Obama's dress code: 'Pull up your pants'

by David Zucchino

DURHAM, N.C. - When candidate Barack Obama told MTV viewers in November that "brothers should pull up their pants," Kent Williams Jr. was thinking the same thing.

Williams, the student body president at North Carolina Central University, was weary of seeing young men show up in class wearing do-rags, pajama bottoms or pants drooping over their rear ends. He proposed information cards that show the right - and wrong - ways to dress for class.

The historically black college plans to distribute the cards, which will suggest proper campus and professional attire, to all students. Using students as models, the cards also depict campus "don'ts": droopy pants, do-rags, gold chains and other totems of hip-hop culture.

Students at some historically black colleges say they began rebelling against such crimes of fashion long before Obama spoke up. But they also say that Obama's grace and fashion flair on the campaign trail has made it easier to persuade other young blacks to trade street sloppy for business cool.

And now that Obama is the president, his coolly elegant style is helping galvanize an evolving hip-hop generation backlash against thuggish or sloppy attire.

See the report on Obama's impact on dress in the Los Angeles Times and here:

Referring to sagging pants, Obama told an MTV audience on Nov. 2: "You are walking by your mother, your grandmother, your underwear is showing. Come on ... some people might not want to see your underwear - I'm one of them."

Williams, a well-dressed senior, said he was heartened by Obama's comments.

"We're all looking to him for guidance," Williams said. "He sends a message that you don't have to be walking around with your pants hanging down to be somebody."

Williams wore slim black slacks, a gray sports shirt and a trim black jacket. He sat across from a sign at the student government office that read: "This is a place of business. Please treat it as such."

Williams got the idea for the cards from another historically black college, Winston Salem State University. After that school issued fashion cards last year, campus attire improved markedly, said LaMonica Singleton of the school's career services office.

"Rather than beat them over the heads, we let the cards emphasize professional attire - and students have responded," Singleton said.

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One fashion card at Winston Salem State depicts a young man in a ball cap, saggy pants, gold chains and a T-shirt with the image of a handgun. Another card shows one young woman in a short, tight skirt and clinging blouse, and another wearing pajama bottoms, slippers and a shower cap. These are the "Campus Attire DON'TS." The cards also advise: "Please use appropriate language when in public - offensive language can be as detrimental as inappropriate dress."

The "Campus Attire DO's" cards show young men and women wearing slacks and sport shirts. "Business Professional" and "Business Casual" cards feature students in business suits or slacks, with tucked-in shirts and blouses.

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Mark Anthony Neal, a professor of black popular culture at Duke University, calls do-rags and sagging pants "a residue of something that doesn't really exist any more." That street style peaked a few years ago, he said. Such hip-hop icons as Jay-Z and Sean Combs are now more likely to sport formal evening wear or designer business suits.

But by providing "the visibility of an alternative image of black masculinity," Neal said, Obama has accelerated a trend toward dressing sharp and professional.

"It makes perfect sense that you would have young African-American strivers wanting to model and emulate President Obama," a paramount symbol of black achievement, said Neal, author of "New Black Man: Rethinking Black Masculinity."

Long before Obama appeared on the national stage, Neal said, student leaders at historically black schools such as Howard University and Morehouse College viewed themselves as "trendsetters for a more respectable image of African-American culture." They've been dressing in business suits or dresses for years, he said.

At N.C. Central, a few students have complained that the dress cards undermine individuality and self-expression, Williams said. But others said they have long been offended by sloppy, "street" or "gangsta" attire on campus.

"When guys wear their pants below their behinds, that irritates me," said Jahara Davis, 20, a junior. "I do not want to see the color of your drawers. That's disrespectful."

As Obama came to national attention, Davis said, she noticed young men dressing better. "They're thinking: maybe we don't have to look like we're a product of where we come from. We can look better," she said.

Jasmine Bell, 20, an N.C. Central junior, said she and other young black women are trying to emulate first lady Michelle Obama.

"I look up to her - she's awesome," Bell said. "Barack and Michelle Obama give us all the inspiration to go out and carry ourselves with respect."

Constance B. Roberson, the school's student activities director, said she doesn't expect a return to the early 1960s, when Central students wore suits and dresses and women could wear pants only on Saturdays. But she does hope the cards promote "neatness and respect," she said.

Marcus Donovan Waters, an N.C. Central senior dressed in a bulky coat and baggy pants worn well above his hips, said the dress cards don't impinge on students' freedom of expression. He said he is preparing a campus fashion show of styles that can be adapted to individual tastes but are still respectful.

"When you wear your pants hanging off your tail, you're portraying a stereotype of African-Americans," Waters said. "It's disgraceful to your race."

Arthur Jennings, another N.C. Central senior, suggested a more practical reason to dress neatly.

"There are (job) recruiters on campus all the time, so you better look your best," Jennings said. "You never know who you'll meet. You might even meet Barack Obama."