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Sagging Pants:
The Real Deal
By Mike Ramey
Is it me, or has
the “sagging & bagging” issue been getting a few folk
HOT “under the collar”? I've had the chance to “read” a
host of the so called “wisdom” on the issue of sagging
pants. Let me toss in my .02 from the perspectives of
being a Gang Specialist and having served in the
capacities of Teacher and Probation
Officer/Juvenile—Felony Level.
While SEVENTY
PERCENT of Rap/Hip Hop Music is BOUGHT by WHITE TEENS
and YOUNG WHITE ADULTS, GUESS who is getting harassed
about “sagging pants”? More and more of the urban
school districts in America are adopting uniforms to
“curb” the problem. More and more local and state
lawmakers are “slamming” teens for this “social
statement” in an “effort” to “curb crime.” Guess who is
getting “hammered” on such wear by BLACKS in education,
government, and the law?
It AIN'T the WHITE
KIDS.
Let's throw some
strikes on this topic. Think back, Black Parents and
Black Grandparents when Swing and Motown came out? Who
were the ones “sneaking into” the Black clubs to
“absorb” our culture and music? Hmmm? Now, look at the
landscape of complaining today. I'm not hating; I am
stating.
The young, white
establishment grabs and mimics the exotic then, after
all of the “juice” (race identification) has been wrung
out (or twisted) it is cast into the mainstream, and
they “grow up.” The only difference is that nobody is
picking on other “races.” Educators and Cops are not
“wholesale” slapping around whites who mimic the
behavior, but those whom THEY 'perceive' originated the
behavior are getting rousted.
I don't care what
kind of grades a young Black man or a young Black woman
is making. Since many of us have NOT “pooled our money”
and “built the economic infrastructure of many of our
communities,” the MAJORITY community WILL determine whom
and HOW they will interact, based upon APPEARANCE. At
11pm at night when OUR TEENS are “sagging and hootchying”
on the public street corner, a GED or High School
Graduated Jackie Law white cop with a badge and a gun
operates on perception is reality.
He may “hang” with
Blacks and Latinos after his shift, and he may have
(like the Michael Bolton character from the hit film
“Office Space”) a COLLECTION of HARD CORE Hip Hop in his
private vehicle. He MAY even have a Black or Latino
woman as his girlfriend or wife. But, once the uniform
goes on and the shift starts, guess WHO is the ENEMY?
Same thing with
“Sally Saddleshoes,” teacher, who is in the public
schools and in her first few years of teaching; yes, she
danced to Rap in the college bars (possibly sans her top
. . . but I digress); yup, she can SHOUT OUT the lyrics
in her car with her other academic functioning male and
female “buddies”; she may even have some Dr. Dre in her
CD player or MP3. But from 9 to 5, she is interested in
upholding the “system” against the 'barbarian hordes'.
She wants her college education loans paid. She is in
“survival” mode (because the system has programmed fear
into her about “certain” kids) and “going along to get
along” (so she may “advance in her career,” and
eventually move to a better school district).
Oh, I've been
employed in these professions, once upon a time. I've
seen it, up close and personal. For those who don't
believe what I am saying, then that's just too bad.
Truth is still truth, whether or not you have
experienced it.
Black Parent and
Black Grandparent, hear me out. THE REAL BLACK DEAL? OUR
teens NEED to re-learn how to dress for success, rather
than dress to be a mess in order to survive economically
in a land that may send mixed signals about success, but
is DEAD UP IN IT concerning “the unwritten dress code.”
Sagging equals ECONOMIC pain. . . . EVEN from BLACK
employers.
One thing that is
true; the parent or grandparent who “lets” their child
set the tone for what the child will or will not do is a
FOOL, and is RAISING a statistic. Just in the last 12
months, I have had a former client murdered, the mother
of a former client murdered, and another former client
NOW, as BARELY adult, facing a murder rap. All THREE of
these individuals were given their options well before
their troubles by yours truly and others. They
“convinced” the adult authority figure in their lives
that “they” knew best about “life” and how to “dress.”
They are JUST as
DEAD or in HOT WATER because they DID not LISTEN.
The Bible says,
“The way of the transgressor is hard.” Put simply,
those who mock God's authority line, or those whom He
determines to be part of His authority line (parents,
grandparents, cops, courts, teachers, judges) will have
a HARD way to go. Yes, on TV it may be CUTE to have
folk mouth off to authority figures, but the REAL DEAL
is jail bars are JUST as hard to serve as a “wake up
call” to those in real life who want to try it!
