Baggy pants ban aimed at black youth

My wife and I visited the new Power & Light district this past Sunday and were in complete shock of how blatantly racist the dress code is at some of the restaurants. It's not even so much about the baggy pants as it is about the dress code as a whole. What really took the cake for us was the plain white tees? I guess all blue or red T-Shirts is ok? I thought I had seen it all until I saw the ball caps restriction,"ball caps must be worn full forward or full backward." I probably would have been ok with either no ball caps or only ball caps full forward. Hmm lets think about this one a little, which demographic has a good number of men that like to where their cap tilted to the side? The no work boots restriction was humorous as well. Why don't they just come out and say it, "No Timberlands!"

We did observe a couple of obvious dress code violations as we observed the people sitting in these restaurants there were a couple of people with cutoff tee shirts and other with holes in the knees of their jeans. I guess if your where flip flops it makes this outfit ok? Flips flops are not banned by the way.

I am a suburban white male and this dress code makes me not want to ever step foot in any of these establishments. Now imagine how those feel whom this dress code was obviously intended to keep out?

Yael, I used to think You were halfway intelligent. Not any more.

It was the "Black Youth" that almost put Westport out of business many years ago.

Let's make darn sure that the dress code is in full force on the 17th of March. No baggy pants, no goth looks,and no women half dressed. If this is not about race then let's make sure that no is offend by any ones appearance. No saggin or baggin on the 17th St. Paddy's Day or your OUT!

Do people in "gangsta pants" (be they black, white, blue, red or green) bring in more money than they run off? I would guess not.

I'd hazard a guess that smokers deter fewer people than those who wear baggy pants and the rest of the accoutrements of violence. I support the right of a business to ban them. The cry of "I was discriminated against because I dressed like a sociopath" does not gain my sympathy.

What would you do, Yael? Commentary is cheap. Invest your own money in an area like that and let's see how well you do as a businessman.

Beauty is skin deep but DUMBTH is clear to the bone

I don't care what color people are wearing the baggy drawers I am sick of seeing everyone's undies. Come on let the fad fade away. Pull your britches up already. It doesn't look smart or fashionable. In fact the look is way out of fashion now and looks stupid. Plus how safe is it really to have to walk with your legs bowed out to keep your pants on or having to always hold your pants up. I doubt seriously they will be able to enforce this in the Light District but good luck.

Irrelevant to me, Yael, though thank you for discerning the racial inference for us all. I'm one of those white surbanites you're referring to, and I know from the history of the KC Star articles that suburbs are generally made fun of and sneered at culturally. We're also not liked because KC hasn't found a way to reliably tax us yet (remember Bi-State II?) and they're running out of local dollars to mismanage. Given that dislike and their attitude, why the hell would I want to spend a nickel in the KCPL P&L district? I mean, we've been told long and hard what a lousy lifestyle we lead, how racist we are and how mean we are for not coughing up various taxes schemed up by the KC Metro area, so I'd also have to be pretty damn dumb to boot to happily give you my hard-earned entertainment dollars.

So moralize away, I don't care what the size of anyone's pants are since I will never be caught dead there anyway - bad choice of words?

I won't speculate on Cordish's motive(s) for the dress code. It wouldn't surprise me if it were entirely based on racial or class lines (noting many white kids who still sport the baggy jeans look). Nonetheless, when you watch this video, you can see that it might be based, at least in part, on security concerns:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgSl0hQsjJ8

I disagree. This does not seem to be aimed at young black males because many young white males wear baggy pants, too.

PRIVATE businesses, schools, etc. have dress codes. KC dance clubs have rules, not only about wearing shirts and shoes, but what kind of shirts and shoes are admissible. I don't see how a PUBLICLY financed area can make up these sorts of rules, too. As to why they're doing this (to calm white suburbanites fears about coming downtown), a mere dress code won't solve that. Scared white people won't be looking at pants, but at skin color. No dress code will change that mentality.

Forget all that and have them get rid of the scary goth people. I think of Helter Skelter when I see them and I am afraid. I can't enjoy the company, conversation, or a nice glass of wine while looking at spikes protruding from someones nose, lips and eyebrows. Please help rid public places of these eyesores.

Throw the bums out. When they learn to dress themselves let them return.
When you are defiant to society or weak enough to go along with the crowd, it shows in your dress, actions and words. Normal people would rather shop where you aren't. Businesses have a right to protect their reputations and customers, so if it takes a little profiling to get the job done,
its fine by me.

So are you saying black people can't dress nicely? Isn't that a racist thing to think?

No one wants to see this:

http://www.scootutopia.com/photos/baggy_pants_gone_too_far.jpg

!

There are just as many white youth who sag as blacks. Have you been to any public school lately? Skate park?