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John Minchillo / AP
New York City Council Member Jumaane D. Williams, of Brooklyn, speaks at a rally in New York for Trayvon Martin on Wednesday.
The fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by a community crime-watch volunteer in a Florida suburb raises an uneasy question: Would he have been killed had he not been young, black and wearing a hoodie?
Most decidedly not, say some interested observers.
“This kid happened to have fallen into a wrong shade of black, and coupled with the fact that he was hooded made it more problematic,” said Jason J. Campbell, a blogger and an assistant professor of conflict resolution and philosophy at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
“There’s a sense that this child was naive in the way he conducted himself (by wearing a hoodie). Unfortunately, African American males cannot conduct themselves in the same way that young white males can,” Campbell, who is black, told msnbc.com.
“It’s because society has said that a young black male dressed in this manner is up to no good,” Allie Braswell, CEO of the Central Florida Urban League, told msnbc.com. “Some of this is self-inflicted by dressing style, but it doesn’t mean every kid who puts a hoodie on is up to no good.”
Bill Lee, chief of police in Sanford, Florida, announces that he will be temporarily stepping down from his position as the investigation into the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin is conducted.
Michael Skolnik, editor in chief of GlobalGrind.com, a site about the “hip” side of pop culture, wrote that he would never have met the same fate as Trayvon Martin, because he is white. “Even if I have a black hoodie, a pair of jeans and white sneakers on ... in fact, that is what I wore yesterday ... I still will never look suspicious. No matter how much the hoodie covers my face or how baggy my jeans are, I will never look out of place to you,” he wrote. “I will never look suspicious to you, because of one thing and one thing only. The color of my skin."
The now-ubiquitous garment was at the center of a "Million Hoodie March" in New York City on Wednesday. Hundreds of people, many cloaked in hoodies, marched to demand justice for the dead teen.
Hoodies, or hooded sweatshirts, have been around in the U.S. since the 1930s, first produced by Champion for laborers to wear in the freezing warehouses of New York.
Hip-hop artists popularized the hoodie as a rather sinister garment in the 1970s.
According to a 2006 article in The New York Times:
Goldie Taylor and Mark Thompson discuss the significance of their hoodies in showing solidarity for Trayvon Martin.
The sweatshirt hood can work much like a cobra hood, put up to intimidate others. But even more important is its ability to create a shroud of anonymity. This came in handy for at least two types of people operating in hip-hop’s urban breeding ground: graffiti writers and so-called stick-up kids, or muggers. Wearing a hoodie meant you were keeping a low profile, and perhaps up to something illegal.
By the 1990s, as hip-hop’s popularity spread, big-name clothing designers such as Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren included the hoodie as a primary component of their collections.
Campbell says black teens often wear hoodies for two reasons: to remain obscure and undetected, or to project a “don’t mess with me” image.
“The problem is, we as a society don’t have access to the motivations of the person wearing the hood,” Campbell says.
theGrio: Black youth react to the Trayvon Martin tragedy
Sanford, the Orlando suburb where the shooting took place, has a population of 53,000. It is 57 percent white and 30 percent black.
Trayvon Martin, who according to media reports stood 6-foot-3 and weighed a mere 140 pounds, may have not wanted to stand out, Campbell surmises.
Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post wrote an article on the dangers young African-American men face. Capehart shares some of the issues he faced growing up in New Jersey.
“It’s almost like the Harry Potter cloak – you think you put on a cloak and you disappear,” Campbell said.
“Young African American males in a public sphere almost exclusively want to be left alone.”
School tells kids: Dress in 'African American attire'
Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children's Defense Fund, a child advocacy group, says black parents often have to have “the talk” with their sons about how to walk, what to say and how to act in public. She writes in in a Black Star News column titled “Trayvon: Murdered for walking while black”:
“At the time Trayvon was walking home from the nearby 7-11 carrying a bottle of Arizona iced tea and a bag of Skittles for his younger stepbrother, leaving many people to guess that the main thing he was doing that made him look 'no good' was wearing a hooded sweatshirt in the rain and walking while Black. George Zimmerman’s decisions made that suspicious enough to be a death sentence.”
Zimmerman, who told police he acted in self-defense, has not been arrested or charged. He was descrbed in the police report as white; his family says he is Hispanic. A grand jury will convene to look into the case.
Join the discussion on msnbc.com’s main Facebook page or on msnbc.com’s US News page
On Facebook, hundreds of msnbc.com followers weighed in on the issue.
“The fact is, young black men have created a stereotype, and until they break that stereotype by human behavior, you will be treated accordingly,” wrote Jerry Warren Sr. “Do I think that all blacks deserve that picture that has been painted of them? Of course not. But as long as a percentage of a population behaves like lawless animals, they will drag you down to their level. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and these wannabe gangsters are your weak link.”
“Have u ever been stopped, & searched by the police, because of what u had on? I didn't think so!! Its reality!!” wrote David E. Jones of Lumberton, N.C., who is black. “I've been detained & searched, because of what was wearing more times than I can remember!! If it’s just ‘a fashion,’ why is an innocent kid dead??"
