Admittedly, this is one of the most difficult topics I have ever written about because I challenge my own intrinsic nature to judge right and wrong. But I’ve never been afraid of a good challenge.
The topic is new dress codes at Black universities. Are these dress codes an attack on Black culture - or do the dress codes establish requirements meant to give students a better chance of success after they graduate?
Here is the issue: Black students wearing bonnets, pajamas, and bedroom slippers to class and around campus. This is something that is a common t sight at Walmart and in grocery stores or at malls. The question is - does the wearing of nocturnal apparel in public condemn cultural norms in the Black community or does it cause a negative judgement of those who wear this apparel on college campuses and in public?
Since the topic is about a possible new dress code on the Southern University campus - let’s focus this on wearing nocturnal apparel on campus.
It’s obvious that college students are young adults and should be allowed certain freedoms when it comes to their expression in the form of their attire - but is it detrimental for students to wear bonnets, p.j.’s, or slippers to class and around campus?
Southern University Chairman Attorney Tony Clayton said when he realized that some Historically Black Colleges and Universities [HBCU] were adopting new dress codes - it occurred to him that it might be a good idea for Southern University to follow suit. After walking through the campus, recently, Clayton thought his university could use a new dress code - which he proposed in a meeting last Friday.
Generally speaking - a new dress code at Southern would ban: wearing bonnets, pajamas, bedroom slippers, and overly revealing tops and bottoms.
For those who may not know - a bonnet is a satin or silk head covering traditionally worn by Black women overnight to protect textured, curly, coiled, braids, and locs in hair from breaking and losing moisture on surfaces like pillow cases. If you are not Black - you may have no understanding about how complicated hair maintenance is for Blacks. Wearing a bonnet is not always about being casual - it’s about protecting the hair.
Tuskegee University has already implemented a new dress code banning the aforementioned items. Dr. Mark A. Brown - President of Tuskegee University - said the dress code is really about giving the students a “solid foundation for the workforce they will enter once they leave Tuskegee.”
What do some of the students at Southern University think about a possible new dress code? Here are comments from a few students interviewed for an article for WBRZ in Baton Rouge:
- “Maybe not an extreme dress code, but definitely like what shirts you could wear, and bottoms should not half show your buttocks, and like you should not have a lot of cleavage showing.”
- “I’ve seen far too many students on campus come outside of the dorm in things that shouldn’t be worn outside of the dorm.”
- “I see people wear bonnets and pajamas to class all the time.”
- “We’re in college, and like, this isn’t high school and I feel like we should dress how we want to dress.”
The possible new dress code at Southern University has fired up the debate over whether certain standards threaten certain cultures. For many, any ban on traditional Black styles is perceived as criticism of Black cultural norms. But are certain standards necessary for respect and success?
As a white guy in the media who consciously strives to be fair and understanding of cultures I am not part of - it is a challenge to justify my opinion. I think wearing bedroom attire in public - or on a college campus - shows a sign of disrespect. But white students have many ways of inviting disrespect, as well, but those are not things that generally attack white culture.
In agreeing with the possible new dress code at Southern University - I am not attacking Black culture. I am recognizing that certain standards can exist without attacking the culture that accepts practices that defy those standards.
For example, a Black or white individual driving a very nice car is part of an accepted standard in American culture that suggests success. Likewise - a Black or white individual driving a beaten up car suggests a lack of success. There are exceptions to this rule - but the rule generally holds up.
So, why would it be different with wearing nocturnal attire on campus or in public? Regardless of who is wearing the nocturnal attire - Black or white - the suggestion is a lack of respect.
College is to prepare for a career and what is taught in the classroom is only part of the lessons that should be learned in school. Overall demeanor - including what to wear - is part of what students should learn.
And standards should not be specific to only one culture. Like driving a nice car - there will always be standards that should be welcomed if there is expectation of success in life without seeing those standards as a threat to a culture.
