MI- Heights cracking down on saggy pants

8-17-2008 Michigan:

Showing your drawers in Muskegon Heights may earn you a kick in the pants -- or at least a monetary fine in the near future.

The Muskegon Heights City Council is considering an ordinance that would ban people from wearing sagging pants, a style that was popularized in the early 1990s by hip-hop artists.

The council recently directed Police Chief Clifton Johnson and City Manager Natasha Henderson to research what types of ordinances other urban cities have adopted.

"We're trying to be proactive," said Mayor Darrell Paige. "We just think we have to do something about it."

Many young people wear beltless baggy pants that frequently droop below butt level. The fashion has become popular in suburban and rural areas around the country, prompting many schools to enact rules prohibiting it.

The Muskegon Heights City Council, which has made improving the city's image a top priority, want to go one step further. Some council members view the sagging pants look as "disrespectful" and "indecent."

They have not yet discussed any specific details of what the city's ordinance might entail. There also has been no discussion on how a dress code ordinance would be enforced, or what the penalties would be for violating the ordinance.

Similar dress code ordinances already have been adopted in communities throughout the country. Penalties vary by community. In the Chicago suburb of Lynwood, $25 fines are issued for anyone showing three inches or more of their underwear in public. In Flint, offenders can be slapped with up to a $500 fine and one year in jail.

However, the legality of some of those efforts has come under fire by civil rights groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU, which is challeging some of the ordinances that already have been enacted, argue that the measures are illegal and racist in nature because it targets African-American youths.

Paige and other council members say their purpose isn't for the city to become style police or infringe on people's civil rights. But, they do believe lines of acceptable behavior must be drawn, especially for youths. Walking around in public with your pants down around your knees is not appropriate, they say.

"It may be because we're getting older," said Paige, recalling the fashion styles of his generation. "I can remember my mom didn't like the big apple hats that we used to wear, or the high-heeled shoes and open-buttoned shirts."

There are many urban myths about the origins of the sagging pants style.

One of the most common myths is that prisoners would wear their pants low to signal that they were welcome to sexual advances.

That's not quite true, according to many criminal justice experts. Sagging pants originated from prison, because prisoners were often given ill-fitting uniforms and weren't allowed to have belts because they could be used to injure themselves or others.

Not everyone thinks the city of Muskegon Heights should adopt a dress code ordinance. Harold Wright, a downtown business owner, believes the city has more pressing problems to worry about.

"I don't think the council needs to waste their time passing an ordinance," said Wright, owner of Rite-Way Communications, 60 E. Broadway Ave. "I think that there's a lot of things on the books that already aren't being enforced -- like loitering."

Wright thinks a better strategy is for the city to work with downtown business leaders to address the problem. A longtime respected community leader, Wright is not shy about asking people to leave his store if they aren't dressed appropriately.

Wright, who sells cell phones and music at his store, attracts many young customers. But, if they come into his store with sagging pants, he will pull them aside and explain that they need to pull up their pants or leave his store.

"I talk to them in a respectful manner," said Wright. "I explain to them that Mr. Wright doesn't like to see that, so please pull up your pants.

"I believe we as a community need to work together. If we keep explaining to them that showing your butt is disrespectful to women and everyone else -- I think after awhile they'll start understanding."

Several Muskegon Heights youths, who did not want to be named, said they wear sagging pants because it's the popular style of their generation. Hip-hoppers and skaters have made the look "cool," they said.

"I used to do it when I was younger," said Larry Harris, a 24-year-old Muskegon Heights resident. "It was the style. I felt like, "nobody can tell you how to dress."

Harris said he stopped wearing sagging pants about three years ago. He just outgrew the style, he said. Plus, his "granny," who raised him, kept badgering him about it.

"My granny didn't like that stuff," said Harris. "And, I have respect for my elders."

Thomas Smith, owner of Urban Apparel, 75 W. Broadway, said although he doesn't like the sagging pants look, he believes it's a "personal preference."

"I don't understand what they get out of it," said Thomas. "It looks ridiculous. I don't like to see their dirty underwear." ..News Source.. by Federico Martinez | The Muskegon Chronicle