The tweet from the NBA superstar comes days after the Million Hoodie March, during which protesters wore hoodies to show solidarity with Martin's family. Pictures of people in hoodies in solidarity have been flooding social networking sites
Of course while these acts of solidarity with Trayvon Martin are sweeping the nation, you can always trust the Conservatives to take the adversarial point of view.
In this case it comes from that Hispanic Uncle Tom, Geraldo Rivera:
I am urging the parents of black and Latino youngsters, particularly, to not let their young children go out wearing hoodies. I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was.
Yep in Geraldo's world the fault lies in the choice of clothing, NOT with easy access to the handgun used to kill this young man, or the racism that seemed to inspire George Zimmerman to follow him and murder him in cold blood.
Sometimes I think they should have closed up Al Capones' vault with Geraldo Rivera still in it!
Rivera said, "I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was." I couldn't help but hear that "agruement" without thinking of the words rape and short skirt....
ReplyDeleteA hoodie is just a jacket with a hood. We all have them. There is nothing wrong wit them.
DeleteA hoodie jacket cannot pull a trigger and kill someone.
DeleteYou are off the mark on this one. It is incorrect to say in any way there was "easy access" to a handgun in this instance, and likewise there is no evidence this tragic shooting was in any way racially motivated. Try thinking for yourself and not simply following what the current tide of speculation and rumor mongering washes ashore.
ReplyDeleteGeraldo's own son tweeted that he was ashamed of Geraldo. I'm a 50 year old professional - I will be wearing a hoodie to work on Monday to show my solidarity.
DeleteNO clothing choice should ever be an excuse for violence. And no, a .32 is not a clothing choice 5:32 a.m.
I am a white middle-class woman and I think it was racially motivated and I think the poor police reaction was also racially motivated.
DeleteIf you listen to the 911 call from the shooter, he used racist language to refer to the victim,then he stalked and then shot the young man.
DeleteThere is a simple reason most school districts including the ASD will not let students wear certain types of clothing. You cannot wear gang colors or types of clothing that may have the message I am a mean ass and don't mess with me. If you are not sure what I am talking about just head over to the Dimond Mall on a Friday or Sat night
DeleteMost of us in Alaska wear hoodies! They keep us warm! I'm white and anti no one racially!
DeleteThink I'll purchase more of them!
Newt Gingrich needs to be slapped across his fat face for coming out against President Obama'a statements regarding this matter. That guy is the slowest moving asshole/slug I've ever seen! He cannot go away fast enough!
Off the mark? Not racially motivated? Not related to easy access to guns? Rumor mongering?
DeleteWhere did you copy and paste that bullshit from?
********************************************
DeleteDon't. Get. Distracted.
********************************************
PEOPLE WHO ARE FRIGHTENED FOR THEIR LIVES DO NOT CHASE DOWN THEIR ASSAILANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And THAT is why Zimmerman is a cold-blooded fucking killer.
The police were ON THE PHONE (911) and ON THE WAY!!
911 asked if Zimmerman was following Trayvon-
Zimmerman said YES,
and 911 said, WE DO NOT NEED YOU TO DO THAT.
Then, Trayvon was pushed to the ground,
and shot dead.
********************************************
Don't. Get. Distracted.
********************************************
what can anyone say anymore about the right wingers?
ReplyDeletethey are craven in their desire to paint real victims as the problem and let the perpetrators off the hook.
whether its corporations destroying the environment or killing us with their GMO food, or racists murdering young black men or even women being targeted as criminals for exercising their rights, the right wing always has a lame excuse for them.
i will never understand how women can ever vote republican or how gay men and women who actually have an open gay club supporting these vile creatures can ever vote republican.
yet they do.
ever since the first black man has become president we have witnessed the escalation of overt racism in this country.
and now we see the natural extension of words into actions.
the outright murdering of black men on the streets.
and make no mistake that this killing is Exactly what the NRA and the racist laws want to occur.
from palins cross hairs to legislatures across the land racists are being told to arm themselves and kill anyone who they even think is threatening them.
and what better way to know you have control over the people you target then by witnessing them murder?
and if you dont believe that, ask geraldo rivera.
JadeZ: "what can anyone say anymore about the right wingers? they are craven in their desire to paint real victims as the problem and let the perpetrators off the hook."
DeleteI've come to this conclusion, too. Believe me, I didn't want to, because it's frightening to think that people who seem otherwise normal actually are just as you describe and walk among us.
A couple more examples...go to Free Republic and see the reactions to this story. With just a few lone exceptions, most of the posters are bending over backwards to try and paint Trayvon Martin as somehow asking for this.
