My regular bus stop in downtown Minneapolis is outside City Center on 7th Street between Nicollet and Hennepin Avenues. And, as such, I see lots of young black men waiting for their bus. For more than a decade, young black men have worn their pants down low, around their hips, showing their boxer shorts. My view is these young men tend to be gang members. And, my confusion is with why they wear their pants so low. If another gang member approaches them, and their pants are down aroudn their ankles and they have to run, they'll fall flat on their face with their pants around their ankles.
As I was coming home off the bus last year, my neighbor across the street yelled out at a kid who'd gotten off the bus with me "pull up your pants!" I thought: Let me get home before you start a riot. But I was laughting.
A few days ago, I learned that Barack Obama had told young black men to "pull up their pants" and I cheered. It seems like more than a decade I've been perplexed about the pants down around the ankles fashion for young black men. Someone once told me it's a subliminal message about penis size. It's so large, they need room in their pants. That always seemed a bit lame (pun intended) to me. More recently, I've wondered about the ability to run away from their enemies. And it didn't seem like a good plan.
Obama has spoken up about personal and family responsibility. Telling parents to turn off the TVand to be involved in their kids' lives. And now, he's telling young black men to pull up their pants. And, now that a black man is President, maybe they'll listen. And pull up their pants.
One can only hope.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/11042008/news/politics/kick_in_pants_from_o_136815.htm
