OP/ED

The Villager, February 8, 2010

American Idol season nine auditionee General Larry Platts Pants on

the Ground has left its mark on pop culture history, similar to the way William
Hungs infamous song, She Bangs,
did back in 2004. A song that originally
started out as a joke has instantly become a pop culture phenomenon.
The catchy song, whose lyrics in- Sarah Moelter
clude, Pants on the ground, pants on Editor-in-Chief
the ground/Looking like a fool with
your pants on the ground/Gold in your mouth/Hat turned
sideways/Lookin like a fool, Walkin downtown with your
pants on the ground! went viral the day after the American
Idol audition aired. Seemingly minutes after the show ended, videos popped up on Youtube, Facebook and Twitter. I
initially missed the audition; however, after signing onto
Facebook, I found no shortage of links to the clip.
Pants on the Ground was one of the most talked about
stories on Twitter and a trending topic for days afterwards.
Even though the devastating earthquake in Haiti had just occurred the day before, the song was the number one trending
topic on Twitter. The Pants Down Crew even made a cover
of the song, which is now climbing up the top 100 songs
on iTunes. After a victory against the Dallas Cowboys, Brett
Favre veered from his traditional locker room celebration to
lead his team in his own rendition of Pants on the Ground.
So what does this song mean for our society? At first
glance, it may seem innocuous enough a song about people
who need to pull their pants up!
Bur Pants on the Ground is more than just a catchy
tune. Even weeks after the audition aired, Platt is still the topic of conversation. He has made a guest appearance on The
View and performed on the red carpet at the Grammys.
Ever wonder why the song caught on? Catchy as the song
is, it does present an interesting social commentary. In an interview on The View, Platt talks about his inspiration for the
song:I was walking one day, and [saw] a guy with a baby
bottle in his mouth, and he had his pants on the ground. And
thats what gave me the inspiration.
I first wondered why he was even allowed to audition. The
cut-off age for trying out for American Idol is 28, so clearly
Platt wasnt expecting to win he simply wanted his voice to
be heard. It makes sense. After doing a little research into his
story, I found out that he has quite the colorful background.
The 62-year-old was a strong civil rights activist. Take a look
at the main picture on the Civil Rights Movement Veterans
Web site, www.crmvet.org, and you will find that the man on
the left is none other than a 16-year-old Larry Platt. On the
site, he explains, We had come by bus in 1963 to a church in
Savannah, Georgia, to plan a march to desegregate the city.
Reverend Hosea Williams and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
were our leaders.
Platt was involved in various civil rights organizations,
organizing sit-ins and protests to help further the goals of
desegregation. According to an article in USA Today, he was
beaten in the Bloody Sunday march and got his nickname
General from the Reverend Hosea Williams, due to his
leadership and heroic efforts to promote civil rights. Sept. 4
is Larry Platt Day in Atlanta, to reward him for his great
energy and commitment to equality and the protection of the
innocent and for his outstanding service to the Atlanta community and the citizens of Georgia, according to the Georgia
General Assembly.
In the context of Platts activist background, his appearance on the show less than random. Knowing his story, the
song holds a new meaning.
He says, Martin Luther King didnt march with his
pants on the ground, and neither should you.Mr. Platt has
certainly earned his 15 minutes of fame.

Turmoil in Haiti reaches new heights

by Oyinade Koyi
Villager staff writer

Haiti has experienced turmoil like no other country. Haiti became the first black republic to declare
independence, setting it free from the French, but the
country has still been plagued with non-stop violence
and pain.
On Jan. 12, 2010, Haitis capital city, Port-au-Prince,
was hit with a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. According to
BBC News, 100,000 to 200,000 people have been killed.
However, if you take into account the number of people
still trapped in collapsed buildings, the real number of
deaths may eventually reach 500,000 or more.
Numbers like those alone should entice all human
beings to contribute what they can to Haiti relief efforts. But instead, many Americans, including televangelist Pat Robertson, accused Haiti of making a pact
with the devil and ever since have been cursed by one
thing after the other. Whether you think helping Haiti
is a bad idea because of its alleged pact with the devil or
because of your own views about how America should
spend its money, you cannot deny the many tragedies
that have plagued this country.
The 2010 earthquake was the most severe one
Haiti has encountered in over 200 years. But this is not
the only type of natural disaster to hit Haiti. Tropical
storms have also devastated this country in the past.
In 2004, tropical storm Jeanne left 3,006 people dead
through flooding and mudslides. In late August and
early September 2008, Tropical Storm Fay, Hurricane
Gustav, Hurricane Hanna, and Hurricane Ike whipped
through Haiti with heavy winds and rain. The storms
washed away physical evidence, such as dead bodies,
and all casualties could not be recorded.
According to the Central Intelligence Agency

World Factbook, Haiti is the poorest country in the

world. Approximately 80 percent of the countrys population is living below the poverty line, and 54 percent
dewll in abject poverty. The overall health of Haitians
is dwindling, as many suffer from HIV/AIDS, malaria,
respiratory infections, meningitis, diarrheal diseases,
waterborne diseases and intestinal parasites. With only
40 percent of the population with access to basic health
care, many Haitian children go unvaccinated.
If this isnt enough to strike up the least bit of sympathy in a human soul, then imagine living in a country where 50 percent of the population is illiterate, and
those who do have a collegiate background emigrate to
a more thriving economy like that of the United States.
Haiti native and music artist Wyclef Jean recently
said Haiti needs at least $1 million a day to survive.
Other countries have already stepped up to help Haiti
in its time of desperate need. China has promised $4.2
million, U.S. President Barack Obama pledged $100
million, and the European Union nations have promised over $575 million in relief funds for Haiti.
Now is the time you must ask yourself, what is
the right thing to do? You may not even know anyone
who is Haitian, but put yourself in 16-year-old Darlene
Etiennes shoes. She was pulled from a house near her
college, just barely surviving. Darlene was rescued 15
days after the hurricane struck and survived by drinking bath water. When the French rescue team found
her, she was covered in dust and severely dehydrated.
Yet she survived.
Haiti is not just another place where people are
suffering. It is a country with life, families and broken
hearts. In the words of Mark Twain, Do the right thing.
It will gratify some people and astonish the rest. To
find ways to donate - and not just monetarily - use your
favorite search engine to look up the Yele Foundation,
the American Red Cross and UNICEF.

How can you help out Haiti from home?

Ways to get involved with Stevensons support efforts:
1. Find a Haiti Red Cross bucket. The Learning Beyond
Office has placed buckets on both campuses for collecting
funds.

Image courtesy of Hope Miller

The man behind the

pants phenomenon

2. Buy the T-shirt! Student Activities has designed a T-shirt

whose proceeds will go to Haiti relief efforts. You can find
the shirts, which will sell for $5, in the Student Activities Office in Rockland or at the desk in the Dawson Center on the
Greenspring Campus.

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