by Thomas Sowell
It is not often that I agree with Geraldo Rivera, but recently he said something very practical and potentially life-saving, when he urged black and Hispanic parents not to let their children go around wearing hoodies.
There is no point in dressing like a hoodlum when you are not a hoodlum, even though that has become a fashion for some minority youths, including the teenager who was shot and killed in a confrontation in Florida. I don’t know the whole story of that tragedy, any more than those who are making loud noises in the media do, but that is something that we have trials for.
People have a right to dress any way they want to, but exercising that right is something that requires common sense, and common sense is something that parents should have, even if their children don’t always have it.
Many years ago, when I was a student at Harvard, there was a warning to all the students to avoid a nearby tough Irish neighborhood, where Harvard students had been attacked. It so happened that there was a black neighborhood on the other side of the Irish neighborhood that I had to pass through when I went to get my hair cut.
Ahhh the wisdom of Dr. Thomas Sowell:
That includes Trayvon Martin! Race hustlers are teaching young blacks that they are hated by a majorit of whites and that because of it they should be wrecklessly defiant. The first is a lie and the second is very bad advice.
Somehow we have to cut through the noise and put an end to the lies, reverse bigotry, and distortions that fuel division and hatred and contribute to so much death and misery.
This is beyond ridiculous. I often wear a hoodie outside when it’s cold or raining; I also walk a lot because I don’t own a car. I can guarantee you that nobody has ever caught a glimpse of me walking down the street in my hoodie and mistaken me for a threat. That is an aspect of my white privilege.
Sowell gives some good advice in this article when he implores others not to jump to conclusions or make false assumptions, but he disobeys his own advice as early as the second paragraph. He writes:
“There is no point in dressing like a hoodlum when you are not a hoodlum, even though that has become a fashion for some minority youths, including the teenager who was shot and killed in a confrontation in Florida.”
As far as I’m aware, we don’t know exactly how Martin was dressed when he was shot; we do know he was wearing a hoodie, but that’s about it. Is Sowell really saying that the presence of a hoodie is enough to make one look like a “hoodlum?” If so, I’m not sure what time warp he just emerged from, but he’s wrong. Someone should direct him to that peddler of thug-life gangsta-wear known as Old Navy:
http://www.oldnavy.com/products/hoodies.jsp
Chilling stuff!
The fact is we don’t know that Martin was dressed “like a hoodlum.” We also don’t know whether Zimmerman would have viewed a white teenager wearing the exact same clothes the same way. What we do know about racial stereotypes makes that unlikely, in my opinion, but we may never know for sure.
Sowell also did not point out exactly what Geraldo said that so many found offensive. He didn’t stop at “urging black and Hispanic parents not to let their children go around wearing hoodies;” he said:
I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martins death as George Zimmerman was.
That’s clearly a much more offensive statement. Blaming an article of clothing for a shooting incident is stupid; it’s especially stupid when said article of clothing is frequently worn by many people in many different styles, not all of them “gangsta.” We don’t know what kind of hoodie Martin was wearing, or how the same article of clothing would be viewed on someone who looks like me.
Also, the comparison to the tough Irish neighborhood makes no sense to me. This wasn’t a tough ethnic neighborhood, this was a mixed-race gated community. Theoretically, Martin should have had nothing to worry about. If Sowell is saying that Martin should have known better than to wear his hoodie in this neighborhood lest he be mistaken for a criminal, then he is conceding that this neighborhood might have a problem.
And that’s where the lectures should be directed. Many Black and Hispanic parents already warn their kids that they could be perceived a certain way due to a combination between the clothing they wear and the color of their skin. In a way, Rivera and Sowell have a point: this is something these parents have sadly found to be a necessity. But Rivera and Sowell should be using their somewhat prominent voices to urge others NOT to make these assumptions. Instead, they are just further perpetuating the unfair system of stereotyping that leads to events such as the one under discussion.
The Lesson of the Man in Black (this story is for Chris! lol)
It was near midnight when the shadowy figure stepped out from behind the large grey stone crypt in the cemetery. His face was partially obscured by a black wide brimmed hat worn low across his brow. A long silky black cape was pulled around his chest with one arm and the cape concealed all but his shinny black boots.
Chris, the world’s friendliest jogger, momentarily paused his late night run through the old graveyard and he stood looking at this ominous figure standing a mere 10 paces away. He stood there motionless in the pale moonlight. As Chris walked a bit closer he noticed the stranger slowly move his cape closer to his face. Chris was undaunted for he was taught that a lot of people wear black clothes at night and they even wear capes. Now just because a person is dressed odd its no reason to assume a thing…and he didn’t.
With boyish exuberance and a wide grin pasted across his face, Chris sauntered towards the man and said, “Hey there, howdy stranger…how ya doing, you out for a little walk-a-rooney?” The words had barely left his mouth when there came a muffled cat like hiss. “Say, sounds like ya got a bit of a cold there friend, take my handkerchief… this late night air can cause the sniffles”
Chris took several steps towards the man in black before he extended a handkerchief in his left hand…”Here ya go friend, take it, okely-dokely?”
Another louder hiss followed as the shadow man flung back his cape. His long arms raised on high. His mouth gaped wide exposing long white fangs that sparkled in the moonlight. Then he sprang forward, arms outstreched! He shredded Chris’ sweatshirt with one swipe of his boney fingers. His head thrust forward attempted to bite Chris in the neck, but instead he bit right through the brim of Chris’ baseball cap, as Chris instinctively jerked backward.
Holeeeeee keerrrrrrap! our jogger shrieked as he nearly leaped out of his running shoes, barely escaping the slashing grabs of the attacking madman.
Chris bounded over the next forty tombstones like Jesse Owens. When he cleared the cemetery gate he picked up speed. Not that anyone would ever know, but he was doing the mile in 3.495 seconds, a world record. Still running and two blocks into town Chris was approaching another shadowy figure in black with a wide brimmed black hat. The man descended the steps of Our Lady of Lords church to the sidewalk. He was coming right for Chris! His adrenalin was off the charts when he decked poor old Father O’Malley and he kept on running at a frantic pace right through traffic, right over a picket fence. He kept running and running and the last anyone saw, he’s screaming bloody murder at the sight of anyone in a black hat and dark coat….thankfully Chris wasn’t armed at the time – Gee we would hate to think what he might have done! That was many years ago and I’m told even to this day old Chris is still wary of anyone in black clothing, especially when they cover their face. Even those in hoodies are scarey!!!
The lesson to be learned here is not everyone that wears black is good, but not everyone that wears black is bad. You must use your common sense and it all depends on the circumstances…right Chris?
Chris: “I often wear a hoodie outside when it’s cold or raining; I also walk a lot because I don’t own a car. I can guarantee you that nobody has ever caught a glimpse of me walking down the street in my hoodie and mistaken me for a threat.”
I’ve worn a hoodie myself and also not been mistaken for a threat. Of course there are several differences besides my race and my age. I wasn’t walking in a gated neighborhood that had had problems with break ins at night. Under those circumstances I might be mistaken for a threat, especially if I’m talking on a cell phone and looking in windows.
“That is an aspect of my white privilege.”
Horsefeathers! Let’s all pretend that no white person in a hoodie has ever been arrested wile walking. What PC manual tought you that little gem?
“Is Sowell really saying that the presence of a hoodie is enough to make one look like a “hoodlum?”
More funny PC stuff. You’re an aware young man, please try to convince me that gansta rap didn’t make the hoodie a total fashion statement for gangs and thugs…for the dangerous gangsta life along with baggy pants, gold chains, drugs, and gang killings.
The image is out there Chris. Sowell is saying if you want to be safe, especially at night in the dark in a neighborhood where folks don’t know you…BE SMART, BE AWARE…DON’T WEAR A HOODIE! He’s offering very good fatherly advice to young men and women of any color… but particularly blacks since it’s part of the mostly black rap culture.
“Blaming an article of clothing for a shooting incident is stupid…”
Thinking he was blaming the article of clothing demonstrates shallow thinking. He was finding cause in the negative aspects of the culture and image that the hoodie represents.
“Theoretically, Martin should have had nothing to worry about.”
Irrelevant since we know that it was dark and robberies had been occuring in the neighborhood. Theories don’t change the details in this case.
“But Rivera and Sowell should be using their somewhat prominent voices to urge others NOT to make these assumptions.”
No. This problem will not go away as long as the black and Hispanic communities continue to tolerate and blame others for conditions in their families and neighborhoods. La and East lA are a good example of what I’m talking about. Garments that kids wear, and meanings placed on what they wear, are only a reflection of the deeper problem in the cultures. We’ve been excusing black conditions for decades because everyone is afraid of being tagged a racist. The problems cannot be solved as long as black people don’t own the problem and are allowed to make outrageous claims of racism as they are inn this case.