Who knew that hoodies had such massive symbolic weight? This item of clothing has been in the news since the killing of Trayvon Martin and the comment by Geraldo that the hoodie was just as much to blame for his death as the gun. (Guns don't kill people. People kill people, especially people who are so foolish as to wear a hoodie.) Talk about blaming the victim!
Boy was I clueless! I who have not been without a hoodie since my college years, when I discovered that they are perfect for a certain kind of weather and are easier to wash than sweaters for casual indoor wear. Even worse, clueless mom, whose 21 year old son is so hard on his favorite hoodie that he gets a new one every Christmas, like some men got ties or socks. We white people, it seems, can wear whatever comfy piece of clothing we like, while others have to be careful not to be threatening...especially in the 18 states where "being threatening" is a capital offence if the person feeling threatened happens to have a gun and feel like using it.
I am a hopeful person by nature, and I hope that justice will be done in this case...and that national attention will assist the clear thinking of the officials in Florida. But it is a tragic state of affairs we've gotten ourselves into in this nation. It lifted my spirits to have about 1/3 of the attendees at church yesterday wearing their hoodies in solidarity with this matter.
1 comment:
Clothing is huge in many neigborhoods. Colors, styles, sports logos, send many signals. There are often life and death consequences to getting them wrong.
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