September 26, 2007
Sisters, we need to
come to a meeting of
the minds about a
dress code. I am not talking
about what looks “cute.” I
am talking about what is
appropriate.
When Paul Quinn College
President Michael Sorrell
said he was instituting a
business casual dress code
for students and faculty,
everyone had opinions about
the validity of the code.
The dress code didn’t
bother me. I have been
teaching classes at Paul
Quinn since 2000, and I have
always encouraged/demand-
ed/requested that my stu-
dents adhere to a dress code.
“You must be a communi-
cations major” or “You must
be in Ms. Smith’s class”
would be the comments my
students would hear.
And don’t think for one
moment that my code was
readily accepted by every-
one. To his credit, then-
president Lee Monroe under-
stood what I was trying to
accomplish and backed me
100 percent.
Students tried to buck me.
Some changed their majors,
saying that communications
or journalism was not for
them if they had to conform.
“That is so sad,” I admon-
ished them. “Here you are
changing the course of your
life because you don’t want
to dress, and in the working
world you will adhere to
some type of code.”
One of the students who
gave me the most grief is
now working and following
a dress code as he asks, “may
I take your order, please?”
Now I agree with activist
Dick Gregory when he says
that we should not judge
people by the clothes they
wear.
“Hitler never wore
sagging pants or a baseball
cap and look at what he did,”
said Mr. Gregory.
Unfortunately, however,
society looks at our youth
and determines their worth
by how they are dressed.
Years ago my niece
wanted to wear Daisy Dukes
(those really short shorts you
might have called “hot
pants”) to school on a Friday.
She looked really cute in her
Daisy Dukes, but I refused to
let her wear them because I
wanted her to distinguish
play clothes and what I
called her “work” clothes.
She needed to understand
that school was her job.
We tend to act a certain
way when we have on
different outfits, and I didn’t
need her running around the
classroom acting as though
she were at a playground.
Unfortunately the attire
that makes a dress code or
uniforms necessary runs the
spectrum from pajamas to
club wear. For some the
clothing is so vulgar you
might feel inclined to look
around for a pole. Others
might as well be hanging out
on the street corner.
Now let’s be real about
this whole dress code at Paul
Quinn College. Sadly, the
school does not get the
respect it so deserves. Some
of the brightest students I
have run across have walked
that campus. They can
compete!
Folks will focus on their
attire, and we must accept
this as a reality.
We must also accept that
people will try to devalue the
Black Experience--Black
colleges, Black businesses,
Black doctors, Black politi-
cians, Black preachers,
Black communities, etc.
And this devaluing comes
not just from white folks and
others, but Black folks, too.
When Black colleges
were all we could attend, we
went proudly. The thought
of going to a doctor other
than a Black one didn’t enter
our minds. No one could
pray us into heaven like a
Black preacher. When we
couldn’t go anywhere to eat
but Black-owned restaurants,
we went gladly—that is until
desegregation, or as some
like to say—integration.
As a proud graduate of
one of our historically Black
colleges and universities,
I’ve heard Blacks and
Whites try to discredit my
college experience. You see,
I couldn’t possibly get into a
prestigious predominantly
white school even though I
walked out of one of those
predominantly white institu-
tions with a graduate degree
and a 3.8 GPA--thanks to that
undergraduate experience
and undergirding at FAMU!
My people, you need to
understand that you are held
to a different standard.
Forget about what folks are
wearing on predominantly
white campuses. Thinking
that you are the same is what
has gotten so many people in
trouble and some killed. It’s
not right, but it is real.
There are some people
who see our HBCUs as a
bunch of negro colleges-- not
deserving of any support.
And we get the same
behavior and funky attitude
from alumni who refuse to
support their alma maters.
At least when visitors
come to Paul Quinn the
students will have a chance
to show what they are
working with, instead of
being written off because
they look like they are about
to commit a felony or they
are on hoochie patrol.
This weekend Grambling
and Prairie View A&M
Universities will be in town.
Every Black college alum
should be at the game—with
a ticket they purchased.
Black people should support
the game. Sports fans should
support the game. The
stadium should be sold out
and both schools will benefit.
And guess what? You can
wear whatever you desire.
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