Image is Everything....

There are two things I want to discuss concerning this "Sagging Pants" issue. First, just recently I saw this story on CNN and how it talked about how many states were considering charging fines for anyone caught with pants sagging. Second in a related incident where we are discussing Image, after this story went off, a second story came on where this woman's son was being bullied and as she was speaking two guys in the barbershop where i was viewing these stories begin to talk about how ghetto this sister was when she is in the hood. Now you might be saying at this point what does any of both of these have to do with each other? Well, we are talking about image and when it comes to the guys concerning the pants sagging, we as afro-american males already have enough stigmas on us by society. They call us lazy, rapiist, drug users as well as pushers, dead beat dads, and above all criminals. And having your clothes hanging all off you to where everything is showing doesn't help the case even more. Now you might be saying they need to get to know you before they judge you, but wouldn't it be wonderful if society really did work that way? But it doesn't, first impressions means alot to many people and when the image they see of you is one of a sloppy, shiftless, thug, then the question is asked, who wants to deal with someone dressed like that in any capacity. They run from you on the streets, police watch you more closely on the streets and in the stores, parents don't want you to have anything to do with their daughters, and the school system just marks you as a lost cause, all because of the "style" you choose to wear. Now you may be saying that I want you to dress "White", and you are far from the truth. dressing decent and making a positive image for yourself does not have a color or race. But it does show that you take pride in yourself and your appearence. How many times have you gone looking for a job and gotten turned down because of your slang and your dress. How many deals have you missed out on because of your hood gear. There is a time and place for you to dress down if you want to call it that, but in todays world when you are dealing with people that want more and expect more out of us, sometimes dressing up is a better option. Now to story 2 then I am going to wrap it up. Again, the guys that knew this young lady were saying how she doesn't anywhere talk like that when she is in the hood. Now my thoughts on this is, Why in hell would she want to get on teleevision and talk as if she is this ignorant black woman and mother. Using imporper speech, double negatives and slang. She did right to get on television and represent herself well in and intelligent manner giving the nature of the situation. Listen, we need to do better, pull our pants up and continue to represent ourselves in a positive manner so that we can get the respect as a man/woman, citizen, and above all as a black person. Lets get the stigmas removed and do what we have to do. If you think image is not everything, go down the street and ask Rob who refuses to dress appropiatelyfor jobs and talks with slang at the interviews and only gets offered the 7 dollar an hour job and see what he tells you. Then go and ask Anthony who wheres the proper atire has a resume' and speaks with intelligence at his interviews and gets offered the 13 dollar an hour jobs and see what he says. We have to do better, Image Is Everything....