BoysWork,
Who decided what is the appropriate uniform for jewish people? If you say its white shirt, black hat, etc, well, there are countless frum jews who do not conform to that.
I think this overstates the situation, as does One of the chevra’s response above that likens the white shirt/black hat to a policeman’s uniform. Nobody “decided” that any color clothing or hat type is the appropriate uniform for Jews. The Jewish people has numerous cultural groups, and just as all cultures have unique norms and values, a few of these groups have adopted white shirts, black pants, hat, jacket, etc. as a norm. Trying to make a halachic argument for or against this norm isn’t really apropos. Norms are a very powerful identifier and unifier within a group.
Does that not make them just as good a jew as you?
Unfortunately, as we are all human beings, no group is immune to prejudice and intolerance of those considered “outside” of the group. Trying to unite the various tribes, factions, cultures, of the Jewish people is an ongoing project which started thousands of years ago.
(even though the wonderful Art Scroll people decided to photoshop the pics).
Can you cite an example of this in an Artscroll book? I’d be interested to see it.