A group of Chicago aldermen are calling on Chicago Public Schools to mandate uniforms in an effort to stop students from wearing their pants slung below their waists.
Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) forged ahead Wednesday with a resolution she introduced about three weeks ago that calls for City Council to discuss ways to reduce this alarming-to-some fashion trend, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Titled "No Dragging and Sagging: Pull Up Your Pants," the resolution calls for the 88 schools that don't currently require uniforms, out of Chicago's 675 schools, to come up with ways to prevent students from wearing the "saggy" style, which some aldermen say interferes with learning, according to ABC Chicago.
While some aldermen expressed concerns that the fashion statement is distracting, others say the trend has more sinister origins.
"The colors that they wear, the type of jeans that they wear, the underwear that they wear--believe it or not--are all related to certain gangs, and we need to stop the influence of gangs here in the city,” Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd) told CBS Chicago.
This isn't the first time saggy pants have come under fire in the city. In late 2011, Empowered Citizens of North Lawndale asked the City Council to fine pedestrians whose waistbands sat more than four inches below their hips.
The American Civil Liberties Union pushed back, arguing that such a law would have a disproportionate racial impact, specifically among African-American men. The NAACP similarly criticized such fines or other attempts to ban saggy pants as inviting racial profiling and violating free speech.