However, white supremacy is a real barrier to making large scale changes in the plight of most people of color. In general white people are not interested in large amounts of minorities gaining power and influence. How we wear our pants is not going to do anything to change that.
Ms. Zion,
Thank you for your refreshingly honest expression of how you see things in ourculture. We need to hear from our youth to help teach others. Me (34), telling my brother (29) to pull up his pants does nothing for he feels I know nothing of the culture, HELLO...Keep doing your thing Z..
This is for myblackfriendsays, "Nothing we do will afford us the love from white people"?? Why do "we" care about the love and acceptance of others, when we are at war trying to teach young people to love and honor themselves. Don't you get it, it is only at the moment of self acceptance and love of self, that we will gain anything in this world from anyone. let alone respect from another culture, only when we start loving and respecting ourselves...until then, who cares what others think if we, can't BELIEVE we are worthy!!
Hey, that was great. The media alwalys takes the worst of us and presents it to us as cool so everyone will think that this is what the Black Race is about. That also goes for the TV. You can't even watch a good Black movie without offensive profanity. The plot is good, but you get turned off by the low-life profanity. All Black people don't live like that nor do we ack like that.
I received this e-mail from a YOUND BLACK COLLEGE STUDENT. I enjoyed and appreciated that fact that as old as I am, there are some young Blacks that can idendify with me, moreso than I with them. Keep this kind of writings coming. There are a lot of people, old and young that relate to you and what's going on today.
With much love and respect.
Joyce Harris
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Wow, Deep very Deep Awesome amazing. I got this from an email that someone had forwarded it said come to this blog to get more. I see said the blindman, keep it up please do not stop or ever deprive anyone of your magnificant tool or gift that the great one has been so graciously to bless you with.
dtex 07
Nonsense...don't mistake keeping up appearances with what really needs to happen; a fundamental change in the behavior of a lot of brothers and sisters! Dress how you want, be decent, be human, be unpretentious....
Peace
Are Your Jeans Sagging? Go Directly to Jail.
Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times
BOXER REBELLION The saggy style is in full view in the East Village.
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By NIKO KOPPEL
Published: August 30, 2007
JAMARCUS MARSHALL, a 17-year-old high school sophomore in Mansfield, La., believes that no one should be able to tell him how low to wear his jeans. “It’s up to the person who’s wearing the pants,” he said.
Skip to next paragraph
Related
A Connecticut Town Debates the Need for a Kind of Belt-Tightening (August 28, 2007)
Mei-Chun Jau/Dallas Morning News — Associated Press
TESTING BOUNDARIES Examples of saggy pants in different parts of the nation.
Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times
Some communities have outlawed this style of dress.
Bettman/Corbis
The reaction reminds some of the outrage engendered by zoot suit styles during the 1940s.
Mr. Marshall’s sagging pants, a style popularized in the early 1990s by hip-hop artists, are becoming a criminal offense in a growing number of communities, including his own.
Starting in Louisiana, an intensifying push by lawmakers has determined pants worn low enough to expose underwear poses a threat to the public, and they have enacted indecency ordinances to stop it.
Since June 11, sagging pants have been against the law in Delcambre, La., a town of 2,231 that is 80 miles southwest of Baton Rouge. The style carries a fine of as much as $500 or up to a six-month sentence. “We used to wear long hair, but I don’t think our trends were ever as bad as sagging,” said Mayor Carol Broussard.
An ordinance in Mansfield, a town of 5,496 near Shreveport, subjects offenders to a fine (as much as $150 plus court costs) or jail time (up to 15 days). Police Chief Don English said the law, which takes effect Sept. 15, will set a good civic image.
Behind the indecency laws may be the real issue — the hip-hop style itself, which critics say is worn as a badge of delinquency, with its distinctive walk conveying thuggish swagger and a disrespect for authority. Also at work is the larger issue of freedom of expression and the questions raised when fashion moves from being merely objectionable to illegal.
Sagging began in prison, where oversized uniforms were issued without belts to prevent suicide and their use as weapons. The style spread through rappers and music videos, from the ghetto to the suburbs and around the world.
Efforts to outlaw sagging in Virginia and statewide in Louisiana in 2004, failed, usually when opponents invoked a right to self-expression. But the latest legislative efforts have taken a different tack, drawing on indecency laws, and their success is inspiring lawmakers in other states.
In the West Ward of Trenton, Councilwoman Annette Lartigue is drafting an ordinance to fine or enforce community service in response to what she sees as the problem of exposing private parts in public.
“It’s a fad like hot pants; however, I think it crosses the line when a person shows their backside,” Ms. Lartigue said. “You can’t legislate how people dress, but you can legislate when people begin to become indecent by exposing their body parts.”
