Last week, Geraldo Rivera got into it with his comments on the Trayvon Martin killing. His exact words were, "I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin's death as George Zimmerman was. I am urging the parents of Black and Latino youngsters, particularly, to not let their children go out wearing hoodies." Facing a backlash, Rivera walked back his comments a little bit earlier this week and offered an apology of sorts.
I remember when it was us that were afraid of men wearing hoods. Now, for many Americans, it's the hooded black man who is the symbol of terror. There are plenty of Americans who would probably agree with Rivera's sentiment. For them, the black teen in the hoodie is something to be concerned about and someone to fear. Our nation is so screwed up on racial issues that I am tempted to meet the profilers halfway: you get to be afraid of us, but we get to avoid being shot. Even that would be an improvement. Look how far we've come, America: Our children aren't being judged simply by the color of their skin, but by the content of their clothing.
What Rivera said was insidious -- but like most insidious comments, there is an element of truth to them. I've told my son not to wear certain outfits lest he be perceived the wrong way. I've grown up watching kids being killed over their Jordans, leather coats, jewelry or even if they were simply wearing the wrong color. When I transferred to Locke High School, I showed up wearing red because I assumed they were Bloods like in my neighborhood. Well, they weren't. Those Crips chased me down after school and kicked my ass, black and blue.
So maybe instead of having the police, we need to have the fashion police. They can roam the streets and let urban youth know if their get-ups are spooking the people. You have the right to remain fabulous, but anything you wear can and will be used against you in the court of public opinion.
Sounds ridiculous? But in many ways, this absurd reasoning is being touted as a solution to racial conflict. France famously banned the burqa, and now there is no conflict between native Frenchpeople and Muslim immigrants. Except for the fact that neofascist Marine le Pen is third in the polls, and except for the fact that Mohamed Merah went on a murderous shooting spree. But other than that, French/minority relations have never been better, right? Closer to home, it is easier for a black man to end up in jail than in college. The conservative solution? School uniforms. It's the clothes, stupid? Really?
To be perfectly honest, I wish changing mindsets were as simple as changing outfits. What a small price that would be to pay if we could eliminate animus and hatred in America. But it's not that easy, of course. If you're so predisposed, any article of clothing can be evidence of evil. When a white man wears a suit and bow tie, he's a hipster. But when Nation of Islam members wear a suit and bow tie -- the very symbol of dorkiness -- they're ominous and dangerous. It's not simply a matter of disagreeing violently with their views. Most Americans don't agree with Michael Moore, but they're not afraid of him.
Styles come and go. Hoodies, like everything else, will eventually be out of fashion. But every season, racial intolerance seems to be the new black. Coco Chanel, who brought us the little black dress, advised people to take one thing off before leaving the house. If that thing were hatred, then surely we'd all the better for it.
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Rashad Robinson: The Trayvon Martin Tragedy: Pop Culture Plays a Role
Some may call it "practical" or "common sense" to suggest that, fair or not, this is the world in which we live, so protect yourself against another's possible actions by modifying your own attire, behavior or whatever.
What Rivera doesn't take into account is that which can't be modified. It probably never occurred to him that there's a state in our own Southwest where, but for the recognition his fame brings him, he could wind up in jail for the simple act of walking or driving through town without certain documents on his person. Not for any crime - or even probable cause - but due entirely to how someone perceives him, solely because of how he looks.
And, as Dad also used to say, "It's bass-ackwards."
Having grown up in New York state (on NYC television) ...obviously Rivera's comments floored me
I'm sure you're aware of Geraldo Rivera's early history....as an unapologetic liberal firebrand.... even a quasi-revolutionary...down for the races....as Mavis Staples so wisely said...and ALWAYS an advocate for "the people".....including Gay people....even then... not all that easy to do and keep a job in what is now known as "the mainstream media"
I hasten to add....the only other kind of media there was...consisted of mimeograph paper tacked to wooden light poles...who's blue ink would stain your clothing when the humidity got too high in NYC (every day from May thru September)
Frankly, we have not heard his name much...and there is a (now fixed) impression of him as a sort of relic....who has mostly rested on his journalistc laurels......and spent the balance of his (SO promising) journalistic career on what I call the "Hair, Makeup, & Nails" cable shows for better than 25 years.
Excluding the possibility of dementia....do you think his comments are calculated?
Are we seeing an example of "Dennis Miller syndrome"? (Which posits that ANY attention is good...and negative attention draws more of same)?
Just curious
TM
Have I ever told you how much I enjoy your prose? You have a knack for turning a phrase. And how flattering to be asked my opinion.
Yes, I remember Geraldo's early days (including his "Good Night, America," which used an appropriate snippet of Arlo Guthrie's "City Of New Orleans").
I generally make the assumption that for him - or more extreme examples like Beck, Limbaugh, Coulter and others of the ilk - it's simply a matter of what "sells." I'm sure there are varying degrees, and it can be anything from exaggeration for effect of an existing mindset to out-and-out performance art. But much of it seems so calculatedly provocative or outrageous that I often find it hard to accept that whoever it is actually believes what they're saying.
But I also theorize that, after some of them have been at it long enough, a sort of dementia may indeed set in, at least in the form of diminished discernment of what's credible.
By the standards of some of those others, his remarks weren't all that outrageous, and seemed to me more a simple case of CPC (conservative political correctness; a term I've decided to begin using wherever applicable).
But it still comes down to which master's being served, no?
I guess that's enough pontificating. Perhaps that's why my opinion doesn't get asked more often. ; )
Best always.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/TommyMcCarthy/carson-daly-jetblue-captain-gay-remark_n_1386571_144674034.html
I love journalism & fiction both...but my favorite is a (true) experience told to me by a friend.
You came to mind while I was recounting this
Hoping you are well
TM
And it brings to mind a somewhat less amusing incident I witnessed around that same time outside a bar in the dive-y-er eastern end of W. Hollywood, wherein some gay-bashers came to a similar realization the hard way.
I guess the thing that floored me most about Daly's "joke" was how retrograde it was. I mean, wasn't this guy on MTV 10 - 15 years ago? It's more what I would have expected from someone of the Milton Berle generation.
In our country, banning prayer from schools was meant to help separate church and state. But fifty years ago, in my elementary school, we learned to tolerate and even appreciate the unimportance of our differences when Protestant, Catholic and Jewish kids all prayed together from the same Bible in the morning, pledged allegiance to the same flag, and all performed in pageants which celebrated each other's religious holidays. No one, not the kids, their parents or their teachers made a big deal about it. We learned what was important, what was not, about our similarities and difference. None of us were religious. None of us converted. But all of us became better people even according to the core tenets of our various faiths, because we learned to practice the golden rule.
But the reality is, people judging each other by how they look, clothes or skin, goes back to a time when there were few people, humans or their ancestors saw few others who were not in their own small tribe or group, and someone looking unfamiliar was indeed a valuable sign of possible danger.
Racism comes out of more than just ignorance. It is part of our vestigial genetics, a fact of our biology which, while allowing us to evolve and adapt, is always lagging behind how our environment changes.
This is perhaps why it is a good thing we developed the more advanced frontal lobes of our brains. But we have to use them.
Visit any college campus in America and tell me how many people, guys, girls, black, white, latino, asian, tell me how many of them you see wearing hoodies. A LOT.
No one should even be talking about the hoodie. It's nothing.
Teens and 20-somethings, when it's chilly, LIVE in jeans and hoodies.