A lot has been made about the hoodie lately. Not only has Geraldo partially blamed it for the death of Trayvon Martin, but it’s also become a symbol of unity for standing with the slain teen and his family.
So when the Obama camp announced via Twitter yesterday that it was putting its 2012 hoodies on sale, it got some thinking: Is the President trying to capitalize off the death of Martin?
On Monday, the Obama2012 Twitter account sent out this message:
Not to be outdone, Ron Paul shows his street cred in his own hoodie:
I guess everybody wants to be a gangsta.
Would suggest you do your homework on the kid. I’m going to back away from this one and leave it to the local authorities.
I knew Obama would find away to cash in this guys death.
“Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste”. Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said…
Hoodies are passé. Waiting for the woollen waistcoat and trouser suspender craze to really take off.
Don’t understand the whole hoodie thing… When I was young, we just called them “Sweat shirts”.
Oh hell yeah, Obama is working it for votes. Sadly, many others are capitalizing on Martin’s death for political gain. “We shall overcome….” just doesn’t mean the same.
I am as white bread as it gets – 50, white, overweight computer geek. I wear goodies, both pullover and zippered. Nobody will ever accuse me of being a slave to fashion (and few would accuse me of even being a slave to decent taste).
To Geraldo, I say “fuck you, you shit-for-brains mental-midget.”
To anybody who discounts the idea that this was a race-based attack by the neighborhood watch whacko, ask yourself if that whackjob would have attacked me. (Sure, you might want to, but my tan was too faded to catch that guy’s attention.)
Yea, he would have. Zimmerman may have mistook you as an unabomber.
if you would have looked like you might break into a house, then yes, he would have followed you…
I wear a hoodie: what if you took a random sample of people and showed them pictures of average looking young males of all different races and told them that 10 of the 20 pictures shown were gang members or criminals with long records. You ask the sample to choose as many folks as they thought more likely than not were these bad actors. Of course, the males are all underwear models with no history of criminality but 30% of the pictures showed males in hoodies. Then imagine that the sample of the American public picked much less, 30%, or much more of the males wearing hoodies as the probable criminals.
Would such a result indicate the public has a “prejudice” about people who wear hoodies or not?
The issue is about THE PREJUDICE in the culture against hoodies. NOT the reality. Such a simple distinction totally whistling over the top of people like you: not a clue, misplaced values.
Two people of your height, weight, and age. Who would you rather get into an innocent traffic accident with: the one in the suit, or the one with long greasy hair, tatoos, and a leather jacket?
Oh……..the humanity.
“…“prejudice” about people who wear hoodies or not?” – but there is intentional choice of mean-spirited individuals who want to look “tough” in order to match their personalities (and yes, some who want to fake their personalities) to wear hoodies. Long time ago those people choose to wear leather jackets. Same thing. It is self-identifying fashion trend. You won’t mistake kid dressed in “preppy” tennis outfit for an “emo” kid. Because of self-identifying.
Now to the TM case: if in a heat wave in Florida you choose to wear hoodie with cap up at night – it is only and only because you want to (truly or not) self-depict yourself as “tough”, “gang”,… There is absolutely no physical need to put hood up in (sweltering at the time) weather. Was TM actually “tough”, “gang”, “dangerous” – who knows, I’d not believe even CSI report on that. But, he CHOOSE to appear like that. Of free will and beyond any need ( I’d believe in some need if this have happened in MN in January of a particularly cold year). Choices have consequences (and according to police report, consequence was legal and benign – being followed because of distrust created by personal choice).
I am leaving to police and Courts to find evidence who and why broke the stalemate of being followed due to the distrust, though I admit I lean toward interpretation that those who pretend to be tough will try to act tough, be they actually mean and tough or not.
Per the hoodie and self-identifying behavior, true. Thus, even more reason for Zimmerman (not white) to not approach Martin, if Zimmerman felt the hoodie did signify dangerous criminal. True a hoodie does mean something. But, there is more to identifying a criminal then just clothes, and seeing what you want to see. Wasn’t it said by Zimmerman, Martin may have had a weapon of some kind? That was an assumption, one in which, if Zimmerman truly did believe Martin was dangerous wouldn’t have ever approached Martin. Well as least without gun drawn.
The old saying goes, if it looks like a duck, and walks like a duck, it’s a duck. What Zimmerman did was pretend to be act as something he wasn’t. He was not a trained professional. He was not trained or experience to approach or handle the situation based on his observations, just because he is allow to carry a gun doesn’t automatically means you have the training, intelligence or judgment to handle a potentially dangerous situation. Hell, cops don’t even approach the situation as Zimmerman did. Zimmerman was the danger, a self-empowered putz with a gun.
Was Zimmerman wrong, yes. Why, because he is a moron with a gun. He used poor judgement, and lacked the training and responsibility that comes with owning a gun, not to mention the use of deadly force. Zimmerman is a danger to society.
Zimmerman could have waited for police, as Martin was not involved or perpetrating in a crime. At the point of time Zimmerman seen Martin, Martin didn’t approach and threaten Zimmerman. It was Zimmerman who approached Martin. How is Martin to know Zimmerman wasn’t going to harm Martin, upon the initial contact? If some guy, looking like Zimmerman came up to me I would shoot his ass out of self defense. If I didn’t have a gun I would have took swings at Zimmerman. But, Martin was a kid, who was not allowed to have a legal gun by law, nor did Martin have a gun illegally. He was unarmed. How do we know Martin was defending himself by getting the upper hand on Zimmerman?
