If you are planning a trip to Flint, Michigan in the near future remember to keep your pants pulled up. The city's new police chief is cracking down on sagging pants that expose to much skin or boxers. Chief David Dicks feels that "this immoral `self expression' goes beyond freedom of expression; it rises to the crime of indecent exposure/disorderly persons." Under the order, anyone with exposed buttocks could be arrested on "a misdemeanor charge of being a disorderly person, punishable by up to a $500 fine and three months in jail."
Dallas enacted a similar ordinance in October 2007, with the "That's Not Hip Hop" campaign. Now city officials are using an innocent granny as the focal point of a new campaign. Billboards around the Dallas area admonish saggers that Granny says "Pull Em' Up. Dallas officials said they used the grandmother figure because she is the most revered and respected member of our community.
I must say that personally I have never liked the style of dress that exposes ones "drawers" and "ass"; however I am not for censoring the way individuals dress because it leads to other censorship and soon we are living in Nazi Germany. I thought when people realized that the look originated with prison gang members who were given "one size fits all clothing" as a way of saving on incarceration expenditures it would mark the end of the look, but it was not to be. The trend has been going strong for well over a decade with no end in sight.
As for Flint (which happens to be my home town), there are much bigger problems than the dress code all one has to do is go there and have a look around. The joblessness and dilapidation in the city began long before baggy pants. Flint's crime rate exploded back in the 1980's, correlating with the closing of plants by General Motors and the outsourcing of jobs.
Flint's police chief needs to rid the streets of the criminal element and the mayor and city council should be looking for a way to bring in new employment opportunities to a city that has lost so much in the last two decades. Sagging pants are the least of the city of Flint's worries.
As always I welcome your thoughts and opinions on this issue.
10 comments:
I get where you're coming from with this. Unfortunately, it's really difficult to tackle such blights as crime, poverty, and the desertion of industry. It's a lot easier to say "no" to crack.
X.
It might be easier to say "no" to crack...I don't know because I have never indulged myself. I did smoke cigarettes for years and it wasn't that easy to say no to them, but I digress. The powers that be in Flint have made several missteps, (the construction and demolition of Auto World comes to mind). They could do a better job on all fronts. There seems to be some corruption and just plain, unadulterated mismanagement going on. What pisses me off is regular law-abiding citizens end up paying the consequences.
I too have never been fond of the saggy pants style. Just as you do, I feel that cracking down on those who sport the look should be low on the priority list of the powers that be in Flint.
If only it was that simple. If we all wore uniforms would that reduce crime? I have no way of knowing the answer to that question; however I do know that Flint was the murder capital long before this fashion statement came into play. One of the young men in my class asked what about girls who wear hip huggers and thongs, shouldn't the same rules apply for them? Well yeah, but of course that is not an issue. There goes that old double standard rearing its ugly head:)
The point I was trying to make was this (sound like someone you know?)when you start dictating how someone dresses, then what's next? My other point was those bastards in Flint and Dallas are looking for a scapegoat, so why not pick on the most frightening we have among us (might I add that media has precipatated this fear)and blame them for our problems. It's the same damn thing Hitler did to the Jews by creating a common enemy or what the settlers did in America by making scapegoats of those in the minority (Indigeneous and African American people). So I don't like the way they dress, still I will defend their right to dress as they choose.
I know the initial "sagging and bagging" pants had to do with gangs because the style made it easier for them to conceal weapons, but now? I think that style (although, Lord only knows why) has become so popular that it has nothing to do with whether anyone is law abiding or not. My son wears his clothes like that (which makes me cringe, yes it does) but to band a style of dress that has risen in popularity to the extent it has it not going to do anything about the major issues in society now.
I can't say I would be sorry if the style was gone, but I agree, there's more important issues to tackle.
Hey RC,
I absolutely hate the look, but what can you do except arrest boys who dress like this, fine them 500 dollars, and put them in jail for three months. That way we cure all societies ills, utterly ridiculous.
I bet these same people wax poetic about the injustice of Islamic societies "forcing" women to dress in cover.
I think this is not only an embarassing law and attitude it is ridiculous. What waste of time and money.
Create jobs by making bike paths for people formerly in the car industry who can't afford gas.
Create jobs by coming up with urban gardens to help subsidize the rise in food costs.
Create jobs by having more recycling plants and depots.
I could go on...
Candy,
All I can say is 'you get it!' There are so many things that are so much more important, that spending time on enforcing this law is utterly ridiculous or as you so aptly put it "embarrassing".
Sometimes you have to start with the battles you think you can when first. Having more jobs is definitely important but if the guys don't pull up their pants who will hire them? And if they can't get jobs of course they have to resort to taking stuff, hence the rise in crime. So I figure if they get the smallest thing under control they can move on to the bigger things. Just a thought.
Susie,
I hear you, but I just think money is better spent solving real crime rather than jacking people up simply because you don't like their style of dress. The American Way is that we are fortunate to have freedoms that are unheard of in other countries. Do you feel it is kosher to force the women in the Middle East to put on the layers of clothes just because their custom requires or should she have a choice?
I deal with young men all the time and they will pull up their pants to get a job. I see young guys working all the time. What they do off the clock is their business in my humble opinion. I would not want anyone dictating to me what I could or could not wear. Thanks for sharing your opinion on the subject and remember disagreement keeps life interesting! Cheers
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