Before New York State Sen. Eric Adams went into politics he became known for shooting off his mouth about how well the New York Police Department handled its business. As a member of 100 Black Men In Law Enforcement, Adams (above) was always there, standing at a press conference to question actions by the armed people in blue whose job it is to protect the citizenry.
His latest controversial focus is on fashion - and he has become one of those who are dismissed as "the fashion police," meaning adults who are convinced that something is wrong with young black men who walk though the world with their pants down so far that the public is offered more than a peek at their underwear.
In a video called "Stop the Sag," Adams looks handsome and dapper. His command of the language is clear, and an unavoidable seriousness seems to steam up through his superbly chosen dress. He is clearly beyond any kind of simple-minded joke, and unable to be dismissed by anyone anxious to write off those who seem to represent some kind of a diverse threat to the status quo.
The startling point of "Stop The Sag" is that stereotypic and denigrating images of ethnic groups usually come from outside of the group itself. We see a number of the minstrel and anti-Semitic images meant to make Negroes, Jews, and others seem closer to cartoons than humanity. The reductive joke always precedes the boot of the bigot.
Now is another time, Adams makes clear as he proceeds to take on the way that too many young black men have been misled by the opportunistic monsters of hip-hop and the prison world. Adams recognizes that this absurd fashion makes it difficult to give these young men the "respect" that seems to obsess them.
Louisiana legislator Ricky Hardy just had a bill banning the fashion rejected, as it should have been. Having the state restrict freedom is going too far. But public comprehension and condemnation of self-destructive behavior is not too far at all.
We have a popular culture that misleads the young as it bolsters their commitment to narcissism and opposition to authority. The mentality of the American adolescent is that he or she has a right to be respected no matter how offensive what is done might seem to others.
The kids are right in that the freedom to offend is part of our democracy. But no other ethnic group ever concluded that terrible behavior was a version of ethnic authenticity. That is a black American innovation in cultural imbecility.
As rapper Chuck D has observed, when one witnesses young black men screaming the N-word at each other in public places, it is obvious that we have a problem confusing obnoxiousness with authenticity.
The answer to the problem might be far simpler than Eric Adams or anyone else has actually considered. Trying to convince the men might be arguing up the wrong tree.
Once young women cease accepting the "culture" of sagging pants and refuse to go out with men who look like fools, we will all be shocked by just how fast it will all end.
The sensibilities of women are always central to what we call civilization anywhere in the world. Even in the inner city.
NY Daily
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