The Defiant Ones
I had an opportunity to meet with some of the downtown Kansas City brass over lunch this past week. As you would imagine, our conversation centered around light rail, the proper “mix” in the commercial sector, parking, public perception and, since it’s garnered so much media attention of late, that 800-pound gorilla in the room called “race.”
Most people don’t like to discuss race, particularly if you’re a white person talking about black people. The prevailing opinion – at least as it’s portrayed in media since the ‘60s – is if you even touch the issue, you are a card carrying member of the Klu Klux Klan.
According to certain columnists featured in media outlets named Star, Ink and Pitch, the Kansas City Power & Light entertainment district is a bastion of racism because Cordish, the Baltimore company that manages it, enforces a dress code. The code prohibits the wearing of t-shirts with profane messages, torn clothing, sleeveless shirts, baseball caps worn backwards, athletic wear, baggy pants and – get this – sweat pants combined with work boots.
Some of you may be asking, “what’s the big deal?” For how many of us would want to walk around in ripped t-shirts spouting some profane message? The reason why it’s a big deal, according to some media outlets, is because it is targeted at the hip-hop crowd. And who makes up the majority of the hip-hop crowd? As you can probably guess – young black males.
But the folks who are quick to condemn Cordish and the KCP&L dress code are on the wrong side of the argument when it comes to “freedom” and the race issue.
After lunch, I took a stroll around the district, and noted that there were plenty of people – white people, black people – enjoying the mild weather and the restaurants of the district. To stress my point, there were a lot of black people enjoying the district. So the argument that the district is racist is just absurd.
It’s equally absurd to say that Cordish doesn’t have a right to protect their investment by keeping offensive messages out. I may be libertarian minded, but to me, if you’re allowed to wear a message that insults women or icons of my religion, I should then be given a free pass when I decide to knock all of your teeth out. That’s freedom of expression, right? Just because KCP&L was funded by tax dollars doesn’t give you the right to go there and act like a jerk.
Not that wearing “athletic clothes” makes you a jerk. We all wear them – particularly when we’re doing something athletic. The term “jacket and tie required” used to be a badge of honor for social enterprises and for many, it still is. Every upscale restaurant in Kansas City has and enforces a dress code (for example, baseball caps are prohibited in the dining area of Piropos) and I applaud them for it. If you don’t like it, I say take your money and walk.
Racially motivated prejudice at KCP&L and anywhere else is wrong. I was a victim of it myself in Atlanta when a bunch of black guys approached me and my date and told me, in no uncertain terms, that my presence was not desired in a similarly styled entertainment district in that city’s downtown. Oh poor me, my ideals about ebony and ivory living in perfect harmony were shattered. Boo hoo. Those guys no more spoke for the majority of blacks as do the idiots wearing white robes and burning crosses speak for me.
I can’t speak for Cordish, but we all know it’s about economics. When club owners and entertainment districts make more money catering to the profane, ripped t-shirt crowd they’ll show the neatly dressed crowd to the door. I’m betting that won’t happen anytime soon. It’s not about – or, at least, doesn’t have to be – about race or even the music you listen to. I often listen to big band music – I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for the Sprint Center to book a Duke Ellington tribute and you’re not going to see me crying about the country-themed bar not catering to my tastes. When I’m in the mood for Johnny Cash, that’s where I’ll be.