If a young man walks by wearing a sweatshirt with a hood tight around the chin, face somewhat concealed and hands tucked inside the pouch pockets, what comes to mind?…
…That’s what they are trying to challenge with their “Halloween Hoodie” campaign — an effort to have Americans of all shades don hoodies on the one day of the year when fear is supposed to be fun.
“The hoodie is this ubiquitous piece of clothing that everyone wears but when black people wear it, it’s interpreted as a symbol of criminal activity,” Benbow said, a 30-year-old Miami-based graphic artist. “There are a lot of stereotypes that get thrown around and we need to be aware of them to deconstruct them.”…
…”People think that because I’m in a wheelchair that I’m stupid or slow but when you get to know me, you’ll realize how wrong that is,” he said from his home in Miami Gardens. Fulton did not offer his opinion about the criminal case.
“I think this can lead to constructive dialogue…
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16 Comments!
I wouldn’t assume that someone in a wheelchair was stupid or slow. Why would you?
However, I’m willing to make an exception in this man’s case, since what he is proposing IS freaking stupid and invites trouble no community needs on Halloween.
Actually, some folks in wheelchairs are pretty zippy.
Around here, if you walk into a party store wearing a ski mask, the clerk looks outside to see if you gassed up your snow machine.
I live in an urban neighborhood, and the ‘hoodies’ go by in a continuous stream. My first reaction is always ” how sad you are afraid to look me in the eye” and the second is – they look like the Grim Reaper, a representation of Death – a 3-dimensional Icon of the Left.
Susan Lee
Wearin’ a hoodie for Halloween is a good way to become a ghost.
A hoodie isn’t worn as a fashion statement that says, “I’m classy-arty.”
It says, “I wanna be seen as a dangerous thug badass.”
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It’s not the hood it’s what’s done while you wear it. It’s not the color of your skin it’s what you do. It’s not the tat’s it’s the actions of what the person who has them does to symbolize what they mean. It’s not the title given you it’s what you do with it when you get it or what you’ve done to get it. Instead of changing the minds of people who are judging change the actions of those who are causing the stereotyping.
Teh unibomber didn’t wear Hawaiian shirts.
Treyvon (gasp!) didn’t wear a sarong.
How soon before we see Big Bird in a hoodie after pBS taxpayer funds are cut?
I spoke too soon.
http://ca.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idCABRE89B1E020121012?feedType=RSS&feedName=entertainmentNews&rpc=603
In America there are demonstrations to save Big Bird and in the Middle East there are demonstrations to kill Americans ( or any one who is not a Muslim). I s’pose we could be happy about that?
I sometimes wear a hoodie. It feels pretty good when it’s 28º, with blowing ice crystals.
I note the “One Star” rating, out of 5 stars, for this Orlando Sentinel fish wrapper……..
Hoodies are a great way to keep warm in cool weather. They are also a great way to avoid identification during and after criminal activity. They are also a cultural icon for urban blacks.
These are all related in various ways, and not all profiling is racism. Sometimes it’s just common sense and self-preservation.
Geezerette @ 5 – Well said!
Maybe if more old white guys started wearin’ ‘em…
Thanx G-ette, for your comment. What you said, dubble!
My response to this post link article is that it is a multi-prong
attempt to foist political correctness & cultural diversity off
on us ‘majority’ citizens. I also think that these 2 incessantly
promoted ideologies, from K-12, college & graduate years &
now in the workplace, like every year, are intended to attack
& weaken perceived ‘white’ discrimination & oppression, etc.
I also think it’s part of an integral part of socialism &
communism to bring everyone down to the same lowest level
of accommodation, where you’re no better than a hoodie thug!
My sense of this ideological trend is a form of cultural suicide
for a very large number of ideologically brainwashed leftist
liberals. The real ‘hoodies’ have stated their goals & are
just looking for an excuse to engage in mob action against
their ‘enemies’ who are their ‘oppressors’. To me, this is
the opposite of the 2 ideologies I discussed above. IMHO,
I think & have seen a coupla intartoobz mentions of possible
or probable riots is Obama doesn’t win the election! FWIW!
Sorry, it ain’t the hoodie. Saint Trayvon of martin would be alive and well today had he not acted the fool. No one is nervous when this sixty-five year olld grandfather is out and about in a hoodie.
St. Trayvon of martin died because he embraced the thug life. thugs go to prison or to an early grave, it’s a Rule of Nature like the freezing point of water.
The hoodie is this ubiquitous piece of clothing that everyone wears but when black people wear it, it’s interpreted as a symbol of criminal activity
Yeah, no. It’s not “black people wear[ing] it”.
Urkel wearing a hoodie won’t be taken as a gang-banger, for the same reason a hipster in a hoodie isn’t, and a white meth-head in one is.
It’s all about body language, and how you wear it, how you look at and interact with your surroundings and passers-by.
The thug reveals himself as a thug whether he’s wearing a hoodie, a starter jacket, or a tank top; he’s trying to look intimidating to other thugs.
And the non-thug doesn’t look like a thug in any of those, because they’re not trying to posture as a thug.