The politics of hoodie wearing

@Rockhead,

That, by the way, seems to be why Trayvon had his hood up, too. It was raining.

@sozobe,

Addendum -- at least that was what I read in several articles, but when I went to look that up I found some stuff that calls into question the cause-effect part of this. (As in, I won't go so far as to say that he only wore the hoodie up when it was raining.)

Obviously even if he had it up because he wanted to look cool and not just to keep the rain off of his neck, that's no reason to shoot him.

In looking that up though I found such a wide range of things -- I'm thinking of the Tyler Clementi case and how that was pretty quickly put into a pigeonhole that I don't think was really accurate, so I'm trying to just wait and see a bit, although the info so far seems pretty damning re: Zimmerman's actions.

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@Lash,

Quote:

I talked about this event with a friend recently. He assumed the shooter was white. When I pointed out the shooter was of color - the tune changed considerably.

The shooter was white. He may have been Hispanic white as opposed to Germanic white but he was still white.

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@boomerang,

Quote:

people respond to such things even if it isn't rational.

Is that not the real problem?

Or as Gilda Radnor said, If it's not one thing, it's another.

Prejudices and stereotypes are the real problem. Where's the message that that's not ok?

We spend so much time discussing irrelevant crap and not enough the real issues.

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@Foofie,

Quote:

all reflect an image that scares more than one person in society.

The fact that people are scared of an image is the problem. Too much emotional reaction and the justification comes later.

This fear you talk about is real, but wrong. People need to be told that, instead most of what we see is reinforcement of those fears.

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@FreeDuck,

That's because you are able to think. Not enough of that going around.

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@IRFRANK,

Fear, you say. How about an increased sense of waryness? There are all kinds of aids we use in evaluation situations, and this is only one.

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@roger,

If it's rational, that's fine and part of awareness.

If it's irrational and drives one to the point of firing a gun, it's not ok.

Being responsible means analyzing all the inputs accurately and responding in a reasonable manner.

Making judgements on others based upon prejudices leads to poor , inaccurate judgement.

It's a process we all go through constantly and should be held accountable, especially with such tragic outcomes.

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@IRFRANK,

Well, yes. We have to be accountable for our judgements. In the instance we are all thinking of, if judgement was exercised at all, it was terrible.

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@Finn dAbuzz,

The only problem with all of that is that the hoodie isn't really thugwear, IMO. It's youthwear. The only thing the hoodie said about this kid is just that, that he was a kid. I don't know what reaction is appropriate for someone who sees a young person wearing a hoodie in the rain, but I'm guessing following him and confronting him isn't one of them.

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@parados,

Quote:

I talked about this event with a friend recently. He assumed the shooter was white.
When I pointed out the shooter was of color - the tune changed considerably.

parados wrote:

The shooter was white. He may have been Hispanic white
as opposed to Germanic white but he was still white.

THAT is the reason that this case got so much attention.
If 2 blacks got into a fight and 1 survived,
that 'd not get nearly as much attention; maybe none.

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@OmSigDAVID,

The odd thing about this case is that it is getting so much attention when the shooter is white and the victim black. Normally it would not be mentioned at all.

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I think we could all use a laugh. I couldn't figure out how to embed the video from comedy central and couldn't find it on youtube, but here's the link.

The Daily Show -- Hoodie Threat

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@FreeDuck,

Thank you for that.

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@ossobuco,

when I wear a hoodie and sunglasses I kinda lokk like that picture of the Unabomber. That gets attention in Chatanooga

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@parados,

parados wrote:

The odd thing about this case is that it is getting so much
attention when the shooter is white and the victim black. Normally
it would not be mentioned at all.

Its like man bites dog.

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@parados,

He wasn't white. I wonder what Hispanic people would say about your assignation.

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http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/135058/does_it_matter_whether_trayvon

I think the bottom line is that all kids wear the hoodie. I think - based on Zimmerman's words to the 911 operator - that if Trayvon had been white, he wouldn't have been "suspicious." So, racism at work in the mind of one guy with a weird cop obsession. The 911 operator told him to stop following the kid. He didn't. Zimmerman is clearly wrong in a few different ways. I just hope people may learn from what happened.

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@Lash,

The only reason I make this point is because Zimmerman's appearance is that of a man of color - and he must have felt the sting of racial discrimination in his own life. This fact emphasizes, to me, the wrong-headed thinking process of Zimmerman.

1 Reply

@Lash,

Lash wrote:

He wasn't white. I wonder what Hispanic people would say about your assignation.

According to US census most Hispanics are white.

Quote:

As of 2010, 50.5 million or 16.3% of Americans were ethnically Hispanic or Latino.[15] Of those, 26.7 million or 53% were White.

1 Reply

The politics of hoodie wearing

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