Braswell, of the Central Florida Urban League, says he constantly worries about how his 16- and 20-year-old sons are perceived “based on the attire they choose to wear.”
“I tell them they need to dress to be able to be in any environment. While they do wear jeans and hooded sweatshirts, they do wear them in style that’s acceptable by a general population,” Braswell says.
“They tell me back that I should not be judged by clothing I wear, I should be judged by who I am.”
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
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What fault is placed on the good old boys (NRA). They got a stupid law passed for fear of what?
The bill passed 39-0 in the Senate, and 94-20 in the House, before it was signed into law. Which means EVERY Democrat in the Senate, and over HALF of the House voted FOR this measure. It also means that even if vetoed it would have been over-ridden by a more than 2/3 majority.
HARDLY a "good old boys (NRA)" vote.
Have you EVER had someone come at you and you quite literally couldn't defend yourself? Have you EVER been attacked without ever being able to do anything about it? Have EVER been in fear of your life because you didn't know why or even who was attacking you?
Nah, you live you your elitist world where everyone sings Kumbaya, while the rest of the world actually LIKES the right to defend themselves without some ACLU lawyer suing them for being the victim, while defending the actual criminal that attempted to destroy their life.
Let them do as they please even if it cost human life. Let the thug live and the innocent party die.
There has to be legislative history behind the bill. It was not just a bunch of good ole boys out on a hunt. People sure are ignorant.
People are scared and some of that fear comes from a Black Man in a hoodie due to the fact that many have been attacked by such.
One more idiot wanting to blame the NRA for a much needed law. Victims in the past had no way to defend themselves. This has evened the odds. There is a teenage mother in Oklahoma that is alive today because of it. There are many people this law has benefited. Then there are people like Zimmerman that abuse it. Thankfully they are in the minority. Over all law abiding CCW holder have a better safety record than law enforcement.
The ant "gun" crowd will probably want Zimmerman for their "POSTER BOY". The Brady Bunch, Bloomberg, Soros and NBC are using this to work it into their agenda of creating a country of defenseless citizens.
You are wrong... you have ALWAYS had the right to use lethal force inside your home .... you have ALWAYS had the right to use lethal force when needed even outside your home, if there was no other retreat available. The only thing this law did was make it legal to shoot without any attempt to get away. It is not only devaluing human life, it is DANGEROUS. If you can get away, but choose not to try, some criminal with far more gun savvy than you can take your gun, and kill you with it.
Even the police did not support this law... they are trained to be able to forecast the dangers in it's application.
The blacks are their own worst enemies. They should take their lesson from Obama. Allow themselves to be assimilated and they can succeed and live decent lives. They are too caught up in their blackness. If Obama acted black especially ghetto or gangsta black, he would be just another wannabe.
How is walking to the store for candy not sufficiently "assimilated"?
So, "Patriot," are you saying my lily-white daughter who graduated high school before she was 16 because she's a genius is also her own worst enemy, due to the fact that every teenager in America wears hoodies?
Isn't this the "Is ya oung, white girl in a short skirt inviting rape?" question re-posed?
Sorry but wearing a hoodie with your hands in your pockets above 60 degrees in a gated community might as well be a ski mask. I am not condoning what happened at all, but can people (not just kids) try to think a little about the message they convey? I'll bet as a white guy if I dressed like that and walked into a bank, I'd get the stink eye too, and I'd pray that Paul Blart wasn't working security that day, cause Ted Kazinski pretty much ensured that any white person wearing a hoodie hiding his face when it isn't cold is up to something.
Except, Mad, that it was raining and he wasn't in a bank.
Having you're hoodie up serves three purposes: protection from the weather, fashion, and hiding your identity. Nerveless, if I saw someone wearing a hoodie at night, I would be more cautious around them.
Open comment to Tebow: Tebow baby please stop selling those nice hoodies you are selling on line because we fear some crazy man with a 9mm will kill someone else, and for God's sake Tebo don't wear one yourself particularity at night in the rain, with a can of ice tea and skittles or you might be doomed. One more thing Tebow don't have a cell phone hooked to your sweat pants that's a big no, no.
Hoodie or no hoodie makes no difference. He was perceived as being dangerous because he was black. He would still have gotten shot if he was wearing a button up and loafers.
My family's as white as white can be. My 2 sons can't walk down the street 2 blocks before they get pulled over by a cop and searched. They're both 15 and very tall. They're both good descent boys but when they wear a hoodie I guess they look dangerous.
Just the Facts:
1) Mr. Zimmerman did not break the law by carrying a gun.
2) Mr. Zimmerman did not break the law by approaching and questioning Trayvon.
3) No one heard what words were exchanged between Mr. Zimmerman and Treyvon.
4) No one saw who physically assaulted or threatened who first in this incident.
5) Mr. Zimmerman does not need to prove his innocence; the State must prove his guilt.
6) Unless the State can demonstrate that Mr. Zimmerman committed a crime, no charges can be brought against him, no matter how much of a fit people may throw in their public demonstrations. We live in a nation ruled by laws, not by mobs.
7) Sometimes the guilty go free. That is how our system works, and no system is perfect.
