The politics of hoodie wearing

spike lee is a football coach?

i dont think so

do YOU think he tweeted wrong addresss and paid off residents because he thoughr the shooter was white?
ansdwere please?

sorry its no diversion
it's the crux

Everyone wears hoodies, from football coaches to celebrities of all colors to rich white kids that shop at Abecrombie.

Perhaps for racists like you it is.

It's like upside-down and backwards bizzarro world, for racists and gun nuts!!

I mean, they jump immediately to the defense of the person who did the killing and start immediately trying to find anything egregious about the person who got killed. Then they start smokescreening and making noise about how it's the victim and those asking for justice for the victim who are fanning the racist flames, when evidence clearly suggests there was possible racist motivation in the killing.

I just shake my head and try not to let it make me crazy.

yes its bizzarro

you and aparade are racists calling me names

Your reading comprehension is lacking.

I never claimed ONLY football coaches wear hoodies.

By the way. Zimmerman's race is Caucasian. His ethnicity is Hispanic.
He may be of mixed race but without seeing his mother or hearing how he classifies himself, under standard rules of race, he is white. Referring to him as white is hardly racist. It's a simple fact.

In my opinion, I believe this tragedy has become a cause celebre for those that believe that the life of an African-American is trivialized to a degree, by some people, that someone with a gun may have less compunction to use it on an African-American. This has not been proven regarding this tragedy. Yet, I believe that is the consensus of opinion by those that are protesting the tragedy, I believe.

So, this tragedy could make lawmakers/politicians RETHINK the law, and possibly come to a conclusion that "standing one's ground" with a gun can be an invitation to future tragedies, regardless of anyone's race, based on the fact that everyone in the country may not be of the same mindset when it comes to how we might view society.

While many people do not want gun laws that allow for legally carrying a concealed weapon, some segments of the population think that carrying a legal concealed weapon is just the way society should be?

What I find disappointing is that it seems that many African-Americans, regardless of what state they live in, may be feeling that the tragedy reflects a monolithic "white" attitude about race. There seems to be not much addressing that this tragedy did occur in a state that has, I believe, comparitively balkanized populations between whites and non-whites, more balkanized than many other states, especially "up north", in my opinion.

One solution possibly for those states that do have gun carrying laws, for concealed weapons, is that all concealed weapons must be in bubble gum pink. I think a man would think twice before he pulled out his "pink gun." Especially if different "pink guns" were given girls names like, "Contessa," or, "Babette."

What guy would want someone saying to him, "Don't shoot me with your pink Babette!" Or, for that matter, the next day's headlines, "Man pulls out his pink Babette to stand his ground!"

You are quite scientific. However, in a part of the country where some people do not believe in evolution, it is also conceivable that the "one drop rule" is still accepted as gospel, and the belief is, correct or incorrect, that anyone who has any New World ancestry may very likely have "one drop," even if it is from the 17th century.

I agree that how one classifies oneself is what one is in the U.S. Unless one is trying to get a job, or enter a university, and then there are some arcane rules, I thought, as to whether one can be classified for purposes of any special admittance rules for "some minorities." I say "some minorities," since Jews are a minority, but sometime back in the 1970's the criterion was parsed to specify "disadvantaged minorities," I believe. Someone spilled the beans that Jews are not "disadvantaged." (Except for purposes of getting Raptured Up, of course.)

The above is no argument for any position on the thread's topic.

I see Finn made the smart choice and deleted his post....

For the best really.

Flava Flav?

That's your image a of "scary black guy wearing a hoodie?"

Because naturally, all black guys wearing a hoodie are 'gangstas.'"

I've never been particularly impressed with the quality of Finn's posts, but that was a new low filled with fear mongering, hate, racism, and incompetence.

The notion that “hoodies” don’t carry a very clear and designed connotation is ridiculous and those in this forum who are suggesting the same are either very closeted or disingenuous.

As the preceding images show, the “hoodie” has been and still is a favorite among hip hop artists who very deliberately strive to project an image of a bad ass gang member. It some of these cases they actually were bad ass gang members or violent thugs, but in any case, the style of dress that prominently includes “hoodies” is derived from actual gang culture. Gang members favored “hoodies” because of their utilitarian purpose: not keeping their heads warm and dry but hiding their faces and projecting menace.

One only has to listen to the lyrics of very many rap or hip hop songs to know that violence and criminality has been glorified in a segment of this musical genre. Apologists (often white music critics, desperately striving to be considered hip, who write for the NY Times and Rolling Stone) will argue that the misogyny and violence so often found in hip hop is somehow merely artistic metaphor. Maybe so, but I doubt it. Fans, black and white, of the genre who may not themselves engage in the anti-social behaviors that form the core of much of rap music never-the-less are drawn to it and enjoy it for the raw offensive lyrics and raging tone.