The consequences Zimmerman faces are far less that if a LEO was in Zimmerman’s shoes. Zimmerman will not go through an investigation, and hearing, will not face possible termination and jail time, and will not be suspended.
The Florida law is messy and half-cocked, and needs to be reworked. At the least in all shooting like this there must be some kind of judicial investigation. Zimmerman should lose automatically his right to carry a gun until a hearing and psychological evaluation is done to determine his mental state, etc.
Do we really need, real life to mimic art? Does society really need “God Bless America” the movie to become a reality?
Florida law is written poorly that reflects poorly on Florida.
If I walk down the street and there’s a poodle coming towards me on the left and a pitbull on my right, my Republican ass is going to lean way to the left.
I play the percentages.
what if the poodle had a gun?
Signs on entering banks here in Colorado…..No Hoodies please.
I love my Harley Davidson hoodie…it keeps my fucking head warm.
Yeah, overblown…but also being capitalized by many, and shamelessly I might add, by those who should know better.
Gee, Ron Paul sure has supple-looking hands for a 70 year old.
The suppleness comes with the Doctors practice.
Is this the only item for sale on the Obama website? The only item ever offered for sale?
Any worse than gun manufacturers heavily advertising that Obama is out to confiscate your guns, outlaw all future sales, etc so be sure to max out all your credit cards now to buy as many guns as you can? Despite no evidence to back up their claim and even evidence to the contrary.
Maybe the kid just wanted to be like Bill Belichick.
Bobby Rush Gets Kicked Off House Floor For Wearing Hoodie.
OK, this is getting out of hand. My sympathies to the Martin family and friends. But wearing a hoodie and dark glasses in the House of Representatives, a bit over the top.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ougHdwR8PhI
Zimmerman is a wanna be cop, who should do time if convicted. Let the legal system preside over this injustice.
Zimmerman shows no sign of a scratch on him in police station video. I see no blood on his clothing. This story of Zim being attacked looks to be made up to protect whitey. We don’t want a riot in stupid land(FL). Now the kid is being dragged through the mud for teenage shenanigans, like weed and such. Shameful. Cops covering up for their own, even though Zim’s not a “real” cop.
Video in station house.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=N5OiLQjUcOU
Here’s Zimmerman’s upcoming trial.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrzMhU_4m-g
Better.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zrzMhU_4m-g
In three weeks everyone will go back to ignoring the high homicide rate among young poor black males. We’ll go back to watching the murderous good-looking wealthy white people on CSI and feel like we’re really doing great.
I haven’t seen the “high homicide rate among poor black males” mentioned in any reporting of this case. Was this kid poor? His dad lived in a gated community–that can’t be a cheap place to live.
Gated community doesn’t mean prosperity. Gated just keeps out the riff-raft in bad towns.
I’ve seen apartment complexes that were gated.
So the Martins are poor and live in a gated apartment complex in a bad town?
He’re how justice was meted out for the kid in the hood.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=u0-oinyjsk0
For God sake! It’s just clothing! Not a political or moral statement, in spite of what these idiots say. It’s like when these politicians start wearing shirts with the sleeves rolled up, and no tie or jacket, to try and appear to just like the middle class US citizen. Baloney. Soon as they’re back on the campaign jet, they’re eating steak and drinking fine wines, just like the middle class can’t afford anymore. The campaigning politician pull an Abe Lincoln, and claim they grew up in a log cabin. Obviously that got old after a few decades. So they gave it up. That’s when the outdoor picnics and bull roasts started.
I remember Kathy Gifford was caught having her line of kids’ clothing made by third world children in sweat shops. The did major damage control, really fast, to disassociate her and her hubby from that stigma of callous greed. Now it’s hoodies, and whatever somebody claims they mean, to cast a stigma on another for selling them. Hey, a lot of us can’t afford three piece suits. And there’s no negative stigma being made about selling and wearing pricey suits!
I reserve any judgment against either of the parties involved because I wasn’t there and I have seen no video of the actual events. So regarding who did what that led up to the death, I can make no comment.
In any alleged altercation or homicide, any remaining living persons involved should be heavily questioned, but assumed innocent until proven guilty, and only arrested when there is sufficient evidence to convict them on charges.
If americans don’t want to let their judicial system handle this in its own time, then they are being vigilantes of no higher standing than what they are accusing the surviving person of.
That being said, too often we see young black people dressing in specific ways such as with hoodies and pants hanging down because they want to be so “gangsta”.
If I, as a white male, was dressed in pressed pleated dockers , a Lacoste polo shirt with croc logo, and a sweater hanging off my back with the sleeves tied around my neck, and then I walked down the street through any predominately black lower-class neighborhood, even if I was doing absolutely nothing wrong except passing through, I can guarantee 100% that I would at minimum get the crap beat out of me just for looking like a uppity cracker and probably end up with a cap in my a**.
When you are walking through a neighborhood, especially someone else’s neighborhood, you would be wise to do your best to blend in, otherwise you are simply asking for trouble.
I am not being racist with this comment, I have many friends of all types, this is just the harsh reality of this world. If you don’t want to be a victim, don’t dress for the occasion.
The only thing about this entire case that does bother me, is that many of the black people always have to pull out the race card whenever something happens that they don’t like or if things don’t go their way.
If something is wrong, it’s wrong. If it’s right, it’s right. Either let it be nay or yay.
People say they want everyone to be equal, but then when they don’t get their way, they want to be “more equal” than everyone else and fall back onto their race card, religion card, etc.
As soon as anyone does that, for me, it completely nullifies their entire argument.