I had an encounter with sagging pants the other day as I walked to work. In front of me was a young kid with very low slung jeans. One hand was pulling a dolly while the other was carrying a box. Neither were free to hoist up his jeans that wriggled lower and lower with each step. So, instead the boy took to walking like he’d just gotten off a horse; big, wide bent-knee strides. The pants managed to stay up, but it seemed like a lot of work. Regardless of this humorous anecdote, this really isn’t a problem that requires government involvement. Russell Simmons agrees.
Do we need a government campaign to stop boys from wearing saggy pants? No. The government has enough involvement in our lives. The last thing we need is to be taking fashion advice from politicians. I’m pretty sure there are better uses for the $20,000 New York State Senator Eric Adams spent on billboards promoting his campaign. Simmons called the billboards “wrong-headed” and “a waste of time,” saying that they are an example of adults trying to suppress the creativity of kids. Whoa! Let’s reel it back in a little, Russell. A kids’ creativity is not directly linked to the amount of underwear showing over his pants. But he’s on-point about how absurd the campaign is.
What is Sen. Adams’ ultimate goal? To make saggy pants illegal? Sure, its a ridiculous style, but to make it criminal? That’s even more ludacris. Even President Obama commented on the style during his campaign, but said ordinances attempting to ban sagging pants are, say it with me now, “a waste of time.”
Didn’t Russell Simmons kinda make a mint off this “fashion look”? Senator Adams hasn’t spent a cent of government money on this, so get your facts straight before you go off on him. This “fashion look” is about men in prison, where they can’t where belts. People like Simmons are disgusting, trying to sell that as an image to imitate. Make our kids look like hos and prison inmates—yeah, real good on that, Simmons!
And you, saying people shouldn’t tell kids what to wear, like you aren’t in the fashion industry that does exactly that! Reality check, Twirler!
As Nikesha urges, get your facts straight! The Senator spent TWO thousand dollars, NOT twenty thousand, on the billboards. Also, what’s actually most “ludacris” are the answers you give to your own questions. The Senator has stated clearly that the saggy pants issue is NOT a legislative matter. He is NOT criminalizing the sag, he’s merely urging that it be abandoned. If you are going to respond to your very own questions, Kendra, why not give intelligent answers? Lastly: competent indivduals can multitask. Senator Adams probably attends to a dozen other issues while he tries to “stop the sag”!
Nikesha and Mike, if it was $2,000 and not $20,000 that Sen. Adams spent, then I apologize for the error. I took my information from a NYMag.com story, which still currently states the sum at $20,000. But it does look as if it’s actually $2,000. Nikesha, before you “go off” on me for not checking my facts, check your own. I never said in my article that Sen. Adams spent “government” money on this campaign. And, yes, I do know this style originated in prisons. But, no one “makes our kids look like hos and prison inmates” except the kids who decide to wear the clothes. And Mike, some municipalities have tried to ban this style. Which is why I spoke about it being made illegal. But, I apologize, my comment about Sen. Adams making it illegal was speculation. Point is, there shouldn’t be billboards taken out against every trend, style or poor choice that could maybe/possibly harm the image of a certain culture, race, gender, community or age group. But that’s what it will come to if more politicians take from Sen. Adams’ example. What’s next, anti-tattoo PSAs? Let’s focus on the real issues.