by LINTON WEEKS
James Gilchrist of Orlando, Fla., attends a rally for slain teenager Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., on Thursday. Trayvon was wearing a hoodie when he was shot.
From the tragic death of Trayvon Martin, a symbol emerges: the hoodie.
A simple hooded sweatshirt has become emblematic of certain assumptions in America. And of a desire by many to overturn those assumptions.
To a neighborhood watch volunteer in a Sanford, Fla., gated community, the young man in "a dark hoodie, a gray hoodie" was a "suspicious guy." That's what George Zimmerman told the 911 dispatcher before he shot and killed the 17-year-old. Zimmerman, 28, says he acted in self-defense; he has not been charged with a crime.
On Friday, Geraldo Rivera said on the Fox & Friends TV show that "the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin's death as George Zimmerman was." Rivera warned parents not to let their children wear hoodies — unless it is raining or they are at a track-and-field event. He said it sends a sinister signal.
"You cannot rehabilitate the hoodie," Rivera said. "Stop wearing it."
jbd: I have watched security guards and store detectives "perk up" when "blacks wearing hoods" have entered the store. Bank robbers have worn hoodies. Robbers have worn them also, generally when we see video of robberies or break ins, the thieves are wearing hoods. The KKK wore hoods. I guess that hoods and "hoodies" are a signal that the wearer does not want to be recognized. They are a statement of being "bad." A child in Columbus, Ohio, or anywhere, being shot in "crossfire" is just as tragic, but those shootings are soon forgotten, and quite possibly, the shooter, was wearing a hoodie. In some ways, wearing a hoodie is like wearing a mask.
