Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire A Hoodie partly to blame in the death of Trayvon Martin?

I think Geraldo is right. He said what many are thinking. I tell my students over and over that the way in which they dress and the way they carry themselves sends a message to the world. The problem is many teens can't see or understand that the world often interprets the message they are sending differently than the message they think they are sending. I guess that's why I'm "old school" in my classroom rules. No food, no drinks, no cell phones, no coats, no jackets, no hats, no hoddies, no sun-glasses etc.

Geraldo Rivera has outraged African-Americans and Latinos by blaming the killing of an unarmed black teenage on the hoodie he was wearing.

�I am urging the parents of black and Latino youngsters particularly not to let their children go out wearing hoodies. I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin�s death as much as George Zimmerman was,� the Fox News host said Friday on Fox and Friends.

Martin, 17, was shot and killed Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla., by Zimmerman, a 28-year-old neighbourhood watch volunteer. Zimmerman was not arrested because police said there was no evidence to contradict his claim that he fired in self-defense, the LA Times said on its site.

�Trayvon Martin, God bless him, an innocent kid, a wonderful kid, a box of Skittles in his hands. He didn�t deserve to die. But I bet you money, if he didn�t have that hoodie on, that nutty neighbourhood watch guy wouldn�t have responded in that violent and aggressive way," Rivera is quoted as saying in the LA Times.

In an articled in the Washington Post, Alexandra Petri wrote, "Clothes may make the man. But they don�t make you kill the man. It�s your inability to see that there�s a person under them that does." Many protesters marched in Philadelphia on Friday, many sporting hoodies in support of Martin.

And short dresses make women get raped.

I'm NOT blaming the victim.

But if you adopt the dress of a "gangsta" - people might just view you as a "gangsta".

I don't think a woman in a miniskirt puts fear in anyone's heart.

Big teenage boys can.

Interesting that you know exactly what the victim looked like the night of his death.

My rain jacket has a hood....

there are some areas in Philly and Baltimore where I will not wear my Hermes silk scarf. Better to avoid trouble

From now on when the weather gets bad I will just wear a tank top. Looks like it could save my life.

Yep, ball cap and dark glasses will get you dead too... apparently!


Phil

kids that are enamored of the thug life, and dress the part, are only contributing to the problem.
Looking like a thug is supposed to scare Whitey, I guess. Evidently it does tend to put folks on edge.
I know I keep a weather eye out for young kids that are dressing, and acting in a threatening manner.

Most of you folks have the good fortune to reside in an areas NOT plagued by the gangs. Just a hoodie really isn't the only or best alert indicator. One learns to watch for colors. Ya get pretty good at spotting them too.

Yeah, 'cause so many retired guys who look like you go out and commit violent crimes. I bet a lot of people see you coming and walk across the street just to avoid you.

Your right in that a hoodie alone or most any form of apparel is not a major indicator. But choosing to dress a certain way says a lot about your attitude. Life is a costume party to some people. Some kids like to dress a up as intimidating monsters.

Where I now live sporting a blue bandana (Sureno) in a red (norteno)
Neighborhood will result in a short life Span.

4 gang shooting in the past few days

Going out to feed in the morning wearing nothing could get me shot too.

Just because a young girl dresses like a whore doesn't mean she is one. But I do know that it will get her treated as one.

A person only gets one chance to make a first impression. It helps a lot if they make it a good one.

What Rivera seemingly has not said is that it is not the "hoodie" in and of itself that is the issue. The issue lies with what that hoodie and other such symbols have come to represent in many places.

In some locales, people do experience personal threat created by high rates of crime - ranging from petty to serious. Add to that the fact that, in many such places, the vast majority of the crime is committed by black men - young black men - resulting in stereotyping, fear and expectation factors that are understandable. So, in some cases, the "uniform" can matter - a lot.

Rivera also does not mention that, for more than 50 years, our society increasingly has set in motion, funded and perpetuated many" government" programs that foment and nurture the deplorable situation extant. Thus, we citizens have added to the problem (even when not noticing or speaking up) by purchasing the conditions which some among us now fear.

We all seem to realize that none of the above is a reason to purposely harm or kill another person in a given circumstance, or an excuse for doing so. But, it would be stupid to ignore the significant data.

The death of this young person is so regrettable, and who among us should be calling him "gangsta" or the shooter "nutty", or using other such labels, or placing any blame, until the full story is understood. Regardless of what the full facts reveal, it is going to be a sad saga. In many ways, we all have contributed to writing the story.

Close to justifiable homicide on the grounds it could destroy one's eyesight

Well it would not me indecent exposure. It was 26 here this morning when we went out. At that temperature there wouldn't be exposure at all!

WTF is a hoodie? a hooded sweatshirt? Who doesn't own a hooded sweatshirt?

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...

Who would want to look like a whore that was not a whore?

Me. Don't own one, with hood or without. Guess that makes me a raciest.