Children need
leadership, guidance, and truth from older family
members. The REAL DEAL in America right now is that
society is SHIFTING BACK concerning casual dress. In
the late 1990s, Casual Dress began to be “phased out” of
the corporate climate. Next, Hampton University (a Black
University) demanded that it's MBA students started
coming to class in business casual attire. Recently, a
WHITE college's undergraduate Business program ordered
their students to shuck the “low riders” for business
casual attire to be “ready” for interview, internships,
etc. In other words, if you DRESS professional, you
will likely ACT professional AND you will be perceived
as a professional by the status quo.
The REAL DEAL?
Yup, being played out RIGHT in front of us! Teachers,
sadly, do NOT have a dress code, for the most part.
Some of THEM don't have the morals of alley cats, and
allow their students (some of them our children) to
'slouch' their way through
the education
process. Law Enforcement (which includes Probation,
Parole and Corrections Officers) has a dress code . . .
and are trained to spot those who don't obey the code.
SOME Black Parents
and Black Grandparents talk a good game when it comes to
what our teens SHOULD be doing, EXCEPT when it comes to
the excuses they OFFER for the TEENS in their own
HOUSEHOLDS!!! SOME Black Parents and Black Grandparents
STILL hold that it is a TRAGEDY for ANOTHER BLACK CHILD
to be caught gang banging, but “their” little “darling”
was “innocent.”
MOST COPS operate
on the principle: "IF It walks like a duck . . ." They
ALSO operate on the term: "Justifiable Homicide" (Well,
your Honor, he/she LOOKED like a gang banger . . . so I
HAD to shoot! How was I supposed to know that he/she was
an Honor Student?
Let's take a trip
back into time. Sagging Pants were BORN in PRISONS!
They were done that way so as to IDENTIFY those inmates
who were either ADVERTISING for HOMOSEXUAL favors, OR
LETTING the GP (Population) know that they would be
willing for a QUICKIE. Check it out for yourselves with
other family members who had done time in the JOINT.
When this FACT is passed on to the sagging thug of
today,
their response is a
blank stare and 'SO'??? However, the REST of society
REMEMBERS the CODE! Recently a member of the US Senate
had to RESIGN in disgrace because he had sent some
signals to a Vice Cop in a public restroom. You think
that YOUR child won't be judged by the clothing that
they wear?
When you have teens
consuming MASS quantities of Hip Hop videos, coupled
with BLACK outlets such as BET, RADIO ONE, etc. putting
forth the WORST that there is to offer, and EXPORTING
the “Beautiful Lie” into the MSM and the AROUND the
world, why do you think there is a problem in us
RESPECTING ourselves?
Hey, this is just
my .02. But, take it from me; this “sagging” mentality
has spread to the courts, the schools, and the churches.
MANY of our young people are IGNORANT of our culture and
history and FEW BLACK PARENTS have the guts to confront
them with the fact that “African Americans came from
Kings and Queens . . . NOT from the gutter!”
THE REAL DEAL? Are
you raising your teen to be a success, or a statistic?
If the former, you have my support. If the latter, you
have my sympathy, because you WILL be attending a LOT of
funerals. Society is shifting away from the “casual”
look, and Black Parents, Black Grandparents, and Black
Teens need to shift away from the excuses.
To let the inmates
to not only run the asylum; but to die in it to protect
some teen's feelings or shield them from reality, or
allow them to nurture a warped dream of fashion sense at
the expense of common sense and racial pride is not only
wrong; it is suicidal! And . . . guess who picks up the
tab for allowing the illusion to continue?
ALL of us...and that's the REAL
BLACK DEAL!
Mike Ramey is the
author of THE MANHOOD LINE. A column written for men
from a biblical, business, and common sense perspective.
It is a syndicated column provided exclusively to
various publications. (C) 2007 Barnstorm Communications.
manhoodline@yahoo.com
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No
Sagging, No Extensions--Liberia has
banned students from wearing artificial hair
extensions such as weaves or attachments at
school. Education Minister Joseph Korto told
the BBC it was a way of "instilling moral
discipline in our young people". He said
students are also banned from wearing skirts
or trousers that expose their underwear in
any way. . . . The education ministry
statement said there was to be no "sagging",
referring to the way young people often wear
shirts or trousers loosely. . . .Some girls
in the capital, Monrovia, have welcomed the
measures. "The time students take to dress
or fix their hair should be used to study
their lessons," said Watti Robinson, a
student at the Catholic-run Saint Theresa
Convent. Jonathan Paye-Layleh. Liberia
'immoral dress' crackdown By Jonathan
Paye-Layleh.
News BBC |
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posted 4
September 2007 / updated 28 March 2008 |
