For a small but increasing number of Americans, the song “Pull Your Pants Up!” by gospel rap artist Dooney “Da Priest” is not just a song.
“It’s a movement,” as the rapper told the Jackson Clarion Ledger of Mississippi last week after his album “Pull Your Pants Up!” released.
And with new laws recently passed or being considered in a handful of U.S. cities, it might be.
In the south Chicago suburb of Lynwood, village leaders have passed an ordinance that would levy $25 fines against anyone showing three inches or more of their underwear in public.
In Flint, Mich., the city’s police chief has directed his officers to arrest people wearing pants or shorts below their waists or buttocks, and issue misdemeanors, citing the city's disorderly conduct and indecent exposure laws.
And in Riviera Beach, Fla., local police are now able to act on the so-called "saggy pants" law that was put on the books in March after a legal glitch was fixed Wednesday night.
The southeast Florida city had adopted the controversial ordinance just months after nearby Opa-locka became one of the first U.S. cities to ban saggy pants in certain public facilities.
"It's going to be a new day, a great day," Riviera Beach Mayor Thomas Masters told WPTV-Ch. 5. "We hope our young people have gotten the message loud and clear that it is against the law in this city to walk around indecently."
Some – such as the Rev. Jerry Young of New Hope Baptist Church in Jackson, Miss., where an ordinance has been proposed to make it illegal to wear pants below the waistline "as to expose one's underwear" – say it’s a matter of morality.
"It's indecent and improper and our wives, mothers, daughters and sisters in the community don't want to see it," he told the Clarion Ledger.
City Councilman Kenneth Stokes, who proposed the sagging ban in Jackson after talking with Young, further told the newspaper: "Young people are emulating the dope boys, gang bangers and criminals they see and the community doesn't want them to go down that road."
There are some, however, who oppose the “movement.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, for example, said the new policy in Flint gives police authority to conduct unconstitutional searches and seizures, promotes racial profiling, violates due process and interferes with individuals' freedom to express themselves in their appearance.
"Given that Flint has one of the highest crime rates in the country, you would think the police chief would be fighting crime instead of the latest fashion fad," said Michael J. Steinberg, legal director of the state ACLU, according to the Detroit Free Press.
In Jackson, high school senior Greg Sims told the local newspaper he thinks it is “foolish” that the city council is even considering the ban.
Bryan Collins, a sophomore at Holmes Community College in Jackson, also said he didn’t support the ban, though he agrees that those who “get outrageous with sagging” deserve to be fined.
Despite protests and opposition, radio personality Torrez Harris of Hallelujah 95.5 FM in Jackson, one of several radio stations across the nation that plays Dooney’s song, claims support for the “Pull Your Pants Up” movement is strong.
"For every negative person that calls in about the 'Pull Your Pants Up' song, at least 20 positive people call in support of the song and its message," he told the Clarion Ledger.
In South Carolina, the Jasper County Council's proposed sagging pants ban will be up for public discussion Monday during a public hearing and second reading.
The proposed ordinance would ban anyone from wearing their pants more than 3 inches below their hips "and thereby exposing his or her skin or intimate clothing."
The ordinance carries a maximum penalty of $500 and 30 days in jail, reported county attorney Marvin Jones, according to the local Beaufort Gazette.
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Comments
We had a gym teacher who would go behind guys and pull their 'low riders' down. After all, the rules said your pants had to stay up!
The best one was a kid who robbed a store and was caught quickly during the chase when his pants fell down....
Now, as for how they stay up. It's all in the hips. Ever notice guys with staight sides (bean poles) don't wear their pants that way?
In the words of my wife...crack kills....
ifeelfine, do you realize you contradicted yourself in your one post, you said you agree with cuc, but then you say that if your kids came home dressed a certain way you'd be upset. What is the difference between your kids wearing saggy pants or wearing a robe and sandals?
CUC - I believe you are right on. I've met some good souls that didn't dress the way I want my kids to dress. Every generation has something that the previous generation disapproves of. And quite frankly, I would be equally disturbed if they came home wearing long flowing robes, a rope belt and sandals.
cuc, I don't think the saggy pants are the issue it's the "bad moon rising" that is a result of the saggy pants that is the issue.
I don't think saggy pants is a matter of holiness. Let's not alienate a whole group of people just because we don't like how they dress.
Part of impacting kids for Christ is teaching holiness and modesty.
I agree with most people that "saggy pants" are weird, but it bothers me that there are Christians more concerned with pulling up these kids' pants then trying to impact them for Christ.
Does anyone here know exactly HOW these pants stay up, even when they are far below the returning curve to the back of the legs? I mean, are there suspenders hidden somewhere? I almost asked a youngster on the street a few weeks ago, but I was afraid he would think I was a dirty old man.
It's great to know that one Christian Rapper isn't selling out, I hope T-Bone with rethink his mission.
"Once Bone-A-Fide hits the streets, so does T-Bone on a tour that will surely take him back to places he has already visited such as Australia, India, Africa, Holland, Amsterdam, Germany, Sweden, Bolivia, Italy, Saint Tropez, Paris, Peru, Argentina and Salvador. He's even played every state in the U.S., including ultra-conservative Wyoming, Nebraska and Montana! "I've done up to 250 shows a year. The benefit is I've become a great entertainer. I've been all over the world in front of 15,000 people a night.â
âThe reason I have to expand beyond âgospel/hip hop,ââ T-Bone concludes, âis when people hear that term, their guard goes up. I don't want to alienate people. I don't want a Muslim or a Hindu to hear music on my CD and say, âThat's not where I'm at. I serve another God.â My music is for everybody. God is for everyone. Love is for everyone. I made a universal record everybody can bang without a barrier restricting you from listening freely.â
âIt's time for me to step out in front of the masses, get in the game with the best. I've got my armor and I'm fully equipped!â
âThis how we raise the little children of America / To grow up and be criminals, rapists and bomb terrorists / From the second theyâre born, innocent but torn / Between these two worlds fighting for souls, like a tug-a-war / Whoâs keeping score, got juveniles in the morgue / While killasâ winning awards and steady praising The Lord, they cheer and roar / Ego-trippinâ has gotta stop / Gotta shine and rhyme in His name instead of Hip-Hop!â
from "Let That Thang Go" (written by T-Bone)
Pull up your pants, put your hat on straight, and be a man.