In Atlanta, Georgia, birthplace of Martin Luther King who gave his life for the civil rights movement, it could soon be illegal to wear baggy trousers that show a girl's thong or a boy's boxers riding above the drooping waistline.
One of the southern city's proud councilmen, CT Martin, believes hip-hop pants have become an "epidemic". They are of concern, he says, right across the United States and he wants Atlanta to be the first to say enough is enough. "I don't want young people thinking that half-dressing is the way to go. I want them to think about their future."
Martin's proposed amendment to the city's decency laws would put baggy trousers in the same bracket as sex in public and the exposure or fondling of genitals.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia has been quick to protest,
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Don’t let your undies show
in Atlanta, reports nigel horne. It could cost you
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saying the proposal targets black youth culture. "This is a racial profiling bill," says Debbie Seagraves, the union's executive director.
Councilman Martin's proposal would be easier to dismiss as racist if he wasn't black himself. As for charges of hypocrisy for promoting such a law in a city that happily advertises its strip clubs as a tourist attraction, the councilman isn't saying anything before the first hearing for his amendment before Atlanta's public safety committee tomorrow.
Earlier this year, the burgers of Delcambre, Louisiana, passed a by-law that carries a fine of $500 or six months in jail for exposing underwear in public. But then Delcambre is a town of 2,180 souls - not a vast metropolitan area of five million-plus, the majority of whom are black. 
FIRST POSTED AUGUST 27, 2007 |
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