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In Louisiana town, wearing low-rider pants may cost you
Supporters say the new ordinance aims to curb indecent behavior while opponents say it infringes on freedom of personal expression.
from the June 18, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Trend's origins
Taking cues from prison culture, where belts are banned, the trend has been around for several years, moving from urban hip-hop centers like Atlanta and New York out into the boonies, and emulated not just by blacks, but Anglos, Mexicans, and Vietnamese. Some kids say it's more for comfort than a statement, even though some take on a peculiar swinging gait to create enough thigh pressure to hold on. Others just hold them up.
"It's just a habit or something," says Tony, a young man in Delcambre with fuzzy corn rows and plenty of boxers showing. His mom, who didn't want to give her name, is blasé. "They see it on TV," she says. "I don't see anything wrong with saggin'."
But many people, especially older ones, see it as a precursor to a dark, urban, hipster culture that brings with it crime and drugs, says Sylvester George, a retired oil field worker in Delcambre who supports the new ordinance. "It's not about fashion," he says. "It's indecent and worst of all it's disrespectful. I don't need to see that."
When a similar law with a $50 fine passed the House of Delegates in Virginia in 2005, editorialists panned it and the Senate declined to put it through to the governor. But its sponsor, Algie Howell, says attitudes have changed as the trend has expanded into middle and rural America. It has also divided the black community.
"One of the things black legislators said here in Virginia is that it's going to put more blacks in jail," says Mr. Howell, who is black. "They tried to crucify me for it, so it's a good feeling now to see others catching on to this. People thought it would go away, but in my view it's getting worse."
Support for local law
An informal poll in the Lafayette Advertiser newspaper last week showed 79 percent of residents support the town's ordinance. Jet Magazine, known for black style, carried an article in May that was critical of sagging.
Moreover, civic organizers in Atlanta, Detroit, Nashville, Tenn., and Birmingham, Ala., are planning antisagging rallies, says Pastor Dianne Robinson of Jacksonville, Fla., who last week handed out 78 donated belts at a "belt rally." "This sagging of the pants is to me a defiant act, and it has all kinds of implications," says Ms. Robinson, who is black. "If you can't get up in the morning and pull your pants up, that says a lot about you, even if I don't know anything about you."
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