Saggy Pants Ban

I saw a news story this morning in which a young man was stopped for wearing "thug wear". I'm not sure what state, but the officer basically humiliated this young man, buy stopping and frisk him based solely on his choice of clothing. When the young man made a comment to him, the officer grab the young man by the throat and pushed him down. REALLY?? Is this the type of policing that we need in or society today? Unfortunately there are ordinances against this type of fashion choice; we have one here in Miami Dade. The Opa Locka City ordinance 07-19 also known as the saggy pants ban has large signs throughout the city notifying its residents that wearing your pants low is against the law.

-Opa Locka, FL
-Ordinance No. 07-19
-Passed on October 24, 2007
-The ordinance prohibits people from exposing boxer, briefs, or bare skin below the belt. This kind of indecent behavior is not permitted in parks, schools, libraries or any city owned property.
-Currently there are no fines or jail time.
-Interestingly the city was given a 1.2million dollar grant to revitalize and rehabilitate homes and businesses. (http://www.miamidade.gov/govaction/matter.asp?matter=052694&file=true&yearFolder=Y2005)
-During the years of 2003 & 2004 the city of Opa Locka had the highest rate of violent crime in the United States.(FBI)
It is interesting to note that with all of the city ordinances this is the only one that was deemed worthy of being displayed. The sign, quite large and visible displays two young men of African descent not only wearing their pants very low, but also their clothing looks very dirty and their hair unkempt. The message this sign is sending is that any male of African descent who wears their clothing and hair in this manner are possible criminals. This sign not only stereotypes on the basis of race, gender and ethnicity it also stereotypes based on age, clothing and choice of hairstyles. Everything about this was taken into consideration to instill the belief that stopping crime begins with men who dress in this way. The red color of the word NO, which consequently is in all caps, depicts an aggressive scream of hostility and frustration. The art director carefully chose colors that would not only identify with prison, but the posture of the subjects and the fact that their backs are shown may imply that they have total disregard for law enforcement.

I not only believe this is an insensitive message I believe that this message helps to perpetuate the stereotype of men and boys who dress in this manner; in particular ones of African descent. Over the past few months I have heard the reason for this ban stems from the overwhelmingly high crime rate in the city. But how is wearing your pants low a gateway to crime? There are many young men of various race and ethnicity's that dress in this manner. There are men who wear their Dockers in this manner. “NO Ifs, and or Butts…” but what if you were a city official and you stole millions would their be a city ordinance against wearing suits? Would there be signs throughout the city visually characterizing them? No!

The vice mayor Terrence Pinder was arrested for grand theft and other charges.

Criminalizing fashion choices will not only widen the gap between citizens and law enforcement it will help to facilitate a mood of self fulfilling prophecies.

Who is Sarah Palin?

For the past few days we we have been bombarded with the republican party's vice-presidential pick, Gov. Sarah Palin. I congratulate her for being the first woman picked on the republican side, but who is this woman? I know she is married, the mother of five, and a hockey mom, but what are her views? What does she want to do to improve the economy? What is she trying to do for the poor and underprivileged? What are her policy's about education, Iraq, Georgia, Osama bin Laden? I want to know if she is such a god fearing person that believes in the almighty bible and the religious text, why is she spewing such hateful words of rhetoric towards someone on the very night she accepted the nomination? Why is she hiding from the public? Don't just tell me that you put a plane on eBay, tell me if it was sold and did you make a profit? What did you do with the money once the plane was sold? What have you done for special needs children in you state? What is she all about? I want to know who is the real Sarah Palin?