The city of Paterson, New Jersey is considering a ban on baggy pants.  The baggy, saggy drawers look is apparently too much for the city council of the North Jersey town who are contemplating fining people for the offense.  Councilman Anthony Davis is spearheading the measure, introducing a bill that would make wearing baggy pants a violation of Paterson’s indecency laws. 

I was forced to wonder how much of this is about race and/or class upon reading this.  Then I discovered that Councilman Davis is in fact African-American which placed this rights infringing measure squarely in the “classism” column.  The baggy-saggy look obviously had its origins in the young African-American community in this country. Often these days the look is banned in an effort to maintain a certain clientele and keep a certain “element” out at certain nightclubs, some of the few places where discrimination, of all sorts, is not only alive and well, but also part of the draw for many club-goers.  But the style has grown and expanded to include multiple races, making it a statement of a subculture that spans across the old boundaries. 

Just yesterday here in Charleston, WV, where I’m blogging from today, I was walking around exploring the town when I happened past a plaza where dozens of young people were hanging out, waiting for the local bus.  What struck me as interesting was how the style of the kids, which on the guys meant plenty of baggy pants, all seemed the same, regardless of whether the kids were caucasian, latin or African American.  This made me feel pretty good, because what it says is that America has come a long way when it comes to integration, even in rural West Virginia, which perhaps unfairly sometimes gets pegged with the stigma of being behind on racial issues. 

As for this political clownshow in Paterson, I kind of feel bad even giving this gimmicky politician publicity except for the fact that ridiculous, class baiting political red herrings like this, which violate the First Amendment of the Constitution, need to nipped in the bud.  You can takepart in doing so by learning more about the First Amendment work done by the fine folks at the American Civil Liberties Union.

LINKS:

WCBSTV: N.J. Councilman Starts Crusade Against Saggy Pants

Street Knowledge: NJ Considers Ban on Baggy Pants

Media Takeout: NJ to Ban Baggy Pants!