The Trayvon Martin hoodie debate is far from over. Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera kept the idiotic discussion alive when he told Bill O’Reilly that it was the “thug wear” Trayvon was rocking that ultimately led to his death.
After the surveillance video of Trayvon inside a 7-Eleven was released, coupled with the news that an autopsy revealed that Trayvon had marijuana in his body, the Fox News simpleton concluded that the weed and the hoodie is what got him killed.
Rivera told Bill O’Reilly on Friday:
“The marijuana is probably a lot less powerful than the surveillance video at the 7/11…dressed in that thug wear – look at the size of him, he’s not a little kid…Trayvon Martin looks just like people who had been burglarizing and victimizing that neighborhood for the past 6 months.”
We’ve been down this road before with Rivera. In March he blamed “the way the young men look,” particularly “hoodies,” for the shooting.
Back in March he said:
“I’ll bet you money, if he didn’t have that hoodie on, that nutty neighborhood watch guy wouldn’t have responded in that violent and aggressive way. “
First, the marijuana isn’t more or less powerful than anything else in the case, it’s irrelevant. A 17-year-old found with weed in his system is not exactly front page news. This idea of “thug wear” is not only condescending, but insulting to Trayvon and his family.
What the FUCK is “Thug Wear” anyhow?
The simplistic nature of Rivera’s comments only illustrate that he doesn’t understand how complex this case is; how deeply rooted it is in the ongoing discussion of racial profiling. It’s not about what Trayvon was wearing in theory; it’s about how he was profiled for no reason, deemed “suspicious” by Zimmerman and later killed.
Trayvon wasn’t engaging in any criminal activity, the only thing he was doing was talking on his cell phone to his friend while walking back to his home.
This concept of “thug wear” makes no sense. If I were judging the attire of criminals, then every Wall Street banker and hedge fund manager who rocked their three-piece thousand dollar suits would be under arrest for the economic collapse that ravaged the country a few years back. And let’s not forget the countless Bernie Madoff types who swindled hard working people out of their money.
If anything, the real “thug wear” is worn by the Gordon Gekkos of the world, the people who play with hard working Americans’ money every day as if it were a Monopoly game. They’re the real thugs; the corporate thugs.
l’ll continue to rock my hoodie and kicks before I get fitted for the three-piece suit and start robbing people. Check out some of the real criminals that rock the “thug wear.”
Shaka Griffith is the News/Politics Editor of GlobalGrind.com Follow him on twitter @Darealshaka