The American Civil Liberties Union has been steadfast in its opposition to dress restrictions. Debbie Seagraves, the executive director of the A.C.L.U. of Georgia said, “I don’t see any way that something constitutional could be crafted when the intention is to single out and label one style of dress that originated with the black youth culture, as an unacceptable form of expression.”
School districts have become more aggressive in enforcing dress bans, as the courts have given them greater latitude. Restrictions have been devised for jeans, miniskirts, long hair, piercing, logos with drug references and gang-affiliated clothing including colors, hats and jewelry.
Dress codes are showing up in unexpected places. The National Basketball Association now stipulates that no sports apparel, sunglasses, headgear, exposed chains or medallions may be worn at league-sponsored events. After experiencing a brawl that spilled into the stands and generated publicity headaches, the league sought to enforce a business-casual dress code, saying that hip-hop clothing projected an image that alienated middle-class audiences.
According to Andrew Bolton, the curator at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, fashions tend to be decried when they “challenge the conservative morality of a society.”
Not since the zoot suit has a style been greeted with such strong disapproval. The exaggerated boxy long coat and tight-cuffed pants, started in the 1930s, was the emblematic style of a subculture of young urban minorities. It was viewed as unpatriotic and flouted a fabric conservation order during World War II. The clothing was at the center of what were called Zoot Suit Riots in Los Angeles, racially motivated beatings of Hispanic youths by sailors. The youths were stripped of their garments, which were burned in the street.
Following a pattern of past fashion bans, the sagging prohibitions are seen by some as racially motivated because the wearers are young, predominantly African-American men.
Yet, this legislation has been proposed largely by African-American officials. It may speak to a generation gap. Michael Eric Dyson, a professor of sociology at Georgetown University and the author of “Know What I Mean?: Reflections on Hip Hop,” said, “They’ve bought the myth that sagging pants represents an offensive lifestyle which leads to destructive behavior.”
Last week, Atlanta Councilman C. T. Martin sponsored an amendment to the city’s indecency laws to ban sagging, which he called an epidemic. “We are trying to craft a remedy,” said Mr. Martin, who sees the problem as “a prison mentality.”
But Larry Harris, Jr., 28, a musician from Miami, who stood in oversize gear outside a hip-hop show in Times Square, denied that prison style was his inspiration. “I think what you have here is people who don’t understand the language of hip-hop,” he said.
A dress code ordinance proposed in Stratford, Conn., by Councilman Alvin O’Neal was rejected at a Town Council meeting last Monday, drawing criticism that the law was unconstitutional and unjustly encouraged racial profiling. Many residents agreed that the town had more pressing issues.
Benjamin Chavis, the former executive director of the N.A.A.C.P., said, “I think to criminalize how a person wears their clothing is more offensive than what the remedy is trying to do.”
Dr. Chavis, who is often pictured in an impeccable suit and tie among the baggy outfits of the hip-hop elite, is a chairman of the Hip Hop Summit Action Network, a coalition he founded with the music mogul Russell Simmons. He said that the coalition will challenge the ordinances in court.
“The focus should be on cleaning up the social conditions that the sagging pants comes out of,” he said. “That they wear their pants the way they do is a statement of the reality that they’re struggling with on a day-to-day basis.”
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Are Your Jeans Sagging? Go Directly to Jail.
Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times
BOXER REBELLION The saggy style is in full view in the East Village.
E-Mail
Print
Reprints
Save
Share
Digg
Facebook
Newsvine
Permalink
By NIKO KOPPEL
Published: August 30, 2007
JAMARCUS MARSHALL, a 17-year-old high school sophomore in Mansfield, La., believes that no one should be able to tell him how low to wear his jeans. “It’s up to the person who’s wearing the pants,” he said.
Skip to next paragraph
Related
A Connecticut Town Debates the Need for a Kind of Belt-Tightening (August 28, 2007)
Mei-Chun Jau/Dallas Morning News — Associated Press
TESTING BOUNDARIES Examples of saggy pants in different parts of the nation.
Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times
Some communities have outlawed this style of dress.
Bettman/Corbis
The reaction reminds some of the outrage engendered by zoot suit styles during the 1940s.
Mr. Marshall’s sagging pants, a style popularized in the early 1990s by hip-hop artists, are becoming a criminal offense in a growing number of communities, including his own.
Starting in Louisiana, an intensifying push by lawmakers has determined pants worn low enough to expose underwear poses a threat to the public, and they have enacted indecency ordinances to stop it.
Since June 11, sagging pants have been against the law in Delcambre, La., a town of 2,231 that is 80 miles southwest of Baton Rouge. The style carries a fine of as much as $500 or up to a six-month sentence. “We used to wear long hair, but I don’t think our trends were ever as bad as sagging,” said Mayor Carol Broussard.
