Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Sagging vs. America: Stereotypes

The Confederate Flag, racism. Middle-Eastern man with a turban, terrorist. These are all sterotypes that have shaped our nation into thinking negatively towards other ethnicities that have made the U.S. such a unigue country.

Just recently another formed image or opinion has been made about “sagging pants.”

Sagging pants as we know was popularized in the early 1990’s, which can be attributed to the hip hop culture and its artist. This saggin style is worn by blacks as well as a few white males. Ever since then the African Amercian man has been plagued by this stereotype. Thug, criminal, convict, and ignorant are just a few words that are associated with the stereostype of saggin pants.

“I was at work and someone that I work with came up to me and tried to act as if I was ignorant and had no college education because my gym shorts were saggin,” stated Renondo Wilson, a student at The Art Institute of Charlotte. Since it is mostly African American males that choose to wear saggin pants, some feel that it is racial profiling when some cities put a ban on saggin pants. Some councilmen and other government authority (mostly oldheads) feel that it is offensive to see young men saggin. Because this is primarliy worn by black males some feel like it is targeting black males as if “we” (black people) are not targeted enough. Of course we all know the orgin of saggin pants started in the jail system when they would take the immates belts away so they would hang themselves. It has since then carried over into the hip hop culture. Many rappers we see also sag, but is it really indescent exposure if you can not see the buttocks or the underwear? Is it really necessary to associate jail time and a fine with saggin pants? Studies show that when some of these same African American men go to college there is a lack of saggin, because these men mature and realize that they wanted to be apart of the fad. In essence sagging pants are just a fad, the same as bell bottoms and hot pants. In the words of King David “This too shall pass.”



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