Race, fashion and freedom of expression have collided in Atlanta this week over the vexed issue of baggy trousers.

A black councilman wants to ban the "low-rider" style — a figment of hip-hop culture — because it often exposes a man's underwear or a woman's thong, but has come up against a blast of opposition from civil rights groups and ordinary, fashion-free Americans.

Councilman C T Martin described the popular phenomenon of drooping jeans as an “epidemic” that is becoming a “major concern” across the United States. His proposal for a ban follows similar measures in a series of small towns in Louisiana.

Announcing his proposed amendment to the city's indecency laws, Mr Martin said of the fallen waistline, most prevalent among young black men and women: “Little children see it and want to adopt it, thinking it's the 'in thing'. I don't want young people thinking that half-dressing is the way to go. I want them to think about their future.”

Mr Martin's plan, for which he hopes to gain support in a series of public meetings at community groups and churches, will receive its first official hearing next Tuesday at a meeting of the city's public safety committee.

There, Mr Martin will recommend that “the indecent exposure of his or her undergarments” should be illegal in a public place, in the same way as sex and the exposure or fondling of genitals. It would be punishable by a fine.

But Mr Martin, a college recruitment consultant, has already ensured himself a wave of opposition by acknowledging the racial sensitivity of his proposal. “It will be like all the discussions we’ve had around the value of the hip-hop culture," he said. "We know there are First Amendment issues... and some will say I’m just trying to put young black men in jail, but it’s going to be fines.”

Debbie Seagraves, head of the local branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said the proposal was, by its nature, discriminatory because it aimed to forbid something that has its roots in black culture.

“This is a racial profiling bill that promotes and establishes a framework for an additional type of racial profiling,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Ms Seagraves said the proposal was also overly broad, and would outlaw the thongs visible under trousers, jogging bras or stray straps here and there.

Mr Martin's idea, quickly dubbed the "bad jeans law" on American television bulletins last night, follows a string of similar ordinances in Louisiana, where the town of Delcambre now punishes glimpses of underwear with fines of up to $500 or six months in prison.

It is thought to have little chance of success in Atlanta, a city of 4 million people, where the reaction to the proposal has been, at best, mixed. In comments posted on the website of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution readers described the ban as "like banning stupidity".

"The fact that Atlanta has to pass a law against this simply telegraphs to the country that its a city that continues to devolve rather than evolve. Panhandling and saggy pants, the Atlanta tourist experience," posted one reader calling themselves "Shirley U Jest".

There was support for the proposal, but some of it not entirely wholesome. "Personally, I believe any woman who has a bra strap exposed should be arrested, fined, and jailed if unable to pay the fine in five business days," wrote another reader, "Dave". "This will encourage free boobing, which is tres cool from my point of view. Just an observation..."

Fashion police

Paris: there is a theoretical ban on topless sunbathing in the city's "Paris Plage" beach. The fine is €38 but it is rarely, if ever, enforced.

Kent: the Bluewater shopping centre bans "any item of clothing which restricts the view of one's head/face (eg. hoods) with the exception of religious headwear".

Iran: the annual crackdown on “bad hijab”, when police target women wearing insufficiently demure clothing, has been especially harsh this summer. Men with long hair have also been detained.

Vermont: public nudity is about to be allowed once again in the town of Brattleboro when an "emergency ban" expires next month.

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