Now and then there are moments when I feel that indeed I have not lived in vain.
Tuskegee University president Dr. Mark Brown (above), a retired Air Force major general, issued a memo to all students of the “traditional black institution” this academic year declaring that all students will be required to follow a dress code right out of 1962.
“The university has developed a new policy for student attire on campus, classroom attendance, and cell phone use in classrooms,” Brown wrote in a message to students. “Tuskegee students now have a dress code for public and professional places. The Student Handbook requires students to arrive on campus with a business suit and proper shoes for a business meeting. Students are prohibited from wearing revealing clothing in class, to the cafeteria or in official settings like Convocation. They are also not able to wear bedroom shoes, bonnets, or du-rags to class or the cafeteria. The goal here is not meant to restrict you from enjoying the Tuskegee Experience, but to prepare you with a solid foundation for the workforce you will enter once you leave Tuskegee. Employers are less forgiving and too often presentation may overrule stellar preparation.”
“Tuskegee University continues to prepare the best and brightest for a lifetime of success,” Brown added. “With these changes, we want to ensure every student is as prepared as they can be. I look forward to seeing you in August.”
To which I say,
Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?
Ethics Alarms 
Because unbridled and unlimited freedom of expression has served everyone so well. Kudos to Dr. Brown.
Whoever thinks being dressed well is a “whiteness” thing didn’t know their own history.
Several times in my childhood and teens, I remember that often the best dressed man I had seen that day would be an elderly black man.
They lived through real, serious and pernicious racism. The smart ones figured out that dressing like that is a real antidote for the margins. A truly racist person will not be swayed, but for many, dressing like that puts people at ease.
george washington carver and the famed tuskeggee airmen would be proud of the generals tenure
Dress for the job you want, not for the job you have. If you want to be taken seriously as an applicant, you’d better look the part.
This should be true of anyone looking for work in the United States, but the African-American community worked so hard to be taken seriously in this country. It would be a shame if young black college students miss out on opportunities because they can’t be bothered to be on time or dress properly.
Good for Dr. Brown. He’s insisting on preparing them for the real world.
What if I want to be president but I am a farm laborer? Should I dress in a fancy suit?
What if I want to be an astronaut but I work at Taco Bell?
My youngest brother got a degree of Bachelor of Agriculture. If I owned a farm and I needed a farm manager, if someone showed up with a degree and was wearing a suit, I would see someone too afraid to get his or her hands dirty when required. Not all jobs require suits.
There is a very cynical and dark part of me that believes that certain things like saying “punctuality is white supremacy” are done purposely and maliciously by the Left to ensure that the lives of black people remain forever troubled by encouraging self-destructive habits and behaviors as a part of their culture.
After all, if the lives of black people improved and actually attained a general parity with the lives of white people, black people wouldn’t NEED the Left to fix all their problems now, would they? It’s all a vicious cycle.
So Bravo to Dr. Brown (and your old friend Amitai Etzioni) for calling bullshit on it.
–Dwayne
“After all, if the lives of black people improved and actually attained a general parity with the lives of white people, black people wouldn’t NEED the Left to fix all their problems now, would they?”
Though by no means alone, Jason Riley would agree; to wit: ‘Please Stop Helping Us’ How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed
PWS