An ordinance in Mansfield, a town of 5,496 near Shreveport, subjects offenders to a fine (as much as $150 plus court costs) or jail time (up to 15 days). Police Chief Don English said the law, which takes effect Sept. 15, will set a good civic image.
Behind the indecency laws may be the real issue — the hip-hop style itself, which critics say is worn as a badge of delinquency, with its distinctive walk conveying thuggish swagger and a disrespect for authority. Also at work is the larger issue of freedom of expression and the questions raised when fashion moves from being merely objectionable to illegal.
Sagging began in prison, where oversized uniforms were issued without belts to prevent suicide and their use as weapons. The style spread through rappers and music videos, from the ghetto to the suburbs and around the world.
Efforts to outlaw sagging in Virginia and statewide in Louisiana in 2004, failed, usually when opponents invoked a right to self-expression. But the latest legislative efforts have taken a different tack, drawing on indecency laws, and their success is inspiring lawmakers in other states.
In the West Ward of Trenton, Councilwoman Annette Lartigue is drafting an ordinance to fine or enforce community service in response to what she sees as the problem of exposing private parts in public.
“It’s a fad like hot pants; however, I think it crosses the line when a person shows their backside,” Ms. Lartigue said. “You can’t legislate how people dress, but you can legislate when people begin to become indecent by exposing their body parts.”
The American Civil Liberties Union has been steadfast in its opposition to dress restrictions. Debbie Seagraves, the executive director of the A.C.L.U. of Georgia said, “I don’t see any way that something constitutional could be crafted when the intention is to single out and label one style of dress that originated with the black youth culture, as an unacceptable form of expression.”
School districts have become more aggressive in enforcing dress bans, as the courts have given them greater latitude. Restrictions have been devised for jeans, miniskirts, long hair, piercing, logos with drug references and gang-affiliated clothing including colors, hats and jewelry.
Dress codes are showing up in unexpected places. The National Basketball Association now stipulates that no sports apparel, sunglasses, headgear, exposed chains or medallions may be worn at league-sponsored events. After experiencing a brawl that spilled into the stands and generated publicity headaches, the league sought to enforce a business-casual dress code, saying that hip-hop clothing projected an image that alienated middle-class audiences.
According to Andrew Bolton, the curator at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, fashions tend to be decried when they “challenge the conservative morality of a society.”
Not since the zoot suit has a style been greeted with such strong disapproval. The exaggerated boxy long coat and tight-cuffed pants, started in the 1930s, was the emblematic style of a subculture of young urban minorities. It was viewed as unpatriotic and flouted a fabric conservation order during World War II. The clothing was at the center of what were called Zoot Suit Riots in Los Angeles, racially motivated beatings of Hispanic youths by sailors. The youths were stripped of their garments, which were burned in the street.
Following a pattern of past fashion bans, the sagging prohibitions are seen by some as racially motivated because the wearers are young, predominantly African-American men.
Yet, this legislation has been proposed largely by African-American officials. It may speak to a generation gap. Michael Eric Dyson, a professor of sociology at Georgetown University and the author of “Know What I Mean?: Reflections on Hip Hop,” said, “They’ve bought the myth that sagging pants represents an offensive lifestyle which leads to destructive behavior.”
Last week, Atlanta Councilman C. T. Martin sponsored an amendment to the city’s indecency laws to ban sagging, which he called an epidemic. “We are trying to craft a remedy,” said Mr. Martin, who sees the problem as “a prison mentality.”
But Larry Harris, Jr., 28, a musician from Miami, who stood in oversize gear outside a hip-hop show in Times Square, denied that prison style was his inspiration. “I think what you have here is people who don’t understand the language of hip-hop,” he said.
A dress code ordinance proposed in Stratford, Conn., by Councilman Alvin O’Neal was rejected at a Town Council meeting last Monday, drawing criticism that the law was unconstitutional and unjustly encouraged racial profiling. Many residents agreed that the town had more pressing issues.
Benjamin Chavis, the former executive director of the N.A.A.C.P., said, “I think to criminalize how a person wears their clothing is more offensive than what the remedy is trying to do.”
Dr. Chavis, who is often pictured in an impeccable suit and tie among the baggy outfits of the hip-hop elite, is a chairman of the Hip Hop Summit Action Network, a coalition he founded with the music mogul Russell Simmons. He said that the coalition will challenge the ordinances in court.
“The focus should be on cleaning up the social conditions that the sagging pants comes out of,” he said. “That they wear their pants the way they do is a statement of the reality that they’re struggling with on a day-to-day basis.”
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