The politics of hoodie wearing

it's funny, as an almost 50 year old white male, who apart from a greying goatee (started greying in my 30's, and i keep my head shaved due to hair loss) doesn't really look his age, i wear jeans and hoodies quite a bit, and wear the hoods up to block out noise as i'm always listening to some podcast or other on an mp3 player

i get some of the same looks that folks reserve for "those young thugs", but that's their problem not mine

i've been lucky enough in my life to not have to wear big boy clothes very often a few weddings and a few more funerals, but for me there's nothing more frightening than a bunch of corporate douchebags in suits

A little irony?
A concealed-carry hoodie sold (pre-Trayvon) at the NRA Store:

For decades n centuries, I 've worn vested suits.

ya think a connection?
birmingham alabama city council man ddevcalres county bankrupt

The perpetrator in a violent crime in the US is MORE likely to be white than any other race. The odds are 2-1 that the perp will be white compared to black when it comes to violent crime (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault)

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/tables/table-43

Compared to the later posts with pictures of whites wearing hoodies, that is precisely what your post says.

That only supports my contention that your post states "blacks are scary" and it really has nothing to do with hoodies.

Might you not be here engaged in your usual deceptive practices, P?

In my opinion, this whole hoodie controversy is a red-herring, with the benefit of getting a percentage of the masses to ignore the degree of alienation that does still exist with some people between the races, regardless of race. I am not talking about the people involved in this news tragedy, but the country in general.

So, while people focus on the hoodie as something with a possible less than positive image to some, it seems many are ignoring the question of why people cannot become more color blind, with all the stereotypes for all races? And, it goes both ways. If whites to some may quinessentially be "the man," then the question has to be asked is it that white guy's fault for being born into a race that historically was the one dominant group in the country? Blame history, but the people today are just burdened with all this history, in my opinion.

Also, in my opinion, even without a gangsta image for the hoodie, I do believe the hoodie conjures up, for many, the belief that the wearer may be just a bit obstreperous for those that fall outside the hoodie wearer's segment of society. The alienation may be going in both directions, in effect, so if there are gun laws in locales that allow for having a concealed weapon on one's person, and then the law might be exacerbated, in some people's opinion, by a "stand one's ground" law, what sense does it make to pick on the proverbial scab of white fear/alienation by projecting an image that can confuse someone from another segment of society? Meaning would a Black youth get a reaction from many a white person, if the old pocket (pen) portector was in one's shirt pocket, with a calculator stuffed in too? I say this in context of the untied shoelaces I have seen on some Black males on public transit. The message I believe is that he is not up to no good, since he cannot run well in sneakers with untied shoelaces. Perhaps, some young people in NYC are sophisticated enough to know there is no gain in picking at scabs?

Foofie, your post is humorously off base (in a tragically dark humor sort of way).

1) This is a story about an unarmed teenager getting shot.

2) White people have never been disadvantaged in US history. There is never a time where white people here didn't have a much easier time than people of any other race. The term "white alienation" is a ridiculous contradiction in terms.

3) It is ridiculous to blame prejudice on anyone other than the person who has the prejudice. Wearing clothes doesn't make it OK to shoot, or rape or hate anyone.

4) Since when did "color blindness" become a good thing? Some people go to church, some people go to synagogue. Acceptance of our differences is a good thing. Making them some kind of dirty secret is not.

If your points above are valid, then why all the hub-bub about hoodies? In my opinion, there were other factors involved either primarily, or in addition to the hoodie concerns by some. Whether or not I addressed any factors correctly is not my point. My original point is that the hoodie controversy is a red-herring, diverting people from what might need to be addressed in our diverse society, in my opinion.

I agree with Finn in the one sense that many of you are being disingenuous vis a vis the hoodie issue.

As regards Parados, disingenuous is his middle name, his studied practice, his very being. Trying to get at the truth with him involved is like trying to undo a panoply of superfluous Gordian knots.

The issue is racial profiling. A black kid in a hoodie is far more likely to get shot to death than a white kid in a hoodie or any other kind of kid in any other kind of clothing.

This story is about an unarmed kid who got shot with no reason other than he fit someone else's prejudices. This wouldn't have happened to a white kid no matter what he or she was wearing.

I love this picture.. Note the hoodie...

And my point is that the answer to deadly prejudices isn't a dress code.

By the way JTT.. wikipedia notes this... and if you have spent any time in the US you would know this has been the standard for over 30 years.

Are you trying to drive that point home to maxdancona, Maxdancona?

Since we are talking about the "politics" of hoodie wearing.. Check out these Palin supporters.

They just don't wanna be identified later as having supported an idiot.

Is there a hoodie in the group? Which one?