Saturday, June 18, 2011
Passenger shot video of "sagging pants" youth kicked off flight
I just watched this video of this young guy who was removed from a Southwest Airlines flight for apparently wearing pants down below his butt and his underwear showing. I have to admit, when I first heard this I was a bit ambivalent about this issue, not this particular case but the issue in general. I saw some youngsters (these were white kids) walking through a train compartment the other day and the last youth's butt and underwear were right out there for all to see as his pants were down by his knees. For a moment I thought this was inappropriate given there were old ladies and it was a public space etc. (this can happen when you get older, you have to fight off creeping conservatism).
When I first read this story I was naturally suspicious as this was a young black man with dreads but again I thought damn, just pull your pants up. But this is the fashion among young people. And we see all sorts of people on aircraft as one guy in the chronicle pointed out. Buxom women in low cut dresses, guys with "plumber cracks" as they call them here, I used to use the term "slot machine" because you could put a quarter in there. And I realized, as absurd as the youngsters look in their underwear, they said the same thing about mini skirts in my time.
It was also pointed out that if this youngster was a rap star they'd have been asking for his autograph. Would they have done the same had he been white? I think its likely but the chances increase when he's young, black and especially wearing dreads. I listened to him in the video above and am inspired by his stand. He stood his ground with dignity and courage and his parents should be so proud of him. I am.
I remember all the years I spent as a Union steward and having to deal with many complaints from black co-workers about various issues. I rarely came across a black worker that used his or her color as a reason for not getting something they felt they deserved unless it was justified, workers don't like getting something that's not on merit and black workers are particular sensitive to it as they are always being blamed unjustly for doing so. We had a clause in our contract and you could file under that clause for discrimination, which or course, is not easy to prove. My advice was always that if the boss didn't give an answer that satisfied your concerns as to why you didn't get that position or whatever, then you are being discriminated against on the basis of your color no matter what they say or how weak the case looks. (same with gender).
Many a young person and particularly a young person of color will tell you what its' like being in a store with that feeling you're being watched all the time like your a thief, because that's what they have to deal with.
This youngster is an impressive guy. I'd like to meet him.
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3 comments:
I agree with you. This guy handled himself well. It's the airline that didn't and no amount of polite professional speak can correct that.
"I see London, I see France; I see someone's underpants!"
Between 1950 and 1959 I heard this chant/taunt fairly often at my first school, E.K.Powe in Durham, NC. Back then in my area of town there WAS no Kindergarten, Elementary School, Middle School, or Junior High. We all went to E.K.Powe for grades 1-9, so I'm unable to "hone down" more precisely the year(s) I heard it.
Back in 1985, my nephew, then 3 years old and still not "potty trained," experienced an intense "art appreciation" moment at the De Young Museum in San Francisco when his two artist parents took him to see an Impressionists exhibit and I tagged along. Because the exhibit was so crowded and my nephew was so short, he rode in a backpack on his father's shoulders. Do you remember that Mary Cassatt (or was it Renoir's?) painting of the two very young children playing in beach sand with bucket and shovel? Remember that tiny bit of white lace exposed beneath the blue dress at the right thigh of the toddler girl seated on the viewer's left? My nephew was TRULY ELATED with his critical artistic discovery, "I see her diaper!" he hollered out with glee, much to the amusement of the ungodly number of art aficianados who were stuffed into that gallery room trying to see the paintings.
I remember also hearing the years-ago chant "It's raining, it's snowing, your petticoat is showing." And, although I can't bear personal witness, most likely there were chiding remarks spoken when a woman's pantaloons were visible below the hem of her dress.
I was quizzical when young women, a few years back, began unselfconsciously to wear brassieres (sp?) that were conspicuously visible underneath their tank tops, bustiers, work-out gear, or whatever. Unless I'm mistaken, lots of such women have recently boarded airplanes I have ridden on without challenge or censure.
So, I wonder, if the TRUE issue is a passenger whose underwear is visible, how can the the very rare and non-uniform application of that criterion be applied to deselect a single passenger from continued travel?
I HAVE seen "low rider" jeans and trousers worn by adults WITHOUT any underwear visible, and with "butt crack" and "cheeks" in plain view. That is a tad more bothersome to me from an aesthetic standpoint than is an en face view of the boxers or briefs of folks sporting the "low-rider" style.
In the "newsworthy" recent event, it seems to me that there are two entirely separate issues. The first is the passenger's attire, WELL within our current cultural norms in my opinion. The second is the passenger's failure to become instantly docile and comply immediately with a directive issued to him by a member of the flight crew in this, our anxiety-ridden post 9/11 age.
Mgt MD RMT
It seems to me the guy did comply. He sat down and that was the end of it. He stated repeatedly that there was no problem. so why the continued harassment? So there is another point beyond the two anon raises. In this day of anxiety ridden post 911 era, what about a young guy wearing low pants caused the concern? Was it that he might belong to Al Qaeda? Is this a bin laden style like the watches that got innocents thrown in to Guantanamo?
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