Want to hear something even more sickening? Also on Free Republic, people are also defending Robert Bales, the maniac who gunned down innocent women, children, and men in Afghanistan.
I probably shouldn't go to that site; it's quite disturbing. But we shouldn't kid ourselves. These are mainstream conservative posters. Not the extremist fringe. The conservative ideology itself has become this twisted and extreme. It is very clear where these people would take our country if given absolute power.
I agree on all points. I've haven't seen so much overt hatred, bigotry and divisiveness in politics.
DeleteAnd Not What You Want to Hear, I go to "those sites", sometimes visit Fox News, and I think it's important to stay informed on the mindset that these people have and who's behind it.
Well, you know, mini skirts, hoodies...they are just asking for it.
ReplyDeletePlease. You cannot compare mini skirts to someone wearing a jacket with a hood on it.
DeleteWe all have jackets, coats and sweaters with hoods on them.
I am a grown-ass woman and I love my hoodies.
Anon@6:36--Anon@6:08 is being sarcastic.
DeleteMy first post- and the one above, are just two examples of people placing the blame on others because of what they wear. You deserved to get raped because of your top... If Trey wasn't guilty, why hide behind a hood? It's an easy way for others to reverse the blame on the vistim. Like women who use birth control as being sluts. It's all a bullshit excuse for covering up a very real wrong.
DeleteLeonard Hofstadter on the Big Bang Theory tv show always wears a hoodie. Does he know his life is in danger?
ReplyDeleteOh hell!!! I live in a racially/ethnically mixed neighborhood where all the kids wear hoodies.
ReplyDeleteThe Tweets that Geraldo Rivera since sent out about this give me the impression that he honestly feels he's giving pragmatic advice in a prejudiced world. But the problem with this advice is that it caves in to such prejudice. Now, I don't think he means to do this, but in effect, that's what it does.
ReplyDeleteAnd I hate to say this, but it's a little similar to the posts people made in another thread worrying about how the rightwingers would attack President Obama's words of empathy to Trayvon Martin's parents. We simply cannot let bullying rightwingers cow us into expressing righteous empathy and we can't let them get away with defending the indefensible.
And on that last note, by bringing up the "hoodie" - possibly the most popular item of apparel among all teenagers, no matter their race - as a blame factor, Rivera is, unfortunately defending an action that has no defense. Again, I don't think he means to, but people are right to call him out on it. Hopefully, he will see the light.
what does it mean, "Hispanic Uncle Tom"?
ReplyDeleteYou know exactly what it means.
Deleteno, not really.
Deletecontext, please.
conversation re: word use
If only someone could find the video when Geraldo opened Al Capone's vault. It was the funniest thing to air on TV. It was so embarrassing.
ReplyDeleteSomeone should do a parody of the video and have Geraldo opening the vault and finding hoodies!
I found it! I found it! I did it! Well, not the whole thing but just enough for a chuckle. He even called Al Capone a "thug".
DeleteMaybe he should check under "the slab" at la casa 'd dysfunction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r5xBMNfOl4
@NotWhatYouWantToHear well said. I also heard the meta in Geraldo's comment that he's been terrified for years that his son could be one of the many brown and black youngsters who attracts murderous attention. Geraldo was using his platform to speak in the language of expediency as a parent to as many parents as he could reach. I don't think he meant to sound like he was blaming the victim. We live in a violent racist society -- that's what I heard in the urgency and bluntness of Geraldo's comment.
ReplyDeleteZimmerman was a Dolphins Fan. He's hates hoodies because of Bill Belichek
ReplyDeleteGeorge Zimmerman is a cold-blooded, murdering bigot who set the whole foul chain of events in motion because he's a wannabe cop who refused to obey advice to back off. The Sanford PD is equally culpable because of their piss-poor excuse for investagation of this crime, in order to save Zimmerman's worthless hide. With Geraldo Rivera's ignorant remark, I lost every bit of respect I've ever had for him. There are folks who are doing everything to smear Trayvon Martin's character in order to rationalize Zimmerman's monumentally stupid actions. No human is perfect, and that includes teens and kids as well as adults, and there is nothing I've learned about Trayvon that suggests he was anything but a typical teen with imperfections of his own. He was minding his business and bothering no one when this narrow-minded, bigoted fool decided to play at being Rambo. The more I learn about the case, the less credible his "self-defense" argument looks. I firmly believe someone with a valid self-defense argument would have lost no time in making his case, and a police department with integrity would have had no problem with an investigation going where the truth leads instead of covering up.
ReplyDelete