When I ran track in school, we wore hooded sweatshirts. They were called sweatshirts because of the perspiration generated by running and if the weather was cool, a hood kept a wet head from chilling. They didn’t become “hoodies” until hip hop became popular. Many people still wear them for utilitarian reasons and because they like the look, and many wear them because they are a part of hip hop fashion. That hip hop fashion doesn’t have its origins in modern gang culture is undeniable.

Based on what I know about the Trayvon Martin case, I don’t think he was shot simply because he was a black kid wearing a “hoodie” and I don’t think it was because he was a black kid wearing a “hoodie” who mouthed off to a Hispanic guy with a gun. I and everyone else will have a much better idea of what happened though once the official investigation is concluded and the facts are known.

What we do, or should know however is that putting a bounty on Zimmerman’s head is outrageous and likely illegal, and tweeting his address to the world is despicable. The fact that Lee got the address wrong and forced an entirely innocent couple to go into hiding only underscores the disgusting nature of the act. If it was Zimmerman’s actual address, what did Lee think his twitter followers were going to do with it? Organize a peaceful candlelight vigil for Trayvon just outside the Zimmerman home?

What is the thinking behind these sorts of things. The black man gets no justice and so we reject justice for anyone? That might seem emotionally compelling for a small group of those truly enraged by what they prematurely perceive to be injustice and those who simply revel in chaos, but it’s the response of the defeated, and only helps to perpetuate the problem they seek to address.

I have written, ad nauseum, in this thread that simply because someone wears a “hoodie” doesn’t mean he or she is a gang member or even would like to be, and it doesn’t necessarily justify being treated as one, and certainly doesn’t mean they should arrested or shot for no other reason. My primary argument in this thread, however, has been that it is absurd to adopt a style of dress that clearly is intended to project a certain image (whether or not the person wearing the clothes actually fits that image) and then to complain that someone perceives you in the image you are projecting.
The antics of elected officials wearing “hoodies” is simply part of what has become a terrible circus wherein people are attempting to profit politically and monetarily from this young man’s death. It may surprise you to learn that Trayvon Martin’s mother has copyrighted several phrases involving her son that are likely to be used publicly.

The only politics of the “hoodie” are those manufactured by the usual suspects on the left. Who on the right is arguing that anyone wearing a “hoodie” needs to be arrested or killed? Who is arguing that because he wore a “hoodie”, Martin should have been shot? What laws have been enacted that discriminate against kids wearing “hoodies” or any hip hop fashion?

Young black men are being killed at a much higher rate than the young men of any other race or ethnic group in this country. Why aren’t the “hoodie” wearing politicians trying to so something about that grim statistic? Why aren’t Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton making speeches about that terrible trend? Could it be because the great majority of these black men are being killed by other black men and that just doesn’t seem to be news or fodder for demagoguery?

Young black men have been murdered at a higher rate than any other demographic since long before the hoodie became part of hip hop garb.

http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=42646
http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=51197

(Those are the "hoodie" categories for boys and girls on Old Navy, both chock-full of selections... they're in the men's and women's sections, too.)

The things are ubiquitous, Finn. They don't signify anything in particular, all by themselves.

Just in case nobody wanted to click on the Old Navy link, here's a screen shot:



I think it's important for a few reasons. One, they're so ubiquitous they have their own category. (That's it at the top in the blue bar -- "Hoodies.") Second, there are a lot of them. (The screen shot only captured some.) Third, they're not, like, edgy, at ALL. Boring, normal, ubiquitous.

They're called "hoodies" now for the same reason that "skinny jeans" aren't called "tapered," or "flares" aren't called "bellbottoms".... terms change. That's fashion for ya.

Today's "hoodies" are yesterday's "hooded sweatshirts" or plain old "sweatshirts." Same things.

My daughter has two that she wears all the time. One is green with blue flowers on it. One is pink with darker-pink zebra stripes.

She wears the hood down when it's warmer, and up when it's cooler or raining.



Hoodies are far too ubiquitous to fit into any one "style of dress." There are a lot of them, worn a lot of ways, and by a lot of people.

Meanwhile, what my daughter wears now and calls a hoodie (because that's what the manufacturers call it) is the same exact thing I wore at her age, in the same circumstances. I just called mine a sweatshirt, and wore it with my tapered jeans (not skinny jeans).

In 14th century Germany (and earlier), the were called "Gugel": Source: WikipediaOne of my profs at the history department always liked to make jokes about what antique 'sweatshirts' we were wearing ...

Thus showing the power of editing.

As I said, in his original post he had Flava Flav. A representative of another black stereotype, but hardly a scary image....

lynch mobs in hoods don't byt Old navy

its same old same old