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HACKENSACK, N.J.
— Walk any city street and you're bound to witness the
fashion trend — scores of men and a few women, clad in
baggy, low-slung pants that reveal underwear and
sometimes show skin.
It's a
look born from jailhouse garb: Inmates wear saggy pants
because belts are prohibited.
But two
Paterson, N.J.
, councilmen want to inspire a sense of dignity in the
city's young people, and they're taking aim at trousers
that droop.
Councilmen
Ken Morris Jr.
and
Anthony Davis
created the "Reality Check" campaign, which
features a series of images of men wearing saggy pants
along with slogans discouraging it. The images would
appear on posters inside schools, on billboards around
the city and even on T-shirts, wristbands and buttons in
the next two months.
Craig Field
, 20, whose black sweat pants sagged as he walked along
Main Street
Thursday, said he doesn't think the campaign will work.
"I
doubt anybody will listen to it," he said.
"People are going to be who they are. They're not
going to change for nothing."
Davis and
Morris say the drive behind the "Reality
Check" campaign is to spur residents to take pride
in themselves, their appearance and their community —
and to look decent when they apply for jobs.
"What
we really must try to do is to change the mind-set of
young people," Morris said.
One
"Reality Check" picture, a close-up of a man
wearing saggy pants whose backside is exposed is paired
with the slogan, "What the unemployable are wearing
today."
In
another, two men in saggy pants stand alongside a clown
with the words "Circus Clown" and
"Neighborhood Clowns" underneath.
The
councilmen introduced their plans to their council
colleagues at a workshop meeting two weeks ago.
Davis
said he hoped "Reality Check" would help
reverse what he believes is a decline in values in the
community.
He said
he was shocked on Sunday when he saw a small boy, about
4 or 5 years old, sporting saggy pants as he walked with
this mother.
"We
have to bring pride back — pride for oneself, one's
community and one's family," he said.
Last
year, Davis considered drafting an ordinance that would
ban men and women from wearing saggy pants and fine
violators. But he said the council agreed that it's
difficult to regulate people's behavior. Instead, there
should be a push for educating people on the
consequences of wearing saggy pants.
"We
need to talk to them. We need to show them," Davis
said, adding, "We have to get out of that
mentality. We have to restore hope."
Morris
said the campaign will likely be paid for with a grant
from the
Urban Enterprise Zone
, or the council may include money for it in the budget.
Davis said it's still unclear how much the campaign
would cost.
Paterson
officials aren't the first to discredit saggy pants. In
January, Sen.
Robert Ford
of
South Carolina
sponsored bills to ban saggy pants and songs laced with
profanity to spark debate about young people's behavior.
Last
year, a judge declared a
Riviera Beach, Fla.
, ordinance unconstitutional after a 17-year-old spent
the night in jail because his low-slung pants revealed 4
to 5 inches of his underwear.
And since
2007, at least eight
Louisiana
towns have passed ordinances barring people from wearing
saggy pants.
Residents
polled on the campaign plan had mixed views. Some said
they supported it; others said the style is fashionable,
and they will wear what they like.
Tyreek Green
, 27, said saggy pants are often just a phase among
young people that they eventually grow out of when they
enter the workforce.
"The
teens doing it now, they'll realize you can't find a job
when you're pants are hanging down."
LaToya Fulmore
, 35, a mother of five, said instead of posters that
label young people clowns, the city should host
workshops that teach them about dressing appropriately.
"These
young folks need a better approach," she said.
"Don't call them clowns. You need to show them a
better way."
Deon Davis
, 18, who was sagging his pants until he was approached
by a reporter, said he thinks using visual aids to
discourage people from wearing saggy pants would work.
But he also acknowledged that men and women were wearing
saggy pants because it's in fashion.
"It's
to fit in," he said.
Pauline Peake
, a grandmother of 11 who works for the city's housing
department, called wearing saggy pants "a
disgrace."
"They're
not coming in my workplace like that," Peake said.
"Who'll hire you?"
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