Members of Epiphany Baptist Church in Jacksonville asked city officials in late June to consider banning cosmetic gold teeth and low-hanging pants. Church deacon Richard Burton said higher waistlines and whiter smiles could wipe away the thuggish image many young people project -- and that change could help cut unemployment, racial profiling and a rising per-capita murder rates.
While the City Council has yet to discuss Epiphany's proposal, history suggests it won't go far. Lawmakers in Louisiana and Virginia have tried and failed to ban exposed underwear in the past 12 months, and a similar bill died in May in the Florida Senate's Criminal Justice Committee without discussion.
The resolution took shape June 17 in the two-story red brick sanctuary that houses Epiphany, an independent Baptist church of about 250 members. Burton, who serves on the NAACP's national board, led students in the church's mentoring program through a discussion on societal decay. Someone brought up hip-hop culture, which triggered a group diatribe against dental flash and gravitating trousers.
Fashion experts say the pants-sagging trend began in prisons, where officials deprived inmates of belts for fear they'd become weapons. The church's resolution has yet to find a sponsor on the City Council.
1 comment:
For some reason, I don't think that will change anything. It is a very minor symptom of a greater problem.
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