Saggin is Jailin

You Got The Power, Inc.
Program Outline
April 7, 2010

Topic of discussion: Saggin is Jailin

Sagging Pants: Hip Hop Trend or Prison Trend?

• The origins of sagging come from the United States prison system due to three primary factors

  • First, uniforms issued to prisoners are usually a few sizes too large

  • Secondly, belts are prohibited to avoid suicide by hanging oneself, or to avoid being used as a weapon in fights, and

  • Third, the style was later popularized by hip-hop artists in the 1990s

• Countless young men continue to parade about the streets in their own boxer rebellion, wearing trousers so low that their shorts — and sometimes more than that — are on display

• Sagging pants require the perfection of the slow dip walk so the pants don't fall down altogether

• Most of the boys and young men who are saggin' don't know where it really comes from. Another word for 'saggin' is 'jailin'

• In prison, sagging pants are a way to display homosexuality

• The sagging trend increased as Black youths and men came out of prison

• Because newly released inmates were so used to wearing their pants this way in prison they continued to wear their pants sagging

• Blacks in prison

  • The racial composition of the US prison and jail population as of 2008 was:

    • 33.44% White American (non-Hispanic)

    • 40.21% African American (non-Hispanic)

    • 20.29% Hispanic, and

    • 6.06% Other (American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander American, and Multiracial American)

  • The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world

  • The USA also has the highest total documented prison and jail population in the world

  • About one in every 31 adults in the United States was in prison, in jail or on supervised release (2008 Department of Justice report)

• About 10.4% of the entire African-American male population in the United States aged 25 to 29 is being incarcerated, by far the largest racial or ethnic group

• Many young boys and men emulate the prison dress trend to show a hardcore status in their unsafe neighborhoods

• About 3 out of every 10 Black and Hispanic children under age 18 live in neighborhoods that are never or sometimes safe, compared to less than 1 in 10 white children (8 percent)

• The neighborhood is a critical environment that influences child and youth development

• Conditions in a neighborhood such as crime and physical disorder tend to occur along with negative child outcomes

• Children and adolescents living in neighborhoods characterized by crime or disorganization are also more likely to become victims of violent crime and to perpetrate acts of violence

Municipalities in various states across the country have considered passing laws banning sagging pants

• In June 2007, the Town Council of Delcambre, Louisiana, passed an indecent exposure ordinance which prohibited intentionally wearing one's pants in such a way as to show underwear

• A Louisiana lawmaker proposed House Bill 1626, also known as the Baggy Pants Bill. Offenders would be fined up to $175 or given community service

• The Virginia Senate suggested a $50 fine on people who reveal their underwear

• Legislatures in Virginia and Texas attempted to enact ordinances similar to Louisiana but ceased action after learning their communities vehemently opposed the law

• When the Virginia House of Representatives tried to outlaw the wearing of low-slung pants, they drew ridicule from Sydney Australia to London

  • Comedians joked about a "boxers' rebellion”

• The Hahira, Georgia, City Council in 2008 passed a controversial clothing ordinance, in the name of public safety, that bans citizens from wearing pants that are below the waist and reveal skin or undergarments

• The interim police chief of Flint, Michigan, ordered the arrest of saggers for disorderly conduct; however, as of August 2008, only warnings had been issued

• Weeks after the "Pants on the Ground" video became popular thanks to American Idol a billboard campaign against the style of sagging pants was launched in the Dallas, Texas, area

  • The campaign is the brainchild of Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine R. Caraway

  • Mayor Caraway said, "This is not just a teenage problem," Caraway says. "There are people sagging ... in their 30s”

• Some townships say they are responding to complaints from “decent families and communities” that believe these belt-less boys are disrespecting their elders, and furthermore, that this behavior represents a lack of parental supervision

• Some municipalities proposed laws or resolutions come with penalties followed by possible jail time for repeat offenses

• The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia stated, "In Atlanta, we see this as racial profiling

  • It's going to target African-American male youths

  • There's a fear with people associating the way you dress with crimes being committed

  • The question is,“Would these towns and municipalities selectively enforce it against 17 year old hip hoppers but not against plumbers?

• Another member of the ACLU in Louisiana, chimed in and said these kinds of laws “infringes on young people’s freedom of expression and their privacy rights.” Under the zone of privacy, we have the right to be “let alone.”

• Is sagging serious enough for a fine?

• What happened to our First Amendment right to freedom of speech and expression?

  • It’s unconstitutional to dictate how low my pants go because the government has no “compelling interest” in determining the bagginess or sagginess of my trousers

• David Bositis, a senior political analyst for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank that focuses on issues related to black Americans said,:

  • "Their [lawmakers] intent is to show that they're looking to maintain or restore order"

  • The low-slung style was inspired by the beltless pants worn by prison inmates

  • It spread through the hip-hop music community to urban neighborhoods and then to the suburbs

  • The style is predominantly worn by black youth, according to Bositis

• "These types of ordinances are obviously aimed at African-American male youth," says Holly Dickson, staff attorney for the ACLU in Arkansas, who warns attempts to enforce them could bring court challenges over racial profiling

New York Senator Campaigns Against Sagging Pants

• State Senator Eric Adams is making headlines with his new “Stop The Sag” campaign encouraging young men to “raise their image” and stop sagging their pants

• He used $2,000 of his campaign funds to place six billboards with pictures of men sagging with their underwear showing across Brooklyn that say:

  • “Stop The Sag” and

  • “We Are Better Than This”

  • “Raised trousers mean raised respect”

• He compares the trend to stereotypes that have been placed on Black culture such as Sambo and other debasing imagery

• According to Adams it's not a fashion trend but a “degrading and self imposed icon”

• Senator Adams added:

  • “Our communities have turned almost into minstrel shows”

  • “In my 22 years of policing, there was a common denominator”

  • “The first indicator that your child is having problems is the dress code”

• Is this just another case of words falling on deaf ears?