The recent changes to Jaberwoke's dress code, requesting that cus-tomers leave their camouflage and knit caps at home, deserve asmuch attention as they have received. For some, the newly implemented dress code is seen as targeting certain ethnic groups. For others, the code provides an opportunity to bicker with the previous group.
For the rest of us, the discussion illuminates the inescapability of racial stereotypes and the eagerness with which some students deploy them to criticize a private business. Whether or not the code discriminates against certain groups, the changes can only be viewed as somewhat bizarre. The new policy includes the following amendments to the dress code: Patrons may not wear camouflage (unless, of course, they are members of the Armed Forces), plain white t-shirts, excessively baggy clothing, sweatpants or brimless hats.
Had Jaberwoke changed its dress code to "business casual," one cannot imagine anyone finding racist undertones in that. But listing specifically the articles of clothing prohibited seems, if not racist, then blatantly snotty -- especially at a restaurant where "pizza crusties" constitute haute cuisine. If, like any other upscale restaurant in Charlottesville, Jaberwoke had simply asked patrons to dress well, rather than dressing according to their strange, picky guidelines, it could have avoided controversy altogether.
As a private restaurant, Jaberwoke can ask its customers to dress however it wants them to. If, for instance, the owner felt particularly revolted by the thought of patrons wearing neckties, he could ask customers to leave theirs at home. One restaurant in Washington, D.
C. does just that. And, if a patron disobeys the owner's request, his tie is promptly and mercilessly cut off with scissors and nailed to the wall.
The point here is that private businesses can impose any dress code they choose, as long as they apply it fairly. Jaberwoke's dress code, however, elicits other questions if for no other reason than such specific rules seem, for lack of a better term, barking mad. Why would anyone feel the need to ban plain white t-shirts but not, say, plain black ones?
Why would anyone ban sweatpants, but not sequined leather chaps? Jaberwoke certainly has some explaining to do. If their explanation fails to satisfy you, the free market provides an excellent, effective method for conveying your discontent.
Go somewhere else. And, if you feel so inclined, stop by after finishing your tasty meal and let the manager of Jaberwoke know your reasons for dining elsewhere. If enough people elect to eat at other restaurants with less rigid dress codes, then Jaberwoke will suffer the same fate as any other restaurant that deliberately alienates its customers.
It's difficult to characterize the new dress code as blatantly racist, as some have claimed, mainly because it's difficult to characterize the new dress code as anything but strange. Something else to think about: By claiming that the dress code "targets" certain ethnic groups, one implies that certain ethnic groups dress a certain way, or that people who dress a certain way likely belong to one ethnic or racial group. In other words, students ought to be careful that their criticisms of potentially racist policies don't employ the same stereotypes that led to the new dress code in the first place.
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