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.

All schools and classrooms should be this way !

Point well taken and in this case I think Giraldo is right.

I've seen kids wearing hoodies in 90 degree weather with the hood up. What are they trying to conceal?

I wear a rain jacket with a hood when it's raining and I'm taking my walk with the hood up for protection. I don't walk around with the hood up all the time.

I also wear a baseball cap and I don't wear that cap backwards but with the bill forward to shield my eyes as it was designed. When I see kids with the cap worm backasswards I know they are followers, stupid, and trouble makers. I've not been deceived yet.

Maybe - the world around them? Maybe you view the concealment from the wrong direction?

Why don't we all just wait until the Grand Jury rules on this case, and quit speculating?

None of us know the real story, so we ALL oughta just "stifle" ourselves until we DO know what happened.


Of course, this IS the campfire, and all that...............

Nope, facts have no importance in this one.

Anyone comes around here wearing a hoodie will face the same fate as the black kid did. I don't cotton to thugs or run from them. I will advance on them and if they choose to not run then it will serve to give me all the authority I need to do what must be done. Unwanted kids grow up to be unwanted adults. Better and cheaper the sooner it happens as it will eventually anyway. Thugs are not welcome in a society with morals and that is certain.

If that was the case the kid would have offed himself. No, this kid was up to no good and he found what he was looking for. Basically he got what his mama wanted for him which was a life and death of thuggery.

Didn't expect you to get it, and wasn't addressing you anyway. That was the last of your posts that I will see. Congrats. Your circle of influence just got smaller.

This is far too good of a post for this topic. Reasonable and no agenda. You have it nailed but it will be only appreciated by a few. Thanks for putting it up.

Hmmm, all it takes is no evidence it wasn't self-defense? Damn.

Having had long experience with the LA Times, I'm not surprised that they chose to spin the story that way. Before anyone leaps to conclusions purely on the basis of what has been reported thus far by mainstream media, you might catch up on latest developments -- specifically, reports that there was an eyewitness who saw the young man on top of Zimmerman, on the ground... that Zimmerman was the one yelling for help, and that he had multiple cuts, lacerations and a broken nose... and that the witness account is in the original police report. Of course, such facts, if true, aren't all that relevant to MSN or CNN or other mainstream outlets in how they're reporting on the incident. The latest CNN story I read buried that information deep in their story.

Bottom line: it's shameful that so many, including Obama and most of the crop of republican presidential candidates, have weighed in with premature opinions based solely upon the story slant taken by the mainstream media. I, for one, will continue to withold judgement until all the facts are established by the judicial process -- not the agenda-driven mainstream media.

Rancho_Loco: Maybe you have spent to much time in Montana and do not understand what the "hoody" type clothing is for and about?
Visualize an urban city corner where 10 to 20 "urban youths" are "congregating", along comes a drug customer or an unsuspecting robbery victim - crimes get committed - THEN the victims and the police have to sort out which "hoodied" urban youth may be responsible.
This "hoody" clothing is urban "camoflage" to describe it in a way you might understand?
And its purpose is aiding and abetting crime.
Back to our scenario - eventually maybe as long as two years later the "urban youth" comes to trial and the questioning of the victim and the investigating police officers go like this:
"well officer/victim can you describe how my client (the upstanding young church goer!) was dressed..... uh-huh well weren't there 12 to 20 other young men dressed EXACTLY like my client who was just out buying candy for his brother etc etc etc blah blah blah!!!!
The "hoody" camoflage is also designed to put a question into the minds of jurors - if you can understand that concept as well?
These "hoody" uniforms are also described (by gangstas and urban "yutes"!) as "felony clothes".
As in, phone taps I have overheard, wherein urban youth #1 calls urban youth #2 on their cell phones and the conversation goes like this "we are gonna caper tonight so be sure to wear your felony clothes (hoody!)!
The favored color of the hoody and the accompanying baggy pants is flat black (non-reflective when hiding from police flashlights and searchlights etc etc etc).
Hoody's don't get the urban youths "raped" it helps them get away with crimes and victimizing the citizenry.
Now having said this - not every urban turd wearing a hoody is a criminal BUT the percentage chance he is a criminal is higher than a "normally" dressed youth.
If any of my 4 children (now all aged over 24 years) ever came home wearing felony clothes (hoody) I would disrobe said child and burn those clothes then and there - I, for once, agree with Grelado on the not wearing "felony clothes".
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

You [bleep] idiot.

I grew up in Southern California, lived in LA for years, was working a couple of blocks away from Korea Town when the Rodney King riots started. I've spent more time than you imagine working and playing in areas where cops don't like to get out of their cars.. Los Angeles, Chicago, Philly, San Francisco, San Jose.

I know what hood rats look like, and when to be concerned.

Okay, just so you know Scott, I would be one day I hope coming to see your farm, not your "Form"

A hoody is no more gangsta' as a baseball hat is gangsta'..at least to non-phvcking idiots with half a clue. It's how the clothes are worn.

I have a hoody and anyone that thinks I'm was a Gangsta' when I wear it would be considered a phvcking idiot.

My son has a hoody as do every other kid on his football team (100% white kids) and I'd dare any internet tough guy to call my son a gangsta' in my presence.

Here ya go. https://spiritschoolapparel.com/sch...-hoodies?sku=S8580P59PI59PC6D2DC13DP1Y12

I wear hoodies a lot. Never worried about getting killed because of it though.

You look like a gangsta' just like me in that hoody.

dang hoodies.. things are always dying when I wear them. I must be gangsta.

I promise to keep my cloths on!

Awww Schittt!!

A hoodie AND a Glock,.....somebody better call for a SWAT team....

Represent, yo!

Uhhh Ohhh... a sniper in a hoodie....grin

Double represent, yo!

Nice family in spite of the evil hoodie.

capped his ass!

'notha victim of my gangsta hoodie.. I be a killa, yo.



And some ling bling in my hoodie..


more dead [bleep], via the hoodie..

LOL!

Training for drive by's!

Future G in training...grin


Always a good idea to pack a gauge when in thug mode!

Ditch chicken paid da price for rollin' the wrong hood!

Fo sho!

Word

Raunchy Loco is a Californian, which explains a lot. Sorry Salmonella.

I know Americans have weaken over the past years. But being fearful over a hood is just comical or gay.

Rivera is right. A lot of hoodrats up to no good go out to do their capering wearing hoodies. And the ones that aren't capering, they think it's cool to look like a hoodlum or, as they prefer, 'gangsta'. It's the culture. And sometimes a price is paid for living like that.

I couldn't resist....