After similar laws were debated -- and tried -- elsewhere, the Charleston City Council spent several hours discussing the merits of an ordinance that would ban baggy pants before putting it on the back burner.
I'm talking about the low-slung, down-to-the-knees, prison-shuffle pants that the younger set finds so fashionable.
I wrote about this a year ago, when the subject was under discussion in Atlanta. This was while several rights-groups jumped on the cause saying it was targeting young urban black males -- who particularly favor the loose-fitting look.
It's interesting that the three Charleston council members pushing the hardest for a ban -- Wendell Gilliard, James Lewis, and Robert Mitchell -- are also black, and represent districts with a large black population.
"It's not going to be just targeting young black men," Lewis said. "Lots of people have baggy pants."
"You'll be in the mall having to walk behind these guys, having to look at their underwear, and it's just not appropriate," Mitchell said.
Gilliard, who brought a mannequin to Tuesday's council meeting to illustrate the clothing style he wants outlawed, said such fashion is a gang symbol, something he doesn't want in his district.
After some debate, the council voted 7-4 to put the matter on hold. But the battle lines are drawn, and I'll expect to see it up for consideration again before long.
Meanwhile, a state lawmaker is watching what happens in Charleston. Last year, state Rep. Robert Brown, D-Hollywood, called for a state ban on saggy pants before pulling back. "The ACLU and the NAACP — I didn't want to fight that battle at that time," Brown said. "I may still consider it, now that Jasper County has done it and Charleston is thinking about it."
State Senator Robert Ford -- also black -- said he also wants to see a state ban despite the opposition such an idea would surely face.
"If these guys want to look like prisoners, what's the next step?" Ford said. "If the civil liberty boys don't have enough sense, let them fight it. We won't stand for it anymore."
The American Civil Liberties Union hasn't made an official stance, but interim ACLU state head Graham Boyd, suggests a ban wouldn't stand up in court. "The government can't tell the general public how to dress," he said.
In getting such laws approved, timing is key. Whatever it is, you don't want to be first to propose or dispose anything earth-shaking. That is, unless you want a reputation for being different.
Let the folks Up North, or the weirdies in California be first. Then you can laugh at them, wait a few years, and do whatever it is they've done when no one's looking.
Smoking laws are a perfect example of this. I still remember people out here laughing their butts off when California made all places of businesses -- including bars -- into smoke-free areas. The laughter doubled when New York did the same. But a couple of years ago smoking was banned in all businesses -- including bars -- in Charleston. While mildly convtroversial, it'd already been done. The timing was safe.
This wasn't Gilliard's first trip in the fashion trenches. A few years ago, he sought to run sunbathers out of Marion Square downtown. The highly-visible park facing Calhoun Street was a favored site for college students to catch some sun. His efforts went nowhere, and college coeds continue to strip down to their thongs on sunny days. (Not coincidentally, this was about the time that businesses across the street from Marion Square became sought-after properties. Something about the view.)
As I mentioned a year ago, the baggy-pants situation is more of a generational thing than a racial one. White and black kids wear the 15-sizes-too-big pants, and it's oddly reminescent of my own battles with Mom and Dad over hair length. And if I was raising a teenager now, chances are we'd grapple over some fashion issue. It's just a part of growing up, I guess.
(Photos from the Post & Courier)
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