Empowered Citizens of North Lawndale (ECONL) wants the local indecent exposure ordinance amended. For ECONL members, Chicago young men who walk around with their “butts out” and saggy pants hanging down offend most people. Empowered Citizens of North Lawndale want the forty-nine city council members and the alderman of the 24th ward to amend the Indecent Exposure Ordinance.
In New York, Judge Ruben Franco noted that, “The trend of wearing pants well below the waistline is believed to have its roots in this country’s prison system where inmates are issued uniforms which are often too big and the wearing of belts is prohibited due to safety concerns.”
Did the prison inmate trend become acceptable in our community because we wanted to be sympathetic toward our ex-offenders?
In September 2010, Mayor Phil Best of Dublin, Georgia, signed an amendment to the municipality’s indecent exposure ordinance prohibiting the wearing of pants or skirts more than three inches below the top of the hips exposing the skin or undergarments. Exposure due to baggy clothing is now in the same category as masturbation, fornication and urination in public places.
Those caught with their “pants on the ground” won’t just have to pull them up… they’ll have to pay up, too. Violators could face fines up to $200.
Yes, people have the right to dress and wear whatever he or she chooses, but it should not be offensive to the public at large.
“We the people” are not going to be lulled into the belief that “butts out” and saggy pants are acceptable dress.
Parents must be held accountable for the way their children dress. In his address to the “saggy pants” and uneducated boys on the corner Bill Cosby said, “We, as black folks, have to do a better job,” he stated. “We have to start holding each other to a higher standard.”
As Empowered Citizens of North Lawndale, we want our local politicians to pass an amended ordinance outlawing these butts out “indecent exposure” dress because the current ordinance does not address this issue.
