Yesterday, entering the Power & Light district to attend this year's Bloomsday celebration at Raglan Road, I spied with my little eye this here notice.
This controversial dress code has been in the media a lot, but I'd never actually seen it in black and white (pun) ...
And now I realize how hysterically racist it is.
No towels? I guess intergalactic hitchhikers are screwed. Seriously, I like vaguely remember black dudes on my college campus 10 years ago walking around with towels, but they were probably athletes. Clearly, whenever the Cordish people last saw a black guy carrying around a towel purely as an accessory, it left a traumatic impression. The same goes for the awesome dookie rope, which I think everyone should wear.
Most alarming is the middle-school-gym-class precision with with the dress code enforcers have pinpointed the attire of young urban males and laid it out there plain as day. As one coworker points out, a white guy with a fitted white shirt and puka shell necklace would most certainly be allowed in.
For some reason, for me, declarative signage and posted notices often brings to mind William Carlos Williams' famous poem "This Is Just to Say," which goes:
This Is Just To Say
by William Carlos Williams
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
Taking inspiration from that and using this particular printout of the dress code, on which someone has written "7 Mary 3" (who played KC Live on June 11), I have made my own dress code notice, with, of course, apologies to the non-evil WCW.
This Is Just to Say
by William Cordish Williams
I have figured out
how you dress
black man
you cannot
come see
7 Mary 3
because
of your towel
forgive me
you are scary
so baggy clothed
and so gangsta
Showing 1-9 of 9
I am a black woman and I believe in the current dress code in the Power & Light District. I am 41 and I want the option of going to a nice classy area of town to get my 2-step on. I attended Mosaic last weekend and the crowd was absolutely beautiful and well mannered. Ladies were dressed in their sexy dresses lookin' fly and the gentlemen were dressed casual to dressy and looked very neat and appealing. I enjoyed the atmosphere overall. (I did see a few t-shirts but they were not white tees, and its possible they had something on over the shirt just for entrance purposes only. Mosaic is a sexy, classy club, with a rather extensive age group. I'm sure I saw peopole form the ages of 21 to 61. Only dilemma I see at the Power & Light District is the long winding stairs. I would think that after a few drinks, the stairs would become an obstacle course for heavy drinkers.
Eddy Haskel
As far as the towel goes, I used to dance with a group three times a week. Many of us had towels, and honestly, when you're doing all that dancing and some people even drink, whether white or black, the towel comes in handy just to wipe the sweat. For me, going to the club and dancing is my work out for the week. I don't think too many people want to dance next to someone that is sweaty. All people sweat and have sweat glands, it's just proper hygiene in my opinion.
this is beyond retarded.... I understand the dress code in the specific bars, but to say we cant wear a white t shirt on the streets that our tax dollars help to build? Please. White skater kids who smoke pot tend to wear etnies or DCs... should those be banned? It is very subtly racist and anyone who denies this I believe is secretly in favor of such sanctions. The security measures are preemptive and presumptious, why dont they instead just kick out the trouble when the trouble happens instead of singleing out a specific group, i.e. urban males who for the most part tend to be black. I wonder if mini skirts are allowed where shorts arent, and I also wonder if women can wear dresses that go past their calf muscles. Not only is this racist, it's also very sexist. BTW I'm a white guy and this is how I feel. This whole city is totally underdeveloped culturally, and I cant wait to move.
this is ridiculous to say this is based on race. a stereotype, perhaps, but an all encompassing stereotype. maybe it's because black people mainly associate with other blacks out here, and whites with whites, but i see plenty of white dudes fitting these guidelines. and you know what? they probably WOULD NOT be let in. know why?
the men that decide whether or not you get in to the power and light district, by overwhelming majority, ARE BLACK! i have been several times and had the black security guard tell a male friend, once a hispanic friend, once a white friend, that they either needed to remove jewelry or tuck in a shirt.
this is race drama that needs to be left on stage, not taken home and dispersed. quit looking for shit to start shit over.
This American Life dedicated a whole segment recently to this poem. It's pretty brilliant: http://www.thisamericanlife.or...
Meanwhile, here's another:
This is Just to Say
I have banned you
from my
cookie-cutter property
which looks like
fake downtowns everywhere
What I should have banned
was developments like this
that sprout up
as if planted by
an evil seed
I am sorry
I left you out
and kept you wondering,
Am I in Kansas City
or Kentucky?
The dress code is necessary to keep the P&L District from ending up like Westport. I'm not racist one bit but how often to you hear about a "white guy with a fitted white shirt and puka shell necklace" shooting someone??? Ok maybe if it's in a mall or a school but other than that... I'm just saying this is not a racist issue till all of you make it one. I see pleanty of whites who wear clothes that they appear to have bought in hopes of having a major growth spurt in the near future. And yes, those are usually the morons who want to shoot someone or fight someone. If you don't want to be a part of a stereotype then don't put yourself in that stereotype. Otherwise, stop complaining!
This is the most racist thing I've seen in a long time. Most more progressive places have been pushed to institutional racism, while KC is still practicing the overt variety. I'm speechless, this is despicable! People, especially black people should be up in arms!!!!
this was funny, and it pissed me off. power and light just needs to . . . stop. please. i've noticed that westport has a greater percentage of black people, now, and i'm glad they're supporting local business instead of this cordish crap.
Does the black community not have access to stores that sell regular size clothing? It seems that for every well dressed brotha out there, there are 15 wannabes that aren't able to buy clothes that fit. Why? And what the hell is with the towels? Does it work like a big napkin? Is KC short on male role models for these young bucks?
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