Brooklyn, New York — Jamal Winslow says he loves his Brooklyn neighborhood. But when he sees young teens sagging their pants, he gets annoyed pretty quickly.
“I don’t want to see another man’s behind,” Winslow said. “It’s like…come on, have some respect for yourself.”
State Sen. Eric Adams thinks he has a solution: billboards that share some of Winslow’s concerns.
The Brooklyn lawmaker used $2000 of his campaign funds to pay for six 22-foot billboards, which he hopes will encourage residents to not only talk about the trend, but do something about it.
“How does a young person know something is wrong if we as adults don’t give them a message of ‘what you’re doing is wrong?’” Adams told MSNBC Monday. “By putting up these billboards, it starts the conversation and it forces us to look at what we’ve been ignoring for far too long.”
Brooklyn resident Mark Jackson says Adams’ stance on ‘sagging pants’ is over the top.
“Well, it’s getting a little blown out of proportion,” said Jackson, 26. “If you tell me I can’t do something, I’m going to do it…especially if I was already doing it. It’s sort-of rebellion.”
Yvonne O’Neil says she often says something to people who she sees with their pants hanging down.
“Wearing your pants saggy says you like the prison look,” O’Neil said. “These young people are conflicted. And it’s not just men, what about the young girls with these thongs showing? It’s a disgraceful.”
The billboards were scheduled to be unveiled Monday, but will be up later this week because of delays.
Follow theGrio’s Todd Johnson on Twitter at @rantoddj
