17-year-old Marsel Houston of Kingston said he doesn’t like taking his hat off in school, but, “If that’s the rules, I’ve got to obey,” he said.

"The police is the biggest gang." (in Kingston, NY)

Cracking the (dress) code

Are dress codes that restrict huge T-shirts and the sort of head-wear associated with black culture right?

No, said Kingston barber shop owner Brian Coley, moments after he finished cutting a Kingston High School student's hair. To outlaw traditionally black garb by claiming that it encourages gangs and crime just adds to the insult, he said.

"Forcing people to dress differently doesn't solve the problem, it only cloaks the problem," Coley said, brushing clippings from his first-chair slot at the Broadway shop, Up in the Cut.

A few blocks away, taking a break from preparing for the new school year, Kingston High School Principal Marie Anderson defended her school's anti-baggy shirt, anti-baggy pants, anti-"do-rag" dress code. Still, she concurred with Coley's belief that the absence of gang-linked clothing won't eliminate gang influences.

"To a certain extent, I have to agree with that," said Anderson. "That's why we didn't necessarily go into a dress code because of a gang problem. We went into a dress code because we wanted to establish a standard of appearance in preparation for school."

While the do-rag restriction is hip hop- or gang-related, many of the other dress code restrictions cull other perceived negatives, such as those brought into youth culture by mighty white musicians.

http://thehudsonvalleyfreeman.blogspot.com/2006/08/police-is-biggest-gang-in-kingston-ny.html

I never realized just how much the "black cah-mune-ah-tee" hates the police!

MAN would I LOVE to hear Chain get this barber on the phone and get some audio of the conversation!

-Jim