Now ... GET OVER IT!
1. He's a neghborhood watch guy he doesn't need a gun.
2. According to Mr. Zimmerman he was threatened so if he approached Treyvon then I guess he would be persuing and not standing his ground.
3. I heard the police tape you are wrong.
4. True
5. I think the proof is in the pooding, Not only could Zimmerman easily beat up the kid, he decided to murder him because hes black obviously.
6. I think the police tape gives enouph proof to say Zimmerman was not standing his ground, he was persuing and profiling btw.
7. You are a moron.
Now ... DEAL WITH IT!
he doesnt need a gun, but he has a right to carry one. and the police tape doesnt have the exchange of words between trayvon and zimmerman, or the how the fight started.
like it or not shandril's points are true.
Race, race, racism, race, divide and conquor, racism, race, keep 'em seperated, race, race card, racists, TERRORIST, race, as long as you sheep keep playing the game, they'll keep winning.
Give it a few weeks..people wouldn't even know what the hell you're talking about..this isn't new or last time you will hear about something like this..chit happens in the world.
Tell your kids not to wear a hoodie..all I can say to help you.
Don't forget to tell them not to be black even if they are.
All Teenager Do Not Wear Hoodies!
Yes they do!
Yes, they do. I find it incredulous that people act like he brought it on himself because he wore a hoodie. Has anyone been out in public, around anyone under 40 years old lately? It's like saying, "well of course he looked like a dangerous criminal, he had a cell phone!"
Plane and simple if this kid was white he would be alive.
Not if he was running around in Harlem, the South Bronx, East L.A.... But then we wouldn't have Al Sharpton the moderate running around shooting off his mouth...
How's Tawana doing these days Al?
True..a white kid..would have kicked Zimmerman butt!
Only time a black kid is brave is in a group!
You don't know that. What about all the black teens killing other black teens. THOUSANDS of young black men kill other young black men every year in this country. Why is this case such a big deal?
but kile, black teens usually don't kill other black teens because their black.
A white guy in baggy pants and a hoody pulled up over his head would most definitely look out of place in my mostly white neighborhood. If you dress like a thug, we are going to treat you like one. Now pull up your pants and get a belt.
If you will agree to go back to Africa, you can wear all the hoodies you want, and I'm sure that the good and honest people of the U.S. will supply you with as many as you desire.
Be sure to haul the baby-hatchery, criminal-breeding, welfare hoes with you.
You're so cool.
Most people try to be a little more subtle with their racism.
Back to Africa? How many black Americans have ever been to Africa? I'm sitting on land right now that was most likely stolen from the Indians who lived here a couple centuries ago. Maybe you and I best get back on the boat to Ireland or wherever your people came from before someone from the tribe gets back.
Wait a minute! Go to any clothing store, what the hell, go to all of them. You cannot find a branded sweatshirt without a hood. I discovered this while Christmas shopping this year. When I asked the clerks, they told me none of the wholesalers even offer a sweatshirt without a hood.
I guess that makes all of us dangerous!
Easy to cut the hood off!
It makes you wonder what they expect you to use the hood for, if it is such common knowledge that putting it up will get you killed.
Right........especially if it's cold or if it's raining.
Is this going to be Zimmerman's defense?
Most bank robbers wear hoods..and every azz hole I ever saw does too..why..snow or rain in my life time I never even wore a hat forget a hood..pussies or think they hiding their profile....LMAO
Oh, macho man with a lot of bad hair days.
In the 757 Thugville, all our shootings are accomplished by thugs wearing three piece suits. Ops, that's hooides and white tee shirts.
Dress like a thug, walk like a thug, talk like a thug- you are a thug. You are what you wear so deal with it or change.
And run ( make that walk very fast) your acting like a thug ( alone of course).
Some unstable-looking person is following me at night with a gun, I would also try to get away. The way I see it, if Trayvon had had a gun, he would have had better legal standing if HE had shot the neighborhood watch guy, who was armed and stalking him. THAT actually would have been self-defense.
its not self defense to shoot someone just following you. and its not illegal to follow someone.
Clothes don't make a person. This is stupid, okay you're 12 year old daughter wearing a skirt is a whore.
I'm old, I'm white and I wear a hoodie all the time. If I run into someone who can't see well or is paranoid, will I get shot?
Depends... are you blind too by running into another person?
mike...>>>>>LOL!!!
Are you people effing kidding me? I can not believe this is about clothes and "looking like a gangster or a thug." The amount of kids who run around wearing hoodies is impossible to calculate. It's clothing. Treyvon did ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong. I have walked home with a bag of chips in the rain and put my hoodie on too. I never in my life expected to be @!$%#ing SHOT over it. This is about an @!$%# who felt like killing a kid. And the law just let him. I'm guessing everyone on here who said "he shouldnt have been wearing a hoodie" also agrees that females who get raped "ASK FOR IT" because they were wearing heels, or a skirt. All the parents on here whose children own a hoodie, imagine them getting shot while walking down the street, getting home to eat their candy. Doesn't make an ounce of sense now does it? Stop with the bull@!$%# excuses.