Musings in Search of a Muse

Normally I don't follow sports, but a story in the news caught my attention. The National Basketball Association (NBA) has issued a dress code equivalent to what is considered "business casual" in corporate America in an attempt to spruce up its image. Players are now required to wear slacks, shoes, and dress shirts while on the clock but may dress however they wish when off the clock. Ordinarily this wouldn't be a story I would follow, but it seems a number of players are upset with it and the comments of one pulled me in:

Indiana Pacers guard Stephen Jackson, contending that a new ban on chains worn over clothing is "a racist statement" from the league, wore every long, diamond-studded chain in his collection Tuesday night as a protest.

Jackson voiced no opposition to the bulk of the "business casual" demands in the NBA's new dress code, but he described the jewelry ban as "attacking young black males."

"I think it's a racist statement because a lot of the guys who are wearing chains are my age and are black," said Jackson, 27. "I wore all my jewelry today to let it be known that I'm upset with it. (source)

Let's get the easy part out of the way. Every employer I've ever had has issued a dress code. Its a darn lax one where I work now, but it is in writing and I can be sent home to change if I manage to find a way of violating it. Every company, agency, retail store, or other establishment that I've frequented -- with the possible exception of some of those strange stores on every other block in Key West during the late 60s and a couple tattoo parlours of late -- has had a dress code. There is absolutely no reason that the NBA shouldn't be allowed to have one. If following a job requirement is too difficult or offends your personal sensibilities so much, then find another line of work. Honestly, I don't enjoy dressing as I did for the picture at right as much as I used to -- and I was never a good dresser anyway -- but I've had to dress like that for various employers and other activities. It was less important than the activity I was engaged in so I lived with it.

Now the hard part: figuring out how the jewelry ban is racist. Just from the statement that the group in question is young black males (emphasis added) tells me the whole race is not involved. In the many pictures and video clips I've seen of prominent black leaders I can't recall once seeing Desmond Tutu, Jessie Jackson, Nelson Mandela, or Kofi Annan bedecked with even one gold chain. Nor do I see many of the black men of any age in my community wearing gold chains. Further, of the young men that I see in public, the ones wearing the most gold chains and trying their hardest to adopt the Hip-Hop look are white or Latino. Females and gold chains? Another issue entirely.

Perhaps I'm missing the point, but I don't see gold chains as part of a racial identity. Of course, I don't really agree with the idea of racial identity anyway. A better term for what Stephen Jackson is describing is cultural identity. Oppressing a beneficial culture is wrong, but the NBA dress code hardly qualifies as suppression, let alone oppression. My employer won't let me wear a kilt to work but I don't feel wronged on behalf of a long line of ancestral Anglos. Gold chains pretty much fall in the same category, I believe. The way Allen Iverson (pictured here) dresses is a personal choice, not a racial inevitability.

Players in the NBA are paid salaries anywhere from tens of thousands of dollars to millions of dollars for playing a game they would likely play even if there were no pay. I sincerely hope the few complainers get over the simple requirement of a dress code. One player whose name I didn't catch was interviewed on ABC World News Tonight said "I'm 30-years old. I should be able to dress any way I want." Well, sir, I'm 42-years old and my employer tells me how to dress. I think you can handle it, young man.