Why Tuskegee University’s new dress code matters

President Trump’s war in Iran has no end in sight. Bond markets are flashing ominous signs. And the midterm elections are less than 60 days away.

In this time of anxiety, the dress code at Tuskegee University in Alabama might seem like a small matter. It isn’t.

Tuskegee recently told its mostly Black students to stop wearing revealing clothes to class, or at university events. School leaders also insisted they turn off cell phones in class. And the school also put a stop to students dressing down by wearing durags.

Mark A. Brown, the school’s president, said at start of the school year he is sending a clear message: He wants to end habits that hurt any Black youngster’s chances for success. He is educating young Black people to defy self-defeating images of themselves as thugs.

In refreshingly direct terms, Brown said, “The only need we feel is to prepare students to be successful: That’s it.”

As President Trump punishes diversity efforts at universities and corporations, Tuskegee’s strong message to young Black people is simple — they cannot afford any self-imposed handicaps.

Feeding stereotypes with jailhouse-inspired fashion choices is a self-imposed handicap. Feeding negative, ugly assumptions tying young Black people to crime and violence is a self-imposed handicap.

A reminder of self-imposed handicaps flashed nationwide last week with the conviction of a Black man for........

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