Stop the Sag!

New York Senator, Eric Adams wants to make it illegal for Black boys to wear their pants so low that we see their underwear in full view. It's called The Sag. That is, showing your ass. Literally! White boys do it to fit in, while studying for their SAT's. Immigrant boys do it cos from middle to high school, you gotta be Black American before being considered American. And a/g lesbians do it cos they think that's what being 'male' is about.

Grown ass Black men do it cos we think street culture is Black culture.

It's gonna be interesting to see how the Community reacts to this. We weren't outraged when our sons beat up and murdered a Queens Chinese delivery boy. We haven't boycotted video bunnies and minstrel shows. And the nigga word is still yesterday's colored. Some like being niggaz. Some prefer colored. But it's still all Black; even post-slavery fallout. There's a kind of powerlessness that Black parents feel when it comes to our boys. So many forces work against them, generation after generation; system to system. From warehousing schools to record companies who want to control the image of young Black males. They're practically numb, at this point. We're practically numb.

I think it's got to do with the unemployment rate for young Black males being so high, to begin with; the miseducation, and the negative element in our hoods (Black trash) that keep us in fear and victim mode. To get a kid to pull his pants up is a very delicate matter. Because your dumb ass will be told off--if not, shot--if you pick the wrong one at the wrong time! I've been fortunate. The couple of times I've told a young bruh to please pull his pants up some, I've always gotten a certain amount of respect. I don't do anything necessarily different or innovative. I think it's cos I start from a place of no judgment and they sense it, so right away the guns are down. Like most adults, I don't like the whole sagging thing, though I get the part about not giving a fuck. Because that's your way of showing your disappointment and frustration with your parents and Black teachers. You resent them for not having any power. Even after all these decades of Dr. King this and Malcolm X that, Black folks still don't have any power. So you're like, fuk it. It ain't like the other way gets me respect! I get that.

Senator Adams is also introducing a billboard campaign to put the visual to it. I hope it helps. Maybe start the dialogue. And maybe even take a look at how the grown-ups themselves helped create the problem. Richard Pryor had to go to Africa before announcing he would never again use the N word. But most Black folks can't afford traveling to Africa. I don't know where you have to travel to exactly to stop walking like a toddler all over again cos your pants are so low. But thank you, Brotha Eric. Thank you for taking a stand and making a difference!