I bet rapper Nelly would be confused if he found he couldn’t get into some Tigerland bars “stomping” in his Nike Air Force 1s.
Only a select group of people have to worry about being denied from a Tigerland bar because of their attire. The dress code for the bars in Tigerland screams “no black men allowed.”
No overly baggy clothing, no camouflage shorts, no overly long or plain t-shirts, no long or exposed chains, no sunglasses worn inside, no visible tattoos, no visible piercings on males, no do-rags, no price tags or stickers on clothing or hats, no sideways hats, no all white shoes — the list continues.
Although these bars’ dress codes describe Soulja Boy from his 2007 music video “Crank That” down to the last bathing ape shoe, some of the items banned are still worn by black men today — all white shoes, for example.
I witnessed an occurrence at JL’s Place in Tigerland the night of the LSU vs. Auburn game where a black student wasn’t allowed in because he was wearing all white Nike Air Force 1s. Several people wearing white shoes behind the student were allowed to enter — ­the difference was, their white shoes were not Air Force 1s.
Air Force 1s, especially the white ones, have always been extremely popular among the black community since the first release of the shoe in 1982. They were even nicknamed “Uptowns” because of their popularity among inner-city kids in Harlem.
What’s even more disturbing than assuming the dress code at JL’s strictly enforces no all white Air Force 1s is that the actual rule is up to the discretion of whomever is working the door.
That black student was discriminated against when denied entrance into JL’s.
An employee at JL’s Place, said the rule stood as “no all white shoes”. When telling him I saw everyone get in with white shoes except the man with Air Force 1s, he tried to cover his tracks by saying “It’s kind of up to our discretion, we try to follow mostly what Mike’s has right up there.”
According to Roberto*, the reasoning is “just because if someone steps on them, sometimes people overreact.”
People at Tigerland overreact over everything. So, if they are really trying to keep people from “overreacting” there should be a “no white clothes” rule.
Why isn’t there a no khaki shorts rule? It’s possible for someone to get upset if someone were to spill a drink on them — maybe it’s not a rule because it may eliminate the majority of the white boys.
This is also terrible business practices. It’s disturbing knowing these bars are not concerned about all the money they’re losing — they seem to be more worried about minimizing the black crowd.
I’m sure these bar owners are fully aware they are not running an establishment on the same caliber as Jay-Z’s 40-40 Club — although, that’s the impression they are giving off with their mile long dress code. They are taking advantage of being privately owned businesses and creating dress codes that limit the amount of black men allowed into their establishments.
Clarke Perkins is a 19-year-old political science sophomore from New Orleans. You can reach her on Twitter @ClarkePerkins.
*Editor’s note: Roberto’s last name was withheld to preserve anonymity.