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 3 of 3
But some say young men and women are mirroring the realities in society, including the prevalence of African-Americans in prison and underserved urban schools.
"Youth culture has always let us know what's going on in the belly of America," says Michaela Angela Davis, a social critic and editor at large of Honey.com in New York. Blues reflected how people felt about the Jim Crow laws, while R&B music can be traced back to the civil rights movement, she says. "This is the era of fatherlessness, the era of war, and this is what it looks like: children lost in their clothes," she adds.
Some saggers don't take their fashion so seriously. "It's just for comfort," says Jamal Collins, a teenager in New Orleans.
But what about the guys whose seats are at their knees? Maybe they just forgot to put their belt on in the morning," says Jamal. "That's happened to me."
Are low pants indecent exposure?
The chief legal issue, experts say, is whether wearing one's pants too low is indecent, especially if all that's showing is heavily branded underwear. "This is an effort to legislate taste and morality as opposed to any legitimate case that this is indecent exposure," argues Mr. Thompson.
Here in Delcambre, where life revolves around the church and the bayou, sponsors of the antisagging law acknowledge potential legal tangles. "We don't know if we can enforce it, but we're going to try," says Mr. Broussard.
Ultimately, residents say it might be hard to catch them in the act. "When they see the cops coming, they're just going to pull their pants up," says Mr. George.
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