By Joseph "Jazz" Hayden  (In response to: The Crime of “Saggy Pants”?)

Some say that Black youth subculture has reinforced every negative stereotype attributed to Blacks in   America from slavery to the present?  And that Black entrepreneurs, with the support of governmental and private media forces, have facilitated the creation of a black youth subculture that has been antithetical to everything that blacks have struggled for since our forced kidnapping from the shores of Africa and our subsequent enslavement and brutalization to this very day.    

The transition from a culture of racial pride, unity, and resistance to a culture of ignorance, self-abasement, and widespread fratricide against other people of color did not happen in a vacuum.  

The forties, fifties, and sixties in Harlem was a community of heightened political awareness, i.e., Marcus Garvey movement, Nation of Islam, NAACP, Black Panthers, Young Lords, Father Divine, and Daddy Grace, with a sense of black pride and community.  This was reflected in the politics, religion, activism, and foremost in the music of the times; Jazz, gospel, rhythm and blues, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, and the Temptations.  This was the Civil Rights era, Black Power movement, racial pride, activism, community organizing, Black Nationalism, self-defense, and black students organizing all around the country.  Today’s black youth culture could not have even been imagined then ---- much less gained any traction.  It took governmental policy and its Lap Dog Media to make today’s black youth sub-culture possible.  

It all began with Middle class and professional flight from the inner cities following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  The shift to Suburban development and the flight of jobs and opportunity, which left the abandoned Harlem’s of America filled with those that couldn’t get out, those whom William Julius Wilson, a sociologist, refers to as the “underclass”.  I lived in Harlem then and know from firsthand experience that of which he speaks.  The Harlem I grew up in was a community where strangers said “Good morning” and hospitality was normal and expected.  It was a diverse community of blacks, whites, West Indians, Puerto Ricans, and Asians.  That Harlem went from vibrancy, growing pride, and a sense of community to abandoned buildings, abandoned people, and expanded social control.  Slowly but surely the shift began in the 50’s, accelerated during the 60’s, and reached its peak in the 70’s and 80’s.  Crumbling infrastructure, high unemployment, failing schools, and social isolation led to the expansion of the underclass and the underground economy.   The pushback was mass incarceration fueled by a so called “War on Drugs”; which was in reality a war on people of color.  The result?  Fractured families, fractured communities, and generations of our children brought up in hopelessness and isolation from normalcy and opportunity.  Their sub-culture and music reflected this…  

As I said, our youth’s sub-culture didn’t come out of a vacuum.  In the face of “structural racism and social and economic class inequality” the underclass created its own culture; Hip Hop, Gangster Rap, and the total embrace of the ghetto lifestyle.  The dominant culture wanted to reinforce the color and class lines, our youth said “fine”.  They removed all restraints on the use of the N-Word, it was no longer the line drawn in the sand when used by the members of another group signaling total disrespect and a call to war.  Also, the youth told me “they were sick of love songs”.  Women became B’s and Ho’s.  They chose their heroes and role models from the underclass; drug dealers, pimps and hustlers.  Their dress code imitated what they believed was “prison couture”, i.e. t-shirts, sneakers/boots, and sagging pants.  Their art and music reflected their sub-culture and Black hustlers seized the opportunity.  Hip-hop and Gangster rap was the new drug and the new drug enterprise.  It mattered not how negative the stereotypes they produced and reinforced as long as the hustler got “Paid” (true capitalist).  To some it was the return of the Minstrel Show; Bo Jangles, Step n Fetch, and Little Wayne all rolled up together.  

Well, some are beginning to feel that this sub-culture has run its course; it’s time for change…  All those that profited from the black youth sub-culture have diversified and gone into “legitimate business”, they accumulated a bank and moved on.  It is time to come back to reality.  

The reality is that we have stood by for 40 years and watched silently as our youth have slipped into ignorance and darkness.  Black on black mindless youth violence has become the norm along with the school to prison pipeline, mass incarceration, babies having babies, obesity, poverty, homelessness, and super high unemployment.   We have to stop enabling this sub culture, stop validating and rationalizing it.  Stop turning our heads and acting like we don’t hear the ignorance coming out of the mouths of babies on the subways and buses that we ride, the ignorance that makes us cringe inside. It is time to push back… Silence is Consent!  

Footnote: I totally disagree with the criminalization of our youth for wearing their pants below their waist, exposing their behinds.  It is my position that the community should respond to this youth culture instead of enabling it.  It is up to the community from which the youth come to determine if the current youth sub-culture is a positive or a negative.