Posted on 03/27/2012 2:00:29 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
The shooting of Trayvon Martin has cast a spotlight on the humble hooded sweat shirt, raising questions about the messages it sends and why.
Football coaches wear them on the sidelines. Toddlers sport them on trips to the park. They are what we grab when we run to the market or head out in the cold to walk the dogs.
Yet somehow the humble hooded sweat shirt has evolved from basic, everyday apparel to a sinister symbol of urban terror.
It has become a touchstone in the conversation about the death of Trayvon Martin, the Florida teenager who was wearing a hoodie when he was fingered as "suspicious" and shot by a Neighborhood Watch patroller.
Fox News commentator Geraldo Rivera considers the hoodie "as much responsible for Trayvon Martin's death as George Zimmerman," the man who shot him.
"I believe Trayvon Martin would be alive today, but for his hoodie," Rivera said last week. "If he didn't have that hoodie on, that nutty Neighborhood Watch guy wouldn't have responded in that violent and aggressive way....
"Pedestrians cross the street to avoid black or brown hoodie wearers," he said. "When you see that kid coming your way, you are thinking ghetto or ghetto wannabe."
Rivera has been roundly mocked since he made those comments last week including in countless Facebook posts of a brown-skinned Rivera wearing a hoodie in the crowd at a Yankees' game.
It seems to me like a shameful example of blaming the victim. So I was surprised that several readers responded to my Saturday column on Trayvon's death with a similar view:
Hooded jackets broadcast "thug" when worn by minorities.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
“Football coaches wear them on the sidelines. Toddlers sport them on trips to the park. They are what we grab when we run to the market or head out in the cold to walk the dogs.
Yet somehow the humble hooded sweat shirt has evolved from basic, everyday apparel to a sinister symbol of urban terror.”
Perhaps when it is 90 degrees outside, someone wearing a hoodie seems a bit off (unless of course they are a nun).
The gangs and thugs adopted it as their symbol, that is why it is their symbol.
It is that simple.
This sad event will do for “hoodies” what “Magnum, PI” did for baseball caps, back in the 80s.
Also, a gentle admonishment that "You're undies are showing." within earshot of the girls usually leads to a cleavage coverage.
“”I believe Trayvon Martin would be alive today, but for his hoodie,” Rivera said last week. “If he didn’t have that hoodie on, that nutty Neighborhood Watch guy wouldn’t have responded in that violent and aggressive way....”
Geraldo, you are full of bovine feces. TRAYVON MARTIN BEAT THE SH!T OUT OF “that nutty Neighborhood Watch guy”. Now Trayvon, the little thug, is at room temperature. Cry me a river.
You’re=your (Sheesh)
Humble does not wear a hoodie.
Yet somehow the humble hooded sweat shirt has evolved from basic, everyday apparel
Humble does not wear a hoodie.
I’m nobody’s puppet and I’ll continue wearing mine when its cold. Screw the scumbags, I’m makin a stand.
Nuthin says civil rights like lootin.
Police: Trayvon protesters ransack store
It’s not the hooded sweatshirt - it’s the punk wearing it.
Hoodies are great and useful pieces of clothing for those of us that live in colder climates.
But out of my own protest of these race pimps, I wont be wearing mine for a long while.
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Hoodies are popular with the thugs, also, in the UK!
Oh my God, that neighborhood watch guy killed Kenny! You bastard!!
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