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Yes, that would be you, man in Omaha who was drinking too much outside a restaurant on St. Patrick’s Day and thought it would be cute to comment on my young son’s attire. So he likes to wear sweatshirts. And yes, if they have a hood and his ears are cold, then he pulls it up to cover them. Like he did that night. Big deal, crazy man.
That doesn’t mean, as you jokingly said to your tipsy friend, that he’s being groomed as a gangster. He’s five.
And yep that’s you too, Mr. Geraldo Rivera. Did you really say late last week that Trayvon Martin’s hoodie was just as much to blame for the young man’s death as the guy who shot him dead in Florida last month? Wearing a piece of clothing, a comfortable sweatshirt that happens to have a hood that I think most Americans own, is a crime on the same level as killing someone?
Really? That’s probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Ever.
Of course I love the news. I read it, watch it, write it. And hope that my sons grow up to do the same. (Well, maybe not the last one.) The Trayvon Martin story is one I devour. I Google it, stop and watch news programs that feature it, and try to keep up with any blog or column that covers it. I keep waiting to hear more, like what may have provoked the shooting. Was there an altercation, a physical attack like the one the attorney for the shooter – a neighborhood watch man – describes?
Most of what we hear now is the young man was shot because he looked suspicious. He was wearing a hoodie, and apparently in the words of the shooter, looked like he was up to no good.
A hoodie does that?
On Saturday night my husband and I wanted to watch the Ohio State game at Buffalo Wild Wings. Youngest wanted to dress up. Like a pirate. So there we went, mom and dad and our lovely son in his pirate rag over his head and his satiny costume shirt with puffy sleeves and tied sash.
Some people smiled. Others complimented on how great he looked. I surely don’t think anyone felt like he was going to hop from ship to ship when he’s older stealing money and jewels.
But yet he wears a hoodie and a guy in Omaha says, “They’re grooming them young these days, huh? Gangsters in hoodies.”
And all some people can think of Trayvon is, “He shouldn’t have been wearing that hoodie.”
Amazing. We’re going to label a generation of young people because of a sweatshirt.
Years ago when I was a cop reporter in southwest Missouri, a guy running for sheriff told me he would never let his son wear his ball cap backwards. Looks like a unruly kid. A criminal, he said. He needed to show respect.
My oldest sometimes wears his backwards because he thinks the traditional way looks weird on his head. Don’t think he’s a criminal in training.
And, along the same lines, a relative used to tell me when I was an adolescent that if a girl wore an ankle bracelet (they did that back then) it meant she wasn’t a real lady. I just thought it looked cool, still do.
I guess as I age I have less tolerance for ignorance. Saying my kindergartner is going to grow up to be a gangster is one thing. (One ridiculously stupid thing that I really wanted to whack the guy for, but that’s not the issue.) And say a backward ball cap spells criminal, whatever.
But to follow an unarmed teenager because he looks "suspicious" in his hoodie, and then to shoot him as he was headed home from the store buying a snack? I truly am afraid.
A 12 yearold girl was arrested on her front porch by the Vice Squad because she dressed like a Callgirl. By your way of thinking, it is not wrong to dress a 3 year old girl like a Callgirl, because she is not one yet. If someone dresses like a gang member, how do you know they are not one? Would you invite them in, for milk, and cookies? If parents want to dress their child like something they are not, they should be dressed like an Angel, not the Devil.Almost any teen owns a hoodie. I wonder if he was a white kid if he would have been shot. Hoodies are everyday, ordinary, articles of clothing. Hoodies are a *vital* tool for kids with sensory integration issues too. It allows them to "block" excess sights and sounds when they get overstimulated. It's a lot easier to get a 13 year old to wear a hoodie than a hat. Oh wait, they're not supposed to wear those either. *Stupid kids. The idea they can wear anything to keep their heads warm, or cover up a bad hair day? Don't they know that's a sign of gang activity.* (end green font.)Amcamx, I respectfully disagree. There is a vast difference between dressing as a call girl at 12 years of age (which is still not illegal, as far as I know) and wearing a hoodie as a 5 year old. While hoodies can obscure the face, making it harder to read body language, it does not indicate a criminal to me. It's the rest of the body language, along with the environment the person is in, that creates a flag. It is stereotyping at its finest to think a 5 year old child dressed in a hoodie is a gangster in training, or even someone to not have in for milk and cookies.Teenagers no longer wear coats of any kind. It doesn't make them gangsters. Teenagers also like to put the hood up to hide the cord of their earbuds as they tune out in class, and hide their cell phones in the pocket. Our neighbor used to tell our son not to let his pants bag and show his boxers, which we agreed with. Not fond of the baby hooker look either, which I have seen in the elementary classroom. But that is my personal preference...After Columbine, wearing hats and coats while in school was banned. Some high school kids never go to their lockers because of space problems (when you have to share lockers) and time constraints, and thus aren't storing coats in lockers. My boys switched to hoodies. Should they be shot for that? I think not.Come on people. Yes there is some attire that is not appropriate for youg children, but a sweatshirt with a hood attached is not one of them. And really, what is dressed like a callgirl? When I took dance as a little girl I loved to practice my cartwheels on the lawn in my little sparkly outfit. I was 8 and it was fun. I have to say it again, killing kids because you don't like the way they are dressed is